Friend's idea for never having to change oil

Pennzoil motor oil
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IrishBrewer

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A friend suggested an idea that someone told him about that would allow him to go without oil changes forever. I just thought I would post it here to see if there was any way this could work.

His motivation for eliminating oil changes was that his vehicle has a plastic shroud that has to come off just to be able to get to the drain plug and as a result, oil changes were a pain. However, the oil filter is easily accessible from the top.

Someone told him that he could run synthetic oil and at the normal oil change intervals, just change the filter with a good quality filter and top off with synthetic oil.

I did a few google searches on this idea but I couldn't find such a method being suggested anywhere. The only thing I did find is a statement on Amsoil's website that said that with synthetics, the addpacks to degrade over time but topping off with new oil is sufficient to replenish these additives. It was not specific as to how much oil had to be added to sufficienly replenish the addatives, however.

I guess one thing that he could do would be to try this method for a while and send some oil in to be analyzed to see if what he is adding back in is sufficient to protect his engine.

One downside I can see is that the heavy sludge that sinks to the bottom of the oil pan would build up over time and might quickly clog a new filter. Also, all the dirt that gets into the oil is not always filtered out by the filter so it seems like the oil would continue to degrade over time.
 
Engine oil oxidizes and becomes acidic over time. No additive can restore that aspect of the oil.

Try Google searching for pictures of engines torn down because the owner didn't change the oil for 30,000 miles.
 
What I would do is get one of those dipstick tube pumps and pump the oil out that way. Then you dont have to take the cover off.
I agree with Kestas. Itll probably work for awhile (those 30k mile sludgers didnt have any oil or filter changes and usually no top up) however, eventually, you wont be able to keep it fresh enough. How long before the oil fails this way? 50k? 75k? Who knows? My concern is, that on vehicles with the filter on top, when you open up the filter the oil drains back down into the sump. So the only replenishment would be what was soaked into the filter. So he is going to top up maybe 0.2qt MAX plus burnoff? And that is going to keep the oil healthy?
 
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Originally Posted By: IrishBrewer
Someone told him that he could run synthetic oil and at the normal oil change intervals, just change the filter with a good quality filter and top off with synthetic oil.

I'm sorry, but that someone is an idiot.

If removing the plastic skid plate is such a problem, then tell him to buy an oil extractor and do his oil changes from the top. It works well on most engines.
 
As has been stated, even if the filter was able to capture every contaminant (and it won't be) over time the oil will become acidic and corrode the engine from the inside out.
 
Tell him to use Synlube.
laugh.gif


No really, if he has such a problem with changing the oil, have him take it to a shop and let them deal with the shield.
 
Tell your Friend that's part of owning a vehicle or buy a car easer to work on.

tell him he can go with a quality synthetic and filter and go longer on his OCI. oil has to be changed sooner or later.
 
If they have a plastic skid plate....it really does not protect if they hit a hard obstacle on the road. It must be a placebo since it may only protect them if they run over empty cardboard boxes. I know many who have removed these plastic skid plates or Kowels since it was a pain to take off and reinstall each time and don't offer any protection. So far they have no problems.

Anyway, I hear so much about the dipstick type tube extractors and still wonder if they really get all of the oil and build up in the bottom of the pan.

The same for these Fumoto valves or similar quick open valves on the drain pan. I'm sure there is a residual amount of build up in the bottom of the pan....it will eventually clog the valve and fail to drain all of the old oil out during a OCI.

Call me old fashioned....but I still like to open fill hole on the engine, then the valve on the pan, when the oil is hot and let it flow out fast and sure. I also like to leave a bucket under the drain pan while taking off the filter....to catch any old oil that drops back down into the pan.
 
Originally Posted By: mongo161
If they have a plastic skid plate....it really does not protect if they hit a hard obstacle on the road. It must be a placebo since it may only protect them if they run over empty cardboard boxes. I know many who have removed these plastic skid plates or Kowels since it was a pain to take off and reinstall each time and don't offer any protection. So far they have no problems.

