ENGINEER EXPLAINS HOW OFTEN TO CHANGE OIL & FILTER // UPDATED CRITERIA-BASED RECOMMENDATIONS!

buster said:
He says if you want to keep the car 10-20 years, change the oil every 3k miles.
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When people say this (anyone, not just "engineers"), to that I say change your oil every 1000 miles. Or even better, every 500 miles. By their logic, it has to be better for the engine, right ?
 
Seems reasonable to me, most folks at the 5-6K range/1x a year (B). That's a lot of what is recommended here on BITOG. Follow manufacturer recomendo on short ownership folks (C)..again, seems reasonable to me. The difference in 5-6K and 3-4K (A) well, ok, it's splitting hairs but just an opinion like almost everything on this site.
 
What we really need is an RPM counter in the car. Most farm equipment use and hour meter to determine when to change the oil but with everyone driving different speeds and different size engines with different final drive ratios and under varying conditions it would be better to change your oil say every 20 million revolutions. In a small turbo 4 cyl. that may be 3000 miles and on a big V8 maybe 6000 miles. If your running a small 4 and doing 9k changes you might be surprised how many revs you put on that oil. Avg 2500 rpm and avg 30 mph in 9k that motor spun 45 million revs.
 
samven said:
What we really need is an RPM counter in the car. Most farm equipment use and hour meter to determine when to change the oil but with everyone driving different speeds and different size engines with different final drive ratios and under varying conditions it would be better to change your oil say every 20 million revolutions. In a small turbo 4 cyl. that may be 3000 miles and on a big V8 maybe 6000 miles. If your running a small 4 and doing 9k changes you might be surprised how many revs you put on that oil. Avg 2500 rpm and avg 30 mph in 9k that motor spun 45 million revs.
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Years back when I was 16 my best friend and I both had a 1991 Ford Ranger. We were both doing 3k oil changes. But I had the 2.3l while his had the 4.0l (approx 75% larger displacement). Mine was only a 4 cylinder, while his was a 6. Plus I had 3.08 rear axle and he had 3.73, so I was turning fewer engine rotations per mile. I remember thinking about this back then thinking how my oil should last longer than his, but I guess Ford issued a blanket 3k mile recommendation for their Rangers. I traded that truck in with about 275k miles and it still ran great!
 
samven said:
What we really need is an RPM counter in the car. Most farm equipment use and hour meter to determine when to change the oil but with everyone driving different speeds and different size engines with different final drive ratios and under varying conditions it would be better to change your oil say every 20 million revolutions. In a small turbo 4 cyl. that may be 3000 miles and on a big V8 maybe 6000 miles. If your running a small 4 and doing 9k changes you might be surprised how many revs you put on that oil. Avg 2500 rpm and avg 30 mph in 9k that motor spun 45 million revs.
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Doesn't account for load though, or oil temp, engine temp...etc. That's why we have IOLM's, where all of these parameters can be aggregated in determining the appropriate interval.
 
Hall said:
When people say this (anyone, not just "engineers"), to that I say change your oil every 1000 miles. Or even better, every 500 miles. By their logic, it has to be better for the engine, right ?
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Diminishing returns arguments can work both ways. Why change it at 10k instead of 8? If it's still safe at 8 why not 9?

My truck gets changed every 5 to 7.5k. It's a safe interval, and not overly aggressive or wasteful. Works for me.
 
hemioiler said:
My truck gets changed every 5 to 7.5k. It's a safe interval, and not overly aggressive or wasteful. Works for me.
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I learned from the internet, this site, and others that the best oil change interval for me is at "no one else's business" miles 😂 If I change it at 3k miles, someone will argue. If I change it 10k miles, someone will argue. If I use oil "X" or "Y" or "Z", someone will tell me that some other oil is "better". 😁
 
Hall said:
I learned from the internet, this site, and others that the best oil change interval for me is at "no one else's business" miles 😂 If I change it at 3k miles, someone will argue. If I change it 10k miles, someone will argue. If I use oil "X" or "Y" or "Z", someone will tell me that some other oil is "better". 😁
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It's kind of like when somebody tells me that something I have been doing for fifty years is wrong and I shouldn't be doing it . Be careful what you share here .
 
Hall said:
I learned from the internet, this site, and others that the best oil change interval for me is at "no one else's business" miles 😂 If I change it at 3k miles, someone will argue. If I change it 10k miles, someone will argue. If I use oil "X" or "Y" or "Z", someone will tell me that some other oil is "better". 😁
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