is it ok to change the oil once a year or every 10 months if the annual milage on the vehicle is around 6000? i only drive 5 miles each way to work and my owners manual says 7500 miles or 6 months but in 6 months i may only have 3000 miles on the oil????
Q about OCI's
- Thread starter turbomazda
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Is it as your name implies a Turbo ? Under warranty ?
yes its an '07
wht do you mean by this?
If you don't want warranty issues, I'd change the oil every 6 months.
First off,
He meant "severe" conditions interval. Your manual most likely has normal and severe operating conditions. Because you never get your engine oil up to temperature, it is important to change the oil every 6 months because you will probably (depending on a myriad of factors):
1) have more fuel dilution because the engine is in warm-up mode most of the time
2) have more water in the oil that doesn't escape the oil because it doesn't get up to temp.
Now it depends on a bunch of variables, but without doing an oil analysis you can't be sure. So, you can either do a used oil analysis to determine if your oil is okay or follow the manufacturers directions. Honestly, under warranty I would still go with the manufacturers directions just to make sure I don't run into headaches later on if I have a warranty claim.
Basically what I am saying is that even though you aren't putting a lot of miles on the car, your driving situation is harder on oil then you realize (because of the 2 factors listed above).
ok thanks, the severe reccomendation is 5000 miles or 4 months. with me changing the oil on a time schedule rather than a milage schedule should i just run dino oil?, i was gonna run synthetic because it is a turbo motor but changing every 4 months @ around 2000-2500 miles seems like it would be a huge waste.
I am always worried about coking on a turbo with conventional oil. That is just my opinion. I've always felt that if you are using a turbo you need to get used to a little higher maintenance costs. Turbos are just harder on everything, including your oil. What car is this? Is this a CX7 or a Mazdaspeed?
Let me ask you this; do you run it for over 20 minutes at least once a week? That would burn off fuel and water in your oil (you could probably get away with 6 months). Is that turbo spooling alot (then I wouldn't go over 4 months without a UOA).
4 months seems a little short to me too. I would think that 6 months would be okay, but you really need to do a used oil analysis to back that theory up. For $30 (cost of UOA plus TBN analysis) it would probably be money well spent if you could get away with a 6 month interval over a 4 month interval. You'd get your money back in the same year most likely.
Let me ask you this; do you run it for over 20 minutes at least once a week? That would burn off fuel and water in your oil (you could probably get away with 6 months). Is that turbo spooling alot (then I wouldn't go over 4 months without a UOA).
4 months seems a little short to me too. I would think that 6 months would be okay, but you really need to do a used oil analysis to back that theory up. For $30 (cost of UOA plus TBN analysis) it would probably be money well spent if you could get away with a 6 month interval over a 4 month interval. You'd get your money back in the same year most likely.
its the mazdaspeed3 and coking the turbo it really what im concerned with as well. i run it for 20 minutes at freeway speeds at least 3 times a week. my last car was a VW turbo that i had many modifications done to including bumping up the boost to 20 psi but i really didnt get into the boost for extended periods of time. i ran 5w-40 per manufatures reccomendation in that car and this mazda reccomends 5w-30. i guess ill just go with a decent syn. and change at 4 or 5 months, i was considering running walmarts synthetic and changing at 3000 miles on the money but now im really confused. the more i research the more confused im getting.
Confused? Welcome to the club. You are talking about some pretty intricate science here, but it is at least interesting to me. If you aren't interested at really figuring out all of this yourself (and there isn't anything wrong with that), I would suggest Terry Dyson's services. He will give you a specific read on your car and can make real suggestions based on his years of experience. Terry can give you the no nonsense answer and make recommendations for oil choice, additives, air cleaners, service interval, etc. I've been very happy with his services and have learned a lot from him.
Get on the Pennzoil Platinum deals at Pep Boys or Kragen when they are $1.99/qt after rebate. Stock up on them at that price and it'll be a much better oil than ST syn from Walmart, AND cost less. You paid extra for the turbo on that car, don't skimp on the oil.
Use what the dealer uses, Motorcraft 5w30, and change it every 4000-5000 miles or 4 months, whichever comes first. If you can find TropArtic 5w30 at walmart it is the same (or 99% the same) as Motorcraft.
Going this route will be cheaper than high priced synthetics, and also be cheap insurance against your fuel dilution problems from short trips.
Going this route will be cheaper than high priced synthetics, and also be cheap insurance against your fuel dilution problems from short trips.
We always assume here that you do you're own oil changes.
Is that the case?
If not then you are basically asking how often to bring it in to your preferred lube place.
So which is it?
Is that the case?
If not then you are basically asking how often to bring it in to your preferred lube place.
So which is it?
Are you a member of Mazda3forum? There's a lot of back-and-forth on there as well concerning oil type and OCI. If I had a turbo anything, it would definitely be on a diet of synthetic, and Penzoil Platinum is the deal to beat right now at Pep Boys. $1.99 after mail-in rebate is cheaper than a good dino...both my vehicles are on it now. Just picked up my 3rd case last night and the form is in the mail.
Another good thing you could do for your little hot hatch is take it for a hard drive once in a while. Repeated short trips is hard on a lot of different systems....emissions being one of them. Get on the highway and 'blow the cobs out' so to speak. I'm not suggesting that you beat the #@$%! out of your car, but get the temperatures up and keep them up for a while....this is best for the oil and exaust system. True what's mentioned above....be willing to spend a little more maintaining a special car like yours. Oil is not a great place to skimp when it comes to a turbo.
Another good thing you could do for your little hot hatch is take it for a hard drive once in a while. Repeated short trips is hard on a lot of different systems....emissions being one of them. Get on the highway and 'blow the cobs out' so to speak. I'm not suggesting that you beat the #@$%! out of your car, but get the temperatures up and keep them up for a while....this is best for the oil and exaust system. True what's mentioned above....be willing to spend a little more maintaining a special car like yours. Oil is not a great place to skimp when it comes to a turbo.
is penzoil platinum full synthetic or blend (penzoil site blocked at work)
Pennzoil Platinum is a "full" synthetic, utilizing a high-quality Group III basestock.
I am not sure if you understood me right (maybe you did). But to clarify, I wasn't concerned about "cooking" the turbo. I was concerned about the coking effect on the oil that passes through the turbo. Conventional oil generally isn't as durable when it comes to the high temps and rapid temp changes associated with turbochargers and can coke up (or sludge). I am not saying this happens in all instances, just that synthetic should give you a little more margin in this area than a conventional oil would. That's my main reason for suggesting you stay with a synthetic. The Pennzoil Platinum stated above seems to be a great performer for the price.
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
Bingo!
I'll 2nd this post.
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