are 3 month oil changes necessary?

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i have a 1995 plymouth neon. currently using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30. using a purolaotr pure one filter. this is the only filter ive ever used, whenre my oil has msotly stayed amber/gold coored after 3 months! any othe rfilter, oil would have been already deep black. i put about 1,000 miles on my car, every 3 months. question is.... an i actually go 6 months, 6,000 miles, with smae oil and filter? or should i change the oil every 3 months, regardless if its conventional or synthetic? i hear oil breaks down, if the propre mileage isnt being put on it. thats why most say 3 months or 3,000 miles whichever comes first. what do you all think?
 
I wouldn't say oil breaks down by sitting in your car any more than it would break down by sitting in a bottle in your garage. It may absorb some water from the air though.

How long to leave it in? There are as many different answers as there are people here.
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I think it depends on your driving style. If your driving is mostly "severe" (stop and go city traffic and/or short trips), you should be able to go 6 months with a good synthetic like Mobil 1 since you only put on 1000 miles in 3 months. If you do mostly highway speed cruising, I wouldn't hesitate to leave it in for a full year.

Search through the old discussions and you'll find plenty of opinions and experiences.
 
I'm just curious-if the PureOne is the only filter you've ever used, how do you know that another filter would cause the oil to turn deep black?

As I'm sure you're aware from reading other posts, oil color means very little. A lot depends on how you put those miles on in 6 months. If it's done in a couple long trips you'll be fine-you might even consider going additional time to your OCI. If it's done in a series of short trips with few or no long trips to get the oil fully up to temperature then I wouldn't go much over 6 months.
 
Baseline your present OCI of 3/3 with a used oil analysis....
Take that same oil and filter ( contingent upon used oil analysis results) and take it out to say 5/5...get a used oil analysis...continue process until your used oil analysis report tells you you have reached the safe limit of your setups capabilities.....now you can start and tweak your oil and filter setup...repeat the used oil analysis process with your new oil and filter setup....and just an FYI...I wouldn't ever go over 5-6K miles on a filter...oil yes....filter no...change it and top off and keep on with your testing and tweaking....
 
Mobil 1. I tried figuring your post out, but I think M1 should be good for 6 months at least.

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Not trying to be a prude but there are some excellent spell checkers for most all browsers. I like the newest Spellbound for Firefox. Slick.
 
Ziggy, try to write more clearly. Hard to understand where you are going with it. And the spelling???
I have a 96 Neon, daughter puts 1000 miles per month on it. I change it every 3 months simply because it's cheap to do so. She has 121,000 miles on it. I use 5w30 semi Trop artic from Walmart and a purolator premium filter. Cost of oil change is $10 or less. You're wasting your money on Mobil 1 and pure one and dumping every three months. Cost of your oil changes are $26.
 
I would throw money into a fire before I would dump a full synthetic after 3 months or 3,000 miles. Complete waste of money, time and resources. If you feel you have to change oil after 3K/3 months, use the cheapest API/SM conventional oil you can find. If you want to use M1, go at least 6 months/6,000 miles. Your engine would be protected with either choice.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Pablo:
Mobil 1. I tried figuring your post out, but I think M1 should be good for 6 months at least.

offtopic.gif
Not trying to be a prude but there are some excellent spell checkers for most all browsers. I like the newest Spellbound for Firefox. Slick.


SpellBound doesn't work with the newest version of FireFox
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sorry about the spelling all. well i do a little of both, stop and go driving, and highway. prblem here is our highway is usualy backed up regardless, dirty, and is notorious for stop and go traffic! about the oil filter? i am just saying, ive noticed my oil still looks amber or gold colored with the pure one. ive mainly used fram oil filters, and ac delco. i noticed with ac delco, the oil was nasty as all ****, deep pitch black. not as much with fram tough guard, so it made me wonder, thats all.
ide like to get a used oil analysis done! i tried to email blackstone labs, idnt work, and their website i cannot acces for some reason. i tried using www.blackstone-labs.com is their another way or getting ahold of them via email?
thanks all
 
Don't waste money on a oil analysis. You have nothing to fear leaving the mobil 1 in for 5 to 6000 miles. That's adding another 20 dollars to the oil change equation.

That little engine in the Neon is fairly reliable, the only trouble you may have, and I hope you don't, is the head gasket leak. Usually they don't last past 60K.

Again, tropartic at $1.50/quart at Walmart will serve you well for 3000 miles. As will other oils.
 
quote:

Originally posted by ziggy:
ide like to get a used oil analysis done! i tried to email blackstone labs, idnt work, and their website i cannot acces for some reason. i tried using www.blackstone-labs.com is their another way or getting ahold of them via email?
thanks all


Blackstone Laboratories
416 East Pettit Avenue
Fort Wayne IN 46806

Telephone:
(260) 744-2380 (8-5 EST)

Fax:
(260) 745-2200

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

No e-mail addresses listed on their site. I'd just give them a call to order up a test kit.
 
It it was my car I would buy the cheapest oil I could get and change every 3 mos. or 3000 miles.I don't think you need to run synthetic in a Neon. I work part time for a bank as a courier and use their car which is a 2002 Neon and they want the oil changed every 3 mos or 3K. The car has 91000 miles on it and we take it to a Quaker State quick lube place. At 3000 miles the oil is still really clean. The car runs great.
 
quote:

Originally posted by fred0803:
Don't waste money on a oil analysis. You have nothing to fear leaving the mobil 1 in for 5 to 6000 miles. That's adding another 20 dollars to the oil change equation.

That little engine in the Neon is fairly reliable, the only trouble you may have, and I hope you don't, is the head gasket leak. Usually they don't last past 60K.

Again, tropartic at $1.50/quart at Walmart will serve you well for 3000 miles. As will other oils.


Fred:

You don't have to do used oil analysis with every oil change. A single used oil analysis could easily tell him for sure whether or not he had a brewing problem, like for example --- ummm --- a failing head gasket. . . I don't think that our member who owns the almost new Titan with a bad engine (see used oil analysis forum) would find the $20 used oil analysis to have been a waste.
 
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