Oil is cheap, engines are not. I never understood those that push the limits with OCIs that stretch past 5000 miles.
Case For The 3,000 Mile Oil Change
- Thread starter The Critic
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Originally Posted By: JAG
Direct injected gas engines also increase fuel dilution relative to port-injected ones because some of the liquid-phase gasoline hits the cylinder walls before vaporizing.
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Do you have the link that states:
"GMInsideNews that technicians believe that extended oil change intervals were partially to blame."
I don't see how dirty oil can cause a chain to stretch; Sounds like they're passing the buck due to poor design or poor quality parts...
Since I run syn oil in my cars I think 3,000 is a waste. I go 5,000 to 7500 miles.
For some running dino in truly harsh conditions 3,000 may be warranted.
I think the 3,000 mile would have an advantage in possibly catching a issue earlier or helping make sure that other fluids including oil are checked and kept filled.
Of course, at 3-5k oci there obviously wouldn't be any lubrication-related failures, so there would be no need for those UOAs. But it's not like your UOA has to match your oci.
You can still do UOAs every 10k-20k miles for the other benefit of the UOA (make sure coolant seals, filters, etc aren't leaking, nothing broken and throwing huge wear numbers, etc).
It's pretty much what I do (3-5k oci, 15-20k UOA) since I have a sludger.
My Mazda calls for 5k intervals for severe conditions and that's what I've been doing while under warranty. Now I'm doing 6.2k (10k KM) OCI's on PP, I'm not worried.
Plus, I would not trust quick lube places to perform necessary inspections, these guys operate at fast turn around, so shortening OCI's will not ensure that other items are looked at, cars would still have underinflated tires, be low on oil, coolant etc. even if we changed to 1k OCI's because majority of people are clueless.
It's a catch 22, clueless people rely on others to maintain their cars, so they think that when they bring their car for an oil change, everything will be checked then, quick lube places know that majority of their customers are clueless and will not bother checking their work, so they don't do it.
Originally Posted By: ZZman
I think the 3,000 mile would have an advantage in possibly catching a issue earlier or helping make sure that other fluids including oil are checked and kept filled.
Personally, when I take mine in, I tell them to not touch my fluids at all....lol, they tend to just water-down my washer fluid....
I got a friend who works there and he says they got a huge tank, and they add a 2 packages of green washer additive to the tank, but by the time it mixes in the tank, it's no longer green when it goes in the washer reservoir :)Recently my work changed from a 1500 to a 3000 mi OCI of who-know-what 5-20.
Most of out fleet are F350s with 5.4 motors, overloaded tooboxes, towing frequently, very urban stop and go, and extensive idling. (My truck weighs in at 9500#.) Most of the trucks are 2004s or 2005s, and most have about 50,000 miles.
I was just reassigned a truck last week that has 2700 miles on the oil. It was 3 qts low! While it looks ok on the stick, it's obviously being beaten up by the awful things we do to the truck.
I think a lot of people here miss a big point and that is the 3k mile rule is just an arbitrary number. It means <span style="font-style: italic">nothing</span>. In order to determine an OCI, it depends on the engine type, OEM recommendations and oil type. Oils that are built with higher levels of additives/detergents etc. (Amsoil/M1 etc.) can withstand more time in the crankcase than a normal conventional oil. I stand by the 3k mile rule needing to die. Put it away and let the data suggest the UOA.
I agree with you.
5K is plenty short with a Grp III.
I do 4K changes when using bought really cheap Grp II, which I only buy because it is cheap, although I know that it is also very good.
3K?
For what possible reason in modern engines using reasonably recent spec oil?
If a mass-market street car engine really needs 3K changes, it has some basic engineering, manufacturing or assembly problems.
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Ok, Ok, we must notify Chrysler, Ford, Nissan etc that suggest 3,000 oci with severe service that they are wrong. We have discovered this is a waste of oil and a myth. It is amazing they the engineeing dept. still go by what the quick lubes made do for all these years. Not to mention uncle Winifred, in Maine who has 345,000 on his AMC Gremlin, doing 12,000 oci with Mobil 1. I will sleep well tonite..
http://www.pqiamerica.com/MajorsData.htm
You're really much better off sticking with one of the major brands, or brands that clearly state they meet/exceed the specification.
I have an '08 Mazdaspeed3 and do oil changes at 4,000 to 4,500 miles using PP 5w-30. This HTO-06 rated oil has held up very well and as the engine has aged ( at 40k now) it appears to be less hard on the oil (less gas sell in the freshly drained oil) . Overall, these are great cars with plenty frisky engines and good gas mileage to boot. I think the soot issues are due to an effort on Mazdas behalf to keep the turbo from melting off the car.
There's always talk of joining the " zoom zoom BOOM" club but these are generally owners who have modded their car to the hilt; I just drive mine totally stock with zero problems so far. Maybe it's the PP....
Another issue with DI (besides fuel dilution) is that the gasoline doesn't spray across the intake valves and clean them. Perhaps this relates to the soot issue that JAG mentioned.
Whether some people want to face it or not, there is still a need for 3,000 mile OCIs in rare cases and it's turning out DI may be one of them.
Contaminates are contaminates. The oil might have a ton of life left in it but if you have a bunch of [censored] floating around in there it still needs to be changed.
Off topic but I flipped the visor down on my GN, never really paid attention to the oil recommendation but to my surprise it said 5w-30 for cold conditions, 10w-30 for warmer conditions and a 7,500 mile OCI on SF oil. The 7,500 on SF on a conventional in a turbo car is what really surprised me.
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Off topic but I flipped the visor down on my GN, never really paid attention to the oil recommendation but to my surprise it said 5w-30 for cold conditions, 10w-30 for warmer conditions and a 7,500 mile OCI on SF oil. The 7,500 on SF on a conventional in a turbo car is what really surprised me.
If you repeat a lie enough times in your head, soon you start to believe it. Old myths and internet garbage needs to die.
In the video below, Peter Lord of Goodwrench explains "much tighter control of the fueling of the engine" as he stands next to new Chevrolet Malibu.
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