Maybe I'm crazy - changing engine oil at 500 miles

[thunderfog]

I changed my FF at 3k miles, which I can only assume would drive all of the masses to hate me.

"Change it early and often!"
"Let it go for the full OCI!"

Both: "What loser would choose something in between?? Pick a side, bruh."

 

[GMBoy]

At 500 miles I've decided to change my oil. I know Toyota says 10,000 but the initial break in is the most important as it can really determine the overall life of the engine or whatever component you're changing the fluid in. Maybe I'm old school not really crazy about the Mobil 1 either went with Castrol edge 0w20.

From here on out I'll probably do four to five thousand mile oil changes. Oils cheap replacing drivetrain components is not. Probably a little overkill but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Mobil 1 is a proven oil with excellent data backing it up. With that being said, any correct spec' oil off the shelf will do you fine with those short intervals. I would actually recommend you try Supertech's new 20k mile synthetic at 5k miles. That would be a very good plan and save tons of money.

 

[Revving2Redline]

So why not 300 miles? 100 miles? How is the 500 OCI break-in derived?

Probably similar to using LM Ceratec or Archoil 9100. Products need time,heat,etc to set up in the engine is my guess. Most high end cars are likely already broken-in but I would give at least 2,000 miles before swapping. That's the number given to me by Redline and the break in will help seat rings,etc.

 

[TiGeo]

Probably similar to using LM Ceratec or Archoil 9100. Products need time,heat,etc to set up in the engine is my guess. Most high end cars are likely already broken-in but I would give at least 2,000 miles before swapping. That's the number given to me by Redline and the break in will help seat rings,etc.

The question was aimed at the "metal flakes" crowd that uses this as the basis for the early oil change - so if that is the primary concern, those metal flakes are probably done by much less than 500 miles.

 

[PoorMans180SX]

i see a lot of obsessive threads on here, yet i almost never hear of an engine actually wearing out anymore. in days past, you’d see engines blowing blue smoke, losing compression, rod knocks, etc. but that seems like it never happens anymore?

not saying we shouldn’t take care of our cars - we clearly should. but considering how many people don’t even follow the manual and they evidently still aren’t wearing out many engines before the rest of the car is completely shot, are any of us doing any actual good with short oci’s, expensive oils, alternative viscosities, additives, etc.?

In most cases it becomes worn out valve seals and PCV valves causing oil consumption, or just low compression numbers. It really just depends on how long you want to keep the car and what you're willing to do to keep it that long. I have cars I never want to get rid of, which means doing anything and pretty much everything I can to keep them in good shape. Not a lot of people are that invested anymore.

Well, let's see here... Small turbocharged engines (1.0L/1.5L/2.0L) from Ford and Chevy that melt pistons at low miles. Kia/Huyndai 2.0L and 2.4L engines seem to be a hit or miss. Somehow some last 250k miles with shady maintenance, others throw a rod or start knocking at 20k-60k miles without a warning and with proper service intervals. Toyota engines that burn oil at low mileages due to low tension piston rings. Honda engines that kill turbos and bearings when oil gets overdosed on fuel in oil. I'm sure there are more. I haven't had any of these vehicles, but that's the issues the model-specific forums complain about so far. But overall yes - I do agree that there are a lot less failures these days as compared to 30+ year old vehicles.

Let's not forget Subaru's that rod knock at very low miles!

On the original note, most new engines are plateau honed (A hone after the original rough hone) to knock down the sharp edges, and run relatively low-tension rings. Depending on how you see it, that either means they're broken in very quickly, or that they are going to continue to wear in over a much longer period than older cars.

On the high performance engines I've built, we change the filter after the first time it warms up while driving it around (arp stud lube is weird and I like to get it out of the crankcase asap), then the oil and filter after 100 miles of break-in driving, then put it on the dyno and tune it for whatever power level the customer wants (usually turbocharged engines with upgraded turbos, bigger injectors, and aftermarket engine management). But these engines have very tough chrome-plated rings and so get a little rougher hone than an OEM one (most likely at least).

 

[CheezWhiz]

i like iron rings and flat tappet cams with straight 40 weight and a snap-on calendar in the background.

 

[Hermann]

i like iron rings and flat tappet cams with straight 40 weight and a snap-on calendar in the background.

With or without scantily clad models?

 

[btanchors]

My $0.02.

It is a fact (at least, in 100% of every vehicle I have purchased new in the past 46+ years) that UOAs of factory fill oil show much higher than normal metals after a few hundred miles. It's a fact.

What I cannot say is fact is how significant the higher levels of metals are in causing more wear. It is valid that UOAs generally detect sizes of particles not likely to cause wear. I do believe, however, that it is reasonable to extrapolate and state that if the UOA-sized particles are higher, that much larger particles are higher as well. In theory, these should be caught by the oil filter.

I am a big fan of earlier oil changes - between 500 and 1,000 miles.