Hi all! Have a 98 Buick lesabre.given it she'll gas,sometimes 93,for the detergency. I have a stash of dino oil,I bought on clearance,back of n 2004 era,walmart, texaco 5w30! Used a carques t red filter,6 months ago.2700 miles,very short trips,stop n go traffic.4 miles work,and back. Found some chevron 5w30 dino,unopened,and bought a carques t blue filter...eager to do an oil change.but....think I should go an extra month or 2? Get it up too 3000? Or dump it? Car book says, 3 months or 3000 miles,if under 3000 mile service,sever duty driving,change oil frequently... What should,I do...
2,700 miles,6 months,change oil?
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Leave the filter on and just change oil.
Wow 1 year? I always read,6 months today,is limit,fuel dilution,in the oil.it is brown,the oil,getting dark,but it's just barely still Amber colored,around the edges,oil on dipstick.
Originally Posted by ziggy
Wow 1 year? I always read,6 months today,is limit,fuel dilution,in the oil.it is brown,the oil,getting dark,but it's just barely still Amber colored,around the edges,oil on dipstick.
I wouldn't worry about fuel dilution in a Buick 3800, those were solid engines, you see that in engines like the Honda 1.5T.
Wow 1 year? I always read,6 months today,is limit,fuel dilution,in the oil.it is brown,the oil,getting dark,but it's just barely still Amber colored,around the edges,oil on dipstick.
I wouldn't worry about fuel dilution in a Buick 3800, those were solid engines, you see that in engines like the Honda 1.5T.
Sounds like we have similar car stories. My daily driver is a 2001 Camry 4cyl. The car only goes about 3,000 miles/year. I change the oil and filter every 6 months regardless of mileage with a high mileage motor oil, typically a synthetic blend like Quaker State or Valvoline MaxLife. Many here on BITOG think that's crazy but that's what makes me feel good about maintaining my car. My commute is 2.6 miles round trip so this one sees almost all short trips. 6 month OCI works for me.
With my Odyssey we do about 9k miles per year. I stick to a 6 month/5,000 mile interval on a full synthetic high mileage motor oil and rest easy.
With my Odyssey we do about 9k miles per year. I stick to a 6 month/5,000 mile interval on a full synthetic high mileage motor oil and rest easy.
I know what you mean about the car book suggesting 3000 miles. My Haynes manual for my Taurus says the same thing. That advice is totally obsolete and if you want to be conservative use 5,000 miles and one year, whichever comes first. The latest and greatest truck OLM from GM usually lands out at 7,000 miles. As long as your vehicle is fuel injected, you don't have to pay attention to the 3,000 miles OCI in those repair manuals.
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^^^ Yep...
Just change in April when the weather is nicer. The oil in there is still good.
On my daily driver, which is now the Nissan in my signature, I have been changing the oil every 6 months (spring and fall) and the Fram ultra filter every other time.(fall) I do this because it gets almost all short trips of about 4 miles or less. So I figure in the winter especially, with all those short trips, I need to change the oil even though it may only have 3000 miles or less on it. Am I wrong? Am I just wasting oil.?
Any oil of today's standards can easily do 3,000 miles easy. Even if it's SL/SM rated you are fine. I wouldn't dump it early and certainly not in a 3800.
Now if changing oil is therapeutic like most of us here then change it. Your oil can never be too clean.
Now if changing oil is therapeutic like most of us here then change it. Your oil can never be too clean.
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I would do a spring fall on that. The 4 mile one way thing is the killer on a big watercooled engine.
Originally Posted by ziggy
Hi all! Have a 98 Buick lesabre.given it she'll gas,sometimes 93,for the detergency. I have a stash of dino oil,I bought on clearance,back of n 2004 era,walmart, texaco 5w30! Used a carques t red filter,6 months ago.2700 miles,very short trips,stop n go traffic.4 miles work,and back. Found some chevron 5w30 dino,unopened,and bought a carques t blue filter...eager to do an oil change.but....think I should go an extra month or 2? Get it up too 3000? Or dump it? Car book says, 3 months or 3000 miles,if under 3000 mile service,sever duty driving,change oil frequently... What should,I do...
Well my suggestion is do it before the snow fly's. Were you live this time of year I would not like doing it in say the December/February time frame. Oh and do a used oil analysis.
Hi all! Have a 98 Buick lesabre.given it she'll gas,sometimes 93,for the detergency. I have a stash of dino oil,I bought on clearance,back of n 2004 era,walmart, texaco 5w30! Used a carques t red filter,6 months ago.2700 miles,very short trips,stop n go traffic.4 miles work,and back. Found some chevron 5w30 dino,unopened,and bought a carques t blue filter...eager to do an oil change.but....think I should go an extra month or 2? Get it up too 3000? Or dump it? Car book says, 3 months or 3000 miles,if under 3000 mile service,sever duty driving,change oil frequently... What should,I do...
Well my suggestion is do it before the snow fly's. Were you live this time of year I would not like doing it in say the December/February time frame. Oh and do a used oil analysis.
Conventional oil can easily go 5k with no issues. I do a fair amount of city driving probably 85% city 15% Hiway and a few months ago had to have head gasket replaced on the Forester, the shop remarked that the engine was a clean as any he had seen. All my vehicles get a diet of conventional oil with 5k OCI on average.I have pushed to 6-7 K on a few occasions,but mostly try to keep oci as close to 5k as possible. Back in 98 3k oci were probably recommended by some makers so either way go to 3k or run it longer, doubtful if it will matter much either way to the engine.
Change the oil, not the filter or just leave it for another 6 months. Conventional oil now is much of blend. Also depend how you drive your vehicle: 2700 in a week all on Hwy or 5 mile a day to local grocery are quite different.
Originally Posted by BJD78
Back in 98 3k oci were probably recommended by some makers so either way go to 3k or run it longer, doubtful if it will matter much either way to the engine.
Owner's manual recommend 3k oci on a 99 Saturn. Much has changed since then. In your situation I would dump the oil and keep the filter for 2 oci if oil looks bad. On a Lexus RX300 I would go 1.5 years or 5k with Pennzoil Platinum. Oil looked pretty clean on dipstick even with a lot of 1 or 2 mile short trips.
Back in 98 3k oci were probably recommended by some makers so either way go to 3k or run it longer, doubtful if it will matter much either way to the engine.
Owner's manual recommend 3k oci on a 99 Saturn. Much has changed since then. In your situation I would dump the oil and keep the filter for 2 oci if oil looks bad. On a Lexus RX300 I would go 1.5 years or 5k with Pennzoil Platinum. Oil looked pretty clean on dipstick even with a lot of 1 or 2 mile short trips.
Manufacturer (both auto and oil) always build some tolerance in their OCI. 3000 mile is the worst situation. So 5000 mile is still very safe if you don't drive stop N go or dusty area. Once a year and every 5000 miles is very safe for modern engine, fule and oil.
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