Has your 'seasonal' oil change date changed?

[Provi]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
My summer cars, change befor I put them away and then in june before high heat hits, run 5w-40 in summer and 5w30 when I put them away for winter.


What is the point in putting oil in the sump if it is going to sit there? When I went to Iraq for 6 months I left the old oil in the sump and let the oil drain off the parts, when I came home drained the sump then primed the oil pump before firing it up. New oil sitting in the sump isn't going to do anything.

 

[Kestas]

No, but the old oil may have turned acidic and may be corrosive the internals of your engine. New oil is not corrosive.

It's accepted practice to change the oil shortly before storage.

 

[Provi]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
No, but the old oil may have turned acidic and may be corrosive the internals of your engine. New oil is not corrosive.

It's accepted practice to change the oil shortly before storage.


The only thing it could corrode is the oil pan, oil should not be touching the crank.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Heated garage....ahhhhh.


Yeah, mine is heated, too. Its about 100 degrees in there today.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: Miller88
I'm only at 3k miles on Rotella T 5w-40 .,.. not sure if I want to change. It's been 7 months already.

I wanted to go with something a bit lighter for winter.

I usually try to wait until the last decent weekend before changing.


Dump some MMO in it, instant winter oil...



I did that when I ran T6 5w40 in my jeep. It made the engine almost silent.

 

[Jim Allen]

They've been evolving. Currently they are at a mostly miles/hours-only schedule with an upper limit of three years. Have been hitting the miles/hours limits in 18-25 months, with an exception or two.

 

[dailydriver]

I try to keep it at ~6 months, and ~mid November, and ~mid May.

But, IF the weather seems to be changing early, or late, within those time frames, I will 'modify' the oil in the sump by dumping out a quart or two (or a quart and a new filter), and adding in either a more or less viscous oil depending on the conditions/trend.

 

[Whimsey]

My Contour which is garaged in the winter see's 8,500 OCI's or whatever it is in the 2nd year. I Change it in late Fall usually, never in the cold months. My F-150 gets changed every year in the late Fall with Motorcraft 5W-20, which is no more than 5,000 mile OCI. My wife's Explorer get's changed @ 8,500 miles which is usually around 6 months. I did it in early July and it will need changing again in the winter. I think I'll let the dealer use their MotorCraft oil and change it in the spring, using no more than a 5,000 mile OCI.

Whimsey

 

[fdcg27]

I have 10w30 in two cars and 10W-40 in another that will need to come out before we see real cold here.
I use 10w30 in warm weather, not because it's needed, but because it was dirt cheap.
The other car on 10W-40 will be stored, with fairly fresh oil, and 10W-40 is a winter grade for my old BMW anyway.
My usual plan is to get everything changed by early December.
That way, nothing will need to be changed in the dead of winter.
While I don't really like sweating like a pig on a hot summer afternoon laying under a car, it still beats laying under a car on cold concrete, whether in the garage or in the driveway.
Unless you drive insane miles or practice insanely short OCIs, it's pretty easy to avoid winter changes.

 

[dparm]

I change every 5k. Sometimes that lines up perfectly with the start of a season, and sometimes it doesn't. My driving habits limit me to about 7500 miles per year so typically I change it every 8-9 months.

With my new car it looks like that will fall sometime in early November when I tick 30k. That's right when the snow tires go on and it starts to get really cold...perfect timing, I suppose. I'll knock out some other maintenance then too, like the S tronic fluid, spark plugs, and air filter.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

On my seasonal driven antiques, I change fluids before winter storage. On daily use vehicles with low annual miles, I change once a year. On those, I've switched from "before winter" to after winter.
i used to change before winter to have fresh clean oil for those cold starts. Now I change it right after winter because of the fuel that gets into the oil from those cold starts. The theory is that it's better to have fuel in the oil 3 months instead of 9.