The plate is there to mainly minimize the amount of dirt getting into the engine bay and also to force a specific air flow pattern in the engine bay to help with engine cooling.


Quote:

Anyway, I hear so much about the dipstick type tube extractors and still wonder if they really get all of the oil and build up in the bottom of the pan.

Extraction works great on engines that were designed for it. Many people reported that after sucking all the oil out and then removing the drain plug, no more oil dripped out. But some engines have a funny shaped oil pans that may prevent it from working well. You'd need to test it for yourself with your own engine.

As for crud buildup at the bottom of the pan, there really shouldn't be any, unless the car's been neglected. If you were to do a used oil analysis, some dislodged crud may show up as increased insolubles on the report, so that may be one way to tell, short of dropping the pan.

If you have coked on crud in the oil pan, it will most likely not flow out through the drain plug on its own anyway. And if it's fairly loose, then when the oil warms up, it'll get carried to the filter and trapped by it, regardless what oil change method you use.
 
IrishBrewer, your friend needs to really just take his car to a shop for its scheduled maintenance because he sounds kind of inept about vehicle upkeep. That's not a slam, but some folks are better off not trying to DIY on their car, and pay someone else who does it for a living to perform the work. If he's not willing to do that, and not willing to DIY the scheduled maintenance properly and tries to take arcane shortcuts like the one you described he asked you about, then his car is just going to slowly degrade into a POS over time.

I would recommended any non-quicklube type place (i.e. a shop that does more than just speedy lube jobs). The speedy lube places staff tends to generally be less skilled than the staff of a shop that offers a full line of maintenance services.
 
LOL, charge your friend $10 to do the change for him. I have to remove a plastic shroud with six press-clips or so to get to my filter. It isn't a big deal at all - and, is about two minutes worth of work re/re.
 
Originally Posted By: mongo161

The same for these Fumoto valves or similar quick open valves on the drain pan. I'm sure there is a residual amount of build up in the bottom of the pan....it will eventually clog the valve and fail to drain all of the old oil out during a OCI.
You clearly don't understand how a fumoto valve works.


http://www.fumotousa.com/

I think it is pretty clear that a HOLE is presented to "build-up" as an interface to exit said containment.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
The speedy lube places staff tends to generally be less skilled than the staff of a shop that offers a full line of maintenance services.

Agreed. A quickie lube greasemonkey is also more likely to mess up his plastic shroud, lose fasteners, and not put it back together correctly (or at all).
 
Even if they do mess up s skid plate, at least the engine will be rid of old oil and contaminants. He can live without a skid plate and then maybe he will change oil on schedule since it will be easier for him.
 
Sounds like he needs to get rid of that complicated new car and get an older one thats easier to work on.Thats kinda what he's really saying.Besides,if he never changes the oil,he will be unloading that newer one sooner than he had planned anyway.
 
Originally Posted By: IrishBrewer

One downside I can see is that the heavy sludge that sinks to the bottom of the oil pan would build up over time and might quickly clog a new filter. Also, all the dirt that gets into the oil is not always filtered out by the filter so it seems like the oil would continue to degrade over time.

The sludge formation would not just be a the bottom of the pan but everywhere but it won't clog the oil filter. Over time you will have less and less actual oil circulating in the engine and it will get hot faster forming even more sludge. Eventually, likely on some hot summer day the engine will likely seize.

I had an old Renault years ago that was my winter beater. It leaked so much oil I stopped changing it but I did change the filter periodically. I even stopped topping up with new oil but used the used oil from my other cars. Eventually I noticed black sludge was all that showed up on the dip stick with maybe a 1/4" of oil on top. By this time I was actually hoping the engine or something would brake so I could justify getting rid of it as it had become quite the rust bucket. But it kept on running.
Anyway someone who was into Renaults made me an offer for it which I immediately accepted.
 
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