Question about Oil Change Interval

[Cristobal]

My buddy lives near New York City. His wife has a 1998 Nissan Sentra that gets driven only about 1200 miles oer year. All of it is of short trips of six miles or less.

He asks how often the oil and filter need changing. My impression is that it should be done yearly, with a good anti-sludge type such as PYB. The filter is less critical. A good filter designed for long distances like the Fram Ultra might go for five years. A regular filter, change it with every oil change.

Your thoughts?

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

Annually is my recommendation. Oil and filter both. Get the car inspected for safety items like brakes, steering and suspension at the same time. I'm surprised that car hasn't rusted to death out there.

 

[Nick1994]

Yup I'd do oil and filter once a year.

 

[UltrafanUK]

2 years is perfectly OK if you are using a major brand full synthetic. Oddly enough one of the limiting factors is not the oil itself, but the oil filter seal.

 

[cmhj]

annually

 

[gallydif]

I was in the same situation as your friend. Did the change yearly. Sent a sample to Blackstone. Blackstone said it's perfectly fine, I can go an extra year between changes. Now I'm doing it once every 2 years. Do about 1k a year mainly short trips.

 

[BrocLuno]

The short trips are really hard on the engine and oil. They never really get up to temp except in the summer ...

I'd prolly change the oil twice a year as the driving pattern falls into the severe duty category ...

I'd be running a very aggressive cleaning oil like Pennz Ultra or Mobil 1. I'd just run a Fram filter as the filter age/mileage is nada ... But, the first few changes after going to a more aggressive oil will be generating some contaminates, so oversized would not hurt

 

[The_Eric]

Once a year with something cheap.