Father -in-law's oil change intervals

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

paulswagelock

Joined
Oct 26, 2010
Messages
407
Location
Pennsylvania
So my in-laws are in from out of state and staying with us. Over dinner conversation I started chatting with my father in-law about my fascination around motor oils. We are both engineers, so geeky conversations are rather common. He told me that since the early 1980's he switched to Mobil 1 in all his cars, and (here is the kicker) routinely runs it for 50,000 miles, only changing out the oil filters and topping off every 5-6k miles. Every car he owns (owned) follows (followed) this plan. Never an engine failure, or oil related issue, and he kept many of them up into the 150,000+ mile mark. There were Volvos, Neons, Fords, Chevys, quite the mix.

Maybe we think this oil thing to hard???
 
Maybe we do think this oil thing a little too hard, but that's a little crazy, IMO.

Did he do this while the cars were under warranty? That would be crazy and foolish.
 
I have a few acquaintances in the expediting business that do the same technique in their vans running freight. I dont knnow why their engines keep running with this type of maintenance, but some have over 200 k miles on them,,,,give me a break,,i dont have an answer for it either,,sky
 
If they were engines with big filters, swapping that 1/2 to 3/4 quart every 5k or so might have been enough to keep the TBN up and the oil functioning acceptably. Many gas engines aren't hard on oil, so with frequent top-ups like that, I could believe that it lasted 50k between changes.
 
How much oil did each of the cars burn? ONLY topping up at 5-6kmi after replacing the filter is a lot different than adding a quarter every 1kmi on top of that.
 
I have more than one customer that never changes oil.....I know I know.....just filter and top up. Not recommended by me, Amsoil, BITOG, the internets, or my uncle Bill - but their engines have not esploded. I would like to see the guts or sample the oil someday....
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
I have more than one customer that never changes oil.....I know I know.....just filter and top up. Not recommended by me, Amsoil, BITOG, the internets, or my uncle Bill - but their engines have not esploded. I would like to see the guts or sample the oil someday....


Hey Pablo didn't you have a Volvo that you put Ow30 SSO in? Didn't you say that was the last time you were gonna change the oil in that car? What ever happened to it? A station wagon if I remember correctly...
 
Originally Posted By: Camu Mahubah


Hey Pablo didn't you have a Volvo that you put Ow30 SSO in? Didn't you say that was the last time you were gonna change the oil in that car? What ever happened to it? An station wagon if I remember correctly...


I wimped out. I was just angry at the car that day....most everybody predicted I would. They were correct. I did go 15K or so....I just have too many choices and with cases of oil sitting about the temptation is too much....
 
Isn't this what Synlube is all about? LOLOLOOLLLLLOLOLOLOLL

I'd love to see the insides of one of these engines too, at 50,000 mile intervals to see how they hold up.
 
I was reading a political blog and for some reason oil changing came up in the comments section. Nobody seemed to know anything about cars, and most of them seemed to lease cars and never change or even check the oil during the length of the lease. A couple of them didn't seem to know you were even supposed to do any sort of maintenance on leased cars. They just thought that you paid your monthly fee, put in gas, and at the end of two or three years you turned in the car and started over again. I must admit, that back in the day when I sensed that one of my ultra beaters was nearing the end of its life I would just keep the oil topped up, never changing it or the filter, until I finally got rid of the car. And that was with the cheapest 10W-40 I could get, carbureted engines with lots of fuel dilution, etc. Never had an engine failure.
 
I do recall M1 being sold in cans that said something to the effect of "the 50,000mi oil" right on the can.

Given everything else in maintained on the car (cooling system, etc) and the oil level is kept full, there's probably nothing wrong with this plan! Your engine will tire about the same time the body rusts away.

Joel
 
IIRC one of those stories about a million mile econoline van where the guy never changed the oil, because it was burning it enough that he added a qt fairly often.
I've read of guys w/ saturns (known oil burners) who just kept it topped off; seriously, why change it if it's getting replenished every 1K or so? just change the filter every 3-5K or so.
 
Just a thought to ponder, but.... I wonder if extreme mileage intervals in years past was 'doable', compared to the challenges of doing it today.

I am referring to the amount of ethanol in our fuel these days, which as I have read.....tends to destroy oil much quicker.

Time an again, I read European posts where it is stated that those fellas over there can run longer OCI's because their petrol is 'nicer' to oil.

Thoughts?

By the way, some of you may have read my post of my dead 4Runner engine with 35k miles. Everyone on the planet should follow manufacturer recommendations for OCI's and oil weight until the warranty runs out. Then do whatever. For the past four years, we have stayed with the 5k/6 month Toyota requirement for my daughters Yaris. This summer, I plan to move that little car over to 1 year OCI's since it will be out of warranty. I expect her to total about 12-15k miles a year.....but no way would I do 50k miles with top offs and new filters.
 
I would say that interval can be done using synthetic oil and regular filter replacements. In my opinion the big key would be making certain the PCV valve is working properly and replaced on a regular basis. Nothing can mess up an engine quicker than a bad PCV valve. I can speak from experience I had on a Ford 4.0L SOHC V6.
 
I would never do it, and sure no one here would ever do it...but look at at this way: he's maintaining the engine in a fashion which give him adequate service life for the life of the vehicle.

On the other hand, I (and I'm guessing most people reading this) am maintaining my vehicle in a manner which will make for an incredibly clean engine when the car gets to the crusher... I'll be the first to admit it's not "necessary". At nearly 100K, my engine looks like new.

I don't doubt his OCI habits creating additional wear, but he's wearing out his engine at a rate similar to the rest of the car, and given his experience the proof seems to be in the pudding. No, I still wouldn't do it, but it's hard to really fault him for it either.

I'm convinced what kills engines isn't old oil, but low oil.
 
When M1 came out they marketed it as up to 25k. Find an old popular mechanics/science from the late 1970s and check out their ads; the extended drains were the biggest deal. I wonder if FIL got cognitive dissonance when M1EP came out and claimed 15k.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

The Critic
Post HG Replacement Oil Change - can it be skipped?
Replies
12
Views
525
KEVINK0000
J
Oil Change Intervals 3k vs Longer with full synthetic
7 8 9
Replies
178
Views
12K
50yr Street Mech
stchman
3.6L 2018 GMC Canyon Oil Change Interval
Replies
16
Views
1K
stchman
Hohn
2011 GX460: first HPL drain
Replies
3
Views
591
Hohn
rstcso
Another "First Oil Change" Thread
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
svtrit
Back
Top Bottom