How often to change engine oil on low-use vehicle?

[BrocLuno]

So you are in SoCal. How do you use the Jeep? Out at Ocotillo Wells and trailing for hours at less than 5 mph with the A/C on? Or Glammis? Or mostly just county roads and no slow-speed high-heat stuff? Or beach driving in Mexico?

There is more to this equation than just time or mileage. There is use and stress. Trailing slowly with the A/C on adds a lot of under hood heat and keeps it there for hours. Time for a robust synthetic. Mexican beach driving means Mexican gas, and that's not always good, so could be some additional contaminates ... Just 2-lane stuff at moderate speeds is no big deal.

If off-road, follow the severe recommendations. Mostly worry about the air cleaner. But, 2 years and change it.

On road and just driving around, I'd prolly go 5,000 miles and not worry about time. It's SoCal. It hardly ever freezes. There is not an under-warmed scenario. The oil will always get up to op temp. Just run some decent HDEO and cruise on

My Chevy C-20 got about 1,000 miles a year. It got oil changes at 5,000 miles. It had over 440,000 when I sold it, albeit on a quicky re-ring, bearings, and valve job at 325 with a cam and some other stuff

Guy who bought is still driving it and he runs it pretty hard. He also changes at 5K on his seldom used trucks...

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I would change it every two years as others have said. Just check it periodically to make sure the oil looks good. You may need to change it sooner or be able to stretch it a little longer. When in doubt, changing the oil is a small price for peace of mind.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: mx5miata
Don't over think this.. just use synthetic and a quality filter... once a year done.

I cannot justify the use of a synthetic when a conventional can easily do a one year tour of duty...

 

[Silk]

I do around 5,000km a year in my car, and now have an A3/B4 in there, a synthetic filter, and I'm just not going to bother changing it ever again. In 5 years it might have reached 25,000km, probably less, and the oil will still be pretty good...but will my $500 car be up to it ? I have faith in the Volvo engine, but not the Aisin trans, or the electronics.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I leave a car in my father's (94) garage, in Silicon Valley. Low use... I am about to change it with synthetic. I think it has been 14 or 15 months. Probably doesn't need it. It is a 1998 Accord 4 banger with maybe 80K miles.

 

[Broo]

I have two vehicles that see about 1500-2000 miles per year. They are the weekend toys.

I change their oil and filter once a year no matter the mileage.

 

[slickoil]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
So you are in SoCal. How do you use the Jeep? Out at Ocotillo Wells and trailing for hours at less than 5 mph with the A/C on? Or Glammis? Or mostly just county roads and no slow-speed high-heat stuff? Or beach driving in Mexico?

There is more to this equation than just time or mileage. There is use and stress. Trailing slowly with the A/C on adds a lot of under hood heat and keeps it there for hours. Time for a robust synthetic. Mexican beach driving means Mexican gas, and that's not always good, so could be some additional contaminates ... Just 2-lane stuff at moderate speeds is no big deal.

If off-road, follow the severe recommendations. Mostly worry about the air cleaner. But, 2 years and change it.

On road and just driving around, I'd prolly go 5,000 miles and not worry about time. It's SoCal. It hardly ever freezes. There is not an under-warmed scenario. The oil will always get up to op temp. Just run some decent HDEO and cruise on

My Chevy C-20 got about 1,000 miles a year. It got oil changes at 5,000 miles. It had over 440,000 when I sold it, albeit on a quicky re-ring, bearings, and valve job at 325 with a cam and some other stuff

Guy who bought is still driving it and he runs it pretty hard. He also changes at 5K on his seldom used trucks...



Ah, I miss Ocotillo Wells. Used to take the Jeep there and do some real fun 4x4ing. As the Jeep has gotten older, I've been hesitant to take it 4x4ing.

The Jeep just gets driven on city streets and a little highway. Sometimes it wanders off onto a dirt road, begging for more. Probably averages 25-30mph on its trips.

 

[slickoil]

Originally Posted By: TheLawnRanger
I would change it every two years as others have said. Just check it periodically to make sure the oil looks good. You may need to change it sooner or be able to stretch it a little longer. When in doubt, changing the oil is a small price for peace of mind.


Thanks. When you say to check it to make sure it "looks good", do you just mean not real dark, and no particles in it?

 

[ZeeOSix]

On my vehicles that get low use I do ~2 year oil changes. I usually drive them a good distance so the oil gets to full temperature for quite awhile.

For a short tripped vehicle in a warm climate I'd go for a 1 year oil change. If it's driven mostly long enough to get the oil fully hot, then 2 years. In a very cold climate with lots of short trips, every 6 months might be the wise way to go.

 

[RetiredSux]

Once out of the can, does full synthetic oil ever "go bad"? We're talking putting it in an engine and walking away.

 

[1WildPig]

I've got a 1990 Chevy Silverado that usually only gets driven around 1,000 ~ 1,200 miles a year 80% highway, 20% City. I will change the oil and filter between 2 and 3 years with around 2,500 miles or so on it but not go past 3 years. My son is using the truck regularly at present, so it will probably get a 5,000 mile oil change within the year this go around... in other words, the specific use dictates the OCI. I use conventional oil in it of no specific brand. It's got Valvoline Next Gen Max Life 10w30 at present that was bought on clearance.

 

[Patman]

The one thing that everyone seems to forget about when it comes to these low mileage vehicles is that you can almost guarantee that no matter how often you change the oil, the engine is still going to last WAY longer than that person will probably keep it. Lets say you buy a brand new truck and only drive it 1000 miles a year. After 50 years with that truck you've only put 50,000 miles on it. Even if you only did 5 oil changes that entire time, do you really think that engine is going to need a rebuild at only 50k? Probably not. So it almost doesn't matter what you do in the case of these rarely driven vehicles. Change it once a year or once every 10, it'll still be running perfectly when you finally do sell it.

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted By: RetiredSux
Once out of the can, does full synthetic oil ever "go bad"? We're talking putting it in an engine and walking away.


I recall seeing a UOA here on some 20-something year old oil from the sump....it was still serviceable IIRC.