Low mileage project/weekend car winter storage...change oil?

[Overdrivex]

Hi everyone. I have been researching on this topic, and have spent quite a bit of time on this site in the past, so decided to register and get some advice on this. I have two Miatas that I use 5w30 full synthetic oil in, and every fall I typically will perform an oil change before storing for the winter. My Miatas typically only get driven about 1500 miles or less in a year since I only drive them for leisure and the miles are split between the two. One of my Miatas is turbocharged, the other is not.

The last time I changed their oil was last November so it will almost have been a full year since the last change. From what I have always heard, it should be changed based on mileage or time (1 year for synthetics). However, my search on here has revealed that synthetics may be good for longer than a year with low mileage on them. With such low mileage on full synthetic oil, should I still go ahead and change the oil before storing them for the winter, or do you all think I should be okay leaving the oil for another year, and change it next year? I just want to make sure they stay in as good of shape as possible, but also don't want to be draining oil too early if it is still good to use.

 

[ka9mnx]

If you cherish your two cars and plan on keeping them forever then you are doing the right thing changing the oil every November.

 

[Jocephus]

I’m one of those people that thinks of things this way…

oil is cheap. I enjoy changing oil. Therefore I change oil


I have a 91 Jaguar XJS. It has 12,000 miles and I drove it off the lot with 12 miles on it. I change the oil twice a year and All fluids (coolant etc) once a year. Am I doing overkill? Absolutely. Is it like brand new? yup.

the way I look at is is that I can buy a few cups of coffee from Starbucks for the same price as an oil change.

 

[Overdrivex]

Thanks guys! I'll continue what I'm doing. I definitely cherish my Miatas and plan to keep them forever, so as you guys mentioned, its a small price to pay for years of motoring fun. I will say, when I pulled the valve cover on one of them, I was very amazed at how clean it was under there, so that was a nice treat.

 

[2010Civic]

Maybe drain the oil and give it to someone who has a car that burns oil.

 

[Overdrivex]

Maybe drain the oil and give it to someone who has a car that burns oil.

I feel kind of dumb for not thinking of this myself, since my daily driver Accord burns oil. This is actually a great idea, how did I not think about that years ago!?

 

[Lubener]

No, I would not reuse any drained oil in an oil burner. There is all kinds of bad stuff in a "clean" drain pan that you cannot see and you are going to dump it in another engine?

With less than 1500 miles and if the oil is clean, I would run it another year.

 

[ka9mnx]

Maybe drain the oil and give it to someone who has a car that burns oil.

I thought of this after I posted. Another option is use it in your OPE. Thanks for the great post.

 

[eljefino]

You're looking for validation to keep doing what you're doing.

I'm going to disagree and say run your oil for two years. (And get it analyzed to prove it's got way more to go.)

Surely if you get in the car it's going to get driven for 10+ miles, warming the oil up. So it's not every-daily driven, so you don't have to follow the severe schedule.

Sure, you probably drive at 10/10 and think it's "severe", but that's nearly every miata driver, LOL.

 

[Overdrivex]

I mean if I can run the oil for 2 years with no ill effects, I would certainly be totally fine with that, saving me time + money. I dont usually use them for short trips and they typically are at operating temp every time I park them.

If that is good enough for 2 years with no ill effects on the vehicles engines, then I am open to it.

 

[nikon5400]

I mean if I can run the oil for 2 years with no ill effects, I would certainly be totally fine with that, saving me time + money. I dont usually use them for short trips and they typically are at operating temp every time I park them.

If that is good enough for 2 years with no ill effects on the vehicles engines, then I am open to it.

I have the same question - drive 5kmi per year in the northeast. Do you know if anyone had lab results saying oil can be used for longer than 1 year? Same question for oil filter - does 20kmi Mobil 1 extended performance filter needs to be changed once a year (or 10kmi)?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

5K?

1x per year. No need for an extended performance lubricant. ILSAC is 1x yr OLM capable.
Small form factor filter? ( aren't they all?) Change that too.

lots of short trips less than 20 miles? 2x year Spring and late fall.

 

[AmBeRnEcTaR]

Hi everyone. I have been researching on this topic, and have spent quite a bit of time on this site in the past, so decided to register and get some advice on this. I have two Miatas that I use 5w30 full synthetic oil in, and every fall I typically will perform an oil change before storing for the winter. My Miatas typically only get driven about 1500 miles or less in a year since I only drive them for leisure and the miles are split between the two. One of my Miatas is turbocharged, the other is not.

The last time I changed their oil was last November so it will almost have been a full year since the last change. From what I have always heard, it should be changed based on mileage or time (1 year for synthetics). However, my search on here has revealed that synthetics may be good for longer than a year with low mileage on them. With such low mileage on full synthetic oil, should I still go ahead and change the oil before storing them for the winter, or do you all think I should be okay leaving the oil for another year, and change it next year? I just want to make sure they stay in as good of shape as possible, but also don't want to be draining oil too early if it is still good to use.

Just to give you a quick rundown on what I've done with my 1993 Mustang LX 5.0 coupe for the better part of 20 years with perfect results. I plate the car from April.1st to Oct.31st and usually put on ~2500kms/1500miles in that span. I change the oil prior to storing with Mobil 1 10W-30 FS and commensurate Mobil 1 EP synth filter.

I wash, detail, and vaccuum the car, drop a bottle of Sta-Bil in the tank and fill with 93. I then take the car for a good shakedown to circulate the stabilizer throughout the fuel sytem and heat cycle the oil. I overinflate the tires to about 45PSI, disconnect and remove the battery, and call it done. The car sits like this in a parkade that never drops below 8 degrees celsius.

I pull the car out in the spring, enjoy it for the season and then do the exact same procedeure in the fall except without changing the oil this time. I then run the car on that same oil the following year. So essentially that oil has been in the crankcase for two years and has ~5000kms/2500 miles on it when it comes out, and is still very clean I might add.

I'm sure many on here think this is heresy but it has worked flawlessly on a 30 year old engine that sees the hot side of the tach often and runs as good today as the day I bought it. Just offering a different side of the coin than the "dump it after 6 months" camp preaches. Best of luck in whatever route you choose