Does anyone Change Oil More Often Due to High Miles

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Hi,

I joined the rest and am currently trying Mobil 1. I want to extend the interval to at least 6k if not 7.5k miles. Given age of my 95 Civic and it has 203,000 miles should I stick to my usual interval of 4-5k miles (previously dino)?

I am asking since the motor although it runs pretty well, I'm wondering if an older motor contaiminates oil more easily or causes other issues?

Thanks for insight.
 
An older engine that isn't in perfect shape will definitely contaminate the oil more due to more blowby past the pistons, so you can't go for much longer intervals. But a well taken care of high mileage engine can still do it. That's where oil analysis comes in, because then you can pinpoint exactly how much further you can safely extend your OCI with your particular engine and driving situation.
 
One of our cars had 230,000 miles on it when we gave it to our daughter. It ran great, never burned oil. I changed the M1 at 7,500 miles just like I did from the start at 2,500 miles.

If the engine is in good shape and you have good driving habits, you should be fine.

You can always take a sample to check.

DEWFPO
 
Since the LOWEST mileage I now have on ANY of my cars or truck is almost 114,000, I'm more of the belief that frequent oil (if not "oil & filter") changes do two things:

1. Gets the old oil out where you can see, smell and maybe feel what general condition it may be in
&
2. Gets me underneath the car where I can see, smell & get a feel for what is going on under there.

See, I'm more concerned that my (paid for) vehicles remain fully functional, reliable, and out of somebody's repair $hop than whether I get my hands dirty or spend $5-10 or so on oil.

Anybody with the dough (or a loan) can buy (or lease) a new car and/or truck as long as they are willing to either spend the capitol needed, or make the payments and additional insurance. They can drive a new car every two or three years to their heart's content. Never change the oil, for all I care. I just don't plan on buying what's left when they are done with it.

More power to them! That's a big part of our economy.

I just choose not to be spending my wife's hard-earned money in that fashion!
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Do a compression check and leakdown test to see what kind of condition your engine is in.

Then do a few UOA to know how far you can go.

My aspire totally slaughtered AMSOIL ASL 5w30 in 4000 miles because of 2.5 fuel. I did a compression check and C#2 and #3 have low compression from bad rings. =(
 
Irregardless of actual mileage, if a particular engine didn't burn an inordinate amount of oil, if it didn't smoke, didn't do the blue haze thing at start-up, and didn't foul its spark plugs or pooter pipe, I wouldn't change my oil change intervals one way or another. Anecdotal, of course, but more than sufficient analysis, I would think -- the engine's not sending any obvious signals that it's "worn" and needs out-of-the-norm treatment. One could always do a UOA to confirm.
 
I haven't changed my OCI yet, been 7500 since second or third change on the 92, now 163,000. Actually, the UOA seems to have gotten better in a few areas, worse in others. At this point who cares!
 
Many engines have good compression and little blowby at very high mileages. There should be no adverse effect on the oil.

Occasionally through neglect or poor design an engine will develop excessive blowby. If that is the case, more combustion gasses will enter the oil. If that is the case more frequent oil changes would be in order.
 
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