3-4k oil changers - a question/poll.....

[Mitch Alsup]

I am a 3K-4K OCI person. And the reason has little to do with your ratioal in A) or B).

For my Ferrari, the OCI is set by the number of days the car spends at race tracks, and I change the oil after each track day or after a track weekend.

For my normal cars, I have my wife and son use a 3K OCI because I know that these cars will not run dry of oil in this interval, and there is simply no way to cause them to use the dip stick to see if the car needs more oil. So, 3K OCIs here are a protection device used to minimize the harm of non-car people that acannot be taught car-people ways....

For my SUV, I just can't seem to get beyond 4K before I can feel the engine start idling more roughly, and I can see the milage drop (from 23.6 to 23.4 MPG). So, someething has to be going on, and after I change the oil, the idle smoothness returns as does the milage. Since both effects are correlated with an oil change, I use this event to signal that its time.

 

[Brikhead]

3-4K here as well on my high-mileage Volvo. The car does have a minor, but rather timely, consumption problem. Once I hit 1500mi on an OCI, it will start to eat about 1/4qt every 500mi. I've tried extending the OCI slightly, but the consumption seems to get exponentially worse as I creep over 4k miles.
Another motivation for my OCI would be my driving habits. My 33mi(one way) daily commute can take anywhere from 40-90min depending on traffic. On average, I spend at least 20min per day in brutal stop-n-go traffic. I don't have an oil temp. gauge, but if I did I'm sure the excessive movement of the red needle would be rather unsettling.
FWIW - I view my short OCI habits on my Volvo as 'situational'. In other words, I'd like to run extended OCIs...but I just don't think that they would be adequate for this car/my driving habits. I try to keep costs down by using the least expensive high-mileage oil(dino) I can find and ST filters. My Wife's VW has a completely different regiment....GC & OE filters every 5-6k.

[ July 14, 2006, 11:24 AM: Message edited by: Brikhead ]

 

[MIAMI-DADE]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dagwood:
I am more concerned about suspended contaminants...so A.

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X2.

Plus the high heat and humidity and heavy traffic with the a/c on all the time take a take a toll on the oil.I see alot of late model cars down here smoking.

 

[Brian Miller_dup1]

Short trips
Small sump on the Sentra (2 7/8 qt)
Keep Hyundai happy for the 100K warranty

I change them out at 3750, since that is what both call for.

Brian

 

[HardbodyLoyalist]

Both

 

[ScottB]

For me, it's just plain fun to say that I change my M1 every 3k to watch the guys here lose it.

It's an old habit that frankly, I can't and won't stop.
For me, it's all of the above reasons.

Scott

 

[Raven18940]

With my SAAB my greatest concern it additive consumption and viscousity break down.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray H:
That notwithstanding, I could see this thread getting ugly real quick. There are certain buttons better left unpushed.

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Exactly