Oil Change Intervals 3k vs Longer with full synthetic

[JAWAR326]

I was taught the old way of changing oil and filter every 3k miles as regular routine maintenance and i know oil has changed a lot over the years
Even though i run Mobil 1 Full synthetic in all my cars now i still have a hard time going over the 3k miles without doing an oil change
I would never consider going 7500 10000 miles ever and i know some people say that's fine to do but I'm not willing to take the risk
What are thoughts about 5K mile oil change intervals I run full synthetic Mobil 1 in the engines and usually run stock filters
Mopar in dodge, Mobis in hyundai, and i use napagold/wix in the wifes honda
My hyundai i will stick to 3k simply because its gdi and i spray intake valve cleaner into the engine every oil change to try to minimize carbon buildup on the valves. I also have a 20 year old pontiac that ill stick with 3k simply due to it being an older car now. is it worth sticking to 3k oil changes just to maximize engine protection?

 

[Glenda W.]

5k is the new 3k. Of course engine dependent like in the case of your Hyundai.

 

[Urshurak776]

5k is fine for most GDI vehicles, except Hyundai. Stick with 3750-4000 mile OCI on those. That is from experience with Hyundai/Kia. In fairness, I do not know anything about their newer "SmartStream" engines (2023-present.) Maybe those are better. I'm defnitely not spending my money to find out.

 

[dubber09]

Same here, the most I'm comfortable to push it to is 4k miles (5k miles was too far) with GDI while MPI engine can easily do 5k miles. But I do 4k OCI on both cars to unify the sched.

 

[Patman]

My Corvette has direct injection and I have no concerns with doing 7k intervals. In fact I have a 7400 mile UOA on here showing 0% fuel and no other issues with going that long. So I will continue to follow my oil life monitor just like I have always done with every car that has one.

 

[JavierH19]

3k is conservative and good to do in some engines with more fragile components but 5k is fine.

 

[anndel01]

6 mos/5K miles, whichever comes first. In our case, it's every 6 mos on M1, PUP or Valvoline R&P.

 

[Faawrenchbndr]

5k or less for me, I always fall under the Ford “severe service” interval

 

[johnmyster]

Every six months. Even if the mileage is low it gives you a chance to rotate tires, look at brakes, check suspension, look for new leaks, etc.

 

[Al]

Full synthetic is meaningless in today an y oil in a solid engine can go 10K miles if you keep the level up

 

[Tahoe4Life]

My Corvette has direct injection and I have no concerns with doing 7k intervals. In fact I have a 7400 mile UOA on here showing 0% fuel and no other issues with going that long. So I will continue to follow my oil life monitor just like I have always done with every car that has one.

Out of curiosity is your AFM still enabled.

 

[Patman]

Out of curiosity is your AFM still enabled.

It is, however I use the paddle shifters 99% of the time and that keeps it firing on all 8 cylinders in that mode.

 

[BigCahuna]

My 2011 Chevy Equinox's olm tells you to change the oil at 5k. And being it consumes oil, since the last change I've had to add 3 qts of oil. Or if you look at it this way 60%, of the last oil change has been replaced. That oil doesn't have 5k miles on it so if take it another 1,000 to 1500 miles, or until it needs another qt, I'm ok with that oci.,,

 

[dubber09]

5k or less for me, I always fall under the Ford “severe service” interval

Most of us if not all will fall into 'severe' - winter driving = severe! Fast or driving in mountains/hills = severe! Short tripping = severe! What is NOT severe?

 

[Faawrenchbndr]

Most of us if not all will fall into 'severe' - winter driving = severe! Fast or driving in mountains/hills = severe! Short tripping = severe! What is NOT severe?

Yep, and that drops you down to a 5K OCI vs 10k at least if you’re talking Ford.

Just putting that information out there quite a few people have no clue about the severe service interval recommendations

 

[nickaluch]

My 2011 Chevy Equinox's olm tells you to change the oil at 5k. And being it consumes oil, since the last change I've had to add 3 qts of oil. Or if you look at it this way 60%, of the last oil change has been replaced. That oil doesn't have 5k miles on it so if take it another 1,000 to 1500 miles, or until it needs another qt, I'm ok with that oci.,,

Those 2.4 love drinking oil

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

5k is fine for most GDI vehicles, except Hyundai. Stick with 3750-4000 mile OCI on those. That is from experience with Hyundai/Kia. In fairness, I do not know anything about their newer "SmartStream" engines (2023-present.) Maybe those are better. I'm defnitely not spending my money to find out.

I’d personally get rid of any vehicle that “needs” 3k oil changes. The risk of failure and the increased operating costs over the life of the vehicle make less sense than getting rid of said vehicle for something less fragile.

 

[Patman]

I’d personally get rid of any vehicle that “needs” 3k oil changes. The risk of failure and the increased operating costs over the life of the vehicle make less sense than getting rid of said vehicle for something less fragile.

It surprises me when I hear about members here who have one of these Kia/Hyundai GDI vehicles that are so failure prone unless you change the oil at such low intervals. Didn’t they do any research before buying? There’s so many other choices they could have gone with that aren’t so sensitive to oil choice/interval.

 

[walterjay]

You can easily go 5K with M1. 3,500 for the Hyundai.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

It surprises me when I hear about members here who have one of these Kia/Hyundai GDI vehicles that are so failure prone unless you change the oil at such low intervals. Didn’t they do any research before buying? There’s so many other choices they could have gone with that aren’t so sensitive to oil choice/interval.

Especially if you have ESP.

I stated the same thing previously, did they not do any research?

Now some of them try to tell other people how often they need to change their oil even with other makes.