You Can't Change Your Oil Too Much!

[doublebase]

You Can't Change Your Oil Too Much!

Or at least this was the conventional wisdom when I was a kid back in the 70s. I have followed this for all of my adult life and I can say that it has always worked for me.

If a vehicle's recommended OCI was 4k miles, i would almost always change it before 3k. If oil was on sale and I was doing one vehicle, I would sometimes change multiple vehicles just to take advantage of the sale.

These days it's not unusual to see recommended OCIs of 8k or 10k miles... I have a hard time believing that oil and engines have improved that much.

Apparently there's an idea floating around out there now that frequent OCIs can contribute to engine wear due to the additive package not being allowed to dissolve or break down sufficiently.

With racing machines, it's fairly common to change the oil after every race. However racing vehicles aren't intended for longevity, the goal is speed.

So is it still true? Is it possible to change your oil too often? Or is this marketing malarkey from engine manufacturers?

Or both?!

The thought process behind this is that the first 3,000 miles of an oil change is where the most wear occurs during an interval (because of the additives), so in theory if you change the oil every 3,000 miles you are always subjecting your engine to that wear. I don’t know if I buy this or not, but the theory is if you can go to say 5,000-7,000, or whatever, you’ll have a good 2,000-4,000 miles of less wear on your engine internals. And the filter will also become more efficient in that range. It was an SAE article/study. I think more information, study, clarification, common sense, is also needed. Doesn’t matter to me, I change my oil every 5,000-7,500 miles anyway. Sometimes even 10,000, but I have an engine that is not direct injected, no turbo, easy on oil (historically, with UOA’s to back that up). And no oil usage between intervals.

 

[Astro14]

Depends on the oil.

Depends on the car.

Depends on how it’s used.

You can change it too much, but more cars are neglected than “over-loved”.

The biggest loser in changing it too often is your wallet.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Not in a Hyundai turbo.

Or a Ford Escape with the 3 cylinder, Turbo engine

 

[64bawagon]

I buy my oil and filters on sale or clearance so theres likely no one in town that does their oil changes cheaper than me. I always use the weight and spec that the OEM says to and a good quality filter. Over the years I have steadily increased my knowledge of oil and filtering (definitely a rabbit hole) and the more I learned the more I followed the OEM intervals/OLM system.
The biggest factor in this journey is vetting your information sources. Theres a lot of people out there that will tell you what their cousins next door neighbors brother in law told them..... as if it were gospel.

 

[Greasymechtech]

What economic impact if there is no vehicle downtime, excessive oil consumption, numerous parts failures, or engine failure and replacement?

You maintain your vehicle for YOUR expectations. Most treat their disposal vehicles like bubblegum. Chew it, spit it out, and get the next best thing.

I haven't found anyone anywhere changing their oil too much. My intervals are match for severe service and definitely are not too much.

Studies can be picked apart. None of my better maintained vehicle show signs of excessive wear when compared to the neighbors/coworkers/family/friends that follow their textbook manual/OLM religiously at the dealer.

 

[atikovi]

Changing your oil prior to 5,000 miles is a "money flush". And one could argue even that interval is a "money flush".

Oil is cheap, engine repairs are not. By 3,000 miles most oil looks pretty dark and obviously whatever those particles are that cause it to turn dark aren't trapped by the oil filter. Only an oil change will remove them.

 

[BERLIN]

Every vhecle owner has to decide what's best for them but changing oil that has service life left is a waste of both resources and money and the time to do it yourself or drive to a service center, that's why I like AMSOIL yearly OCI with a top quality lube with a solid data sheet for anyone to view, other lubricant companies data sheets are often incorrect, outdated and short on data.

 

[Zee09]

I'm not going to dump VW 504 oil out at every 3k miles... I will however use that money to do a trans service and spark plug change at every 40k as specified instead.
I prefer a more conservative all over maintenance approach...
Tires also seem to be a 40k replace item ...first set anyways.

 

[ka9mnx]

I changed the Ranger, 4Runner and F-150 at one year or 5-6,000 miles but that's about to change. The 4Runner usually never gets to one year before it breaks the 6,000 mile mark and gets changed earlier than one year. The Ranger barely makes 2,500 miles in one year and is going to a two year OCI. The F150 barely makes 1,500 miles in a year and is going to 3 year oil changes.
Flame suit is on

 

[SavetheRimBrake]

I have a hard time believing that oil and engines have improved that much.

That doesn’t invalidate the improvements made to engines and engine oil.

 

[RooflessVW]

It is my opinion that frequent oil changes (≤5,000 miles) keeps timing chains healthy.

Diesel and GDI soot does not get filtered out.

The more chain you have, the more wear points, the faster it will "stretch."

 

[twX]

Some studies show that used engine oil has better anti-wear properties than new motor oil. However, the primary purpose of changing engine oil is not to improve the anti-wear properties of the oil (though it will improve if there is an excessive amount of metal, soot, or dirt in the oil). The main benefit to frequent oil changes is in preventing sludge and varnish, which can cause oiling issues which contribute to excessive wear in the long term. Changing the oil also gives an opportunity to check for contamination issues.

A downside of doing any maintenance too often is that every time someone puts a wrench on a car, there's a chance that something goes wrong. Take your car to Quicky Lube twice as often and there will be twice the risk that a grease monkey will double gasket your oil filter or forget to tighten your drain plug. Sometimes you might even be the grease monkey with the brain fart.

 

[AuthorEditor]

One huge factor in my thinking (mentioned by Berlin above) is that my time is worth a lot to me, and though I don't mind changing oil from time to time it is not something I find as valuable as other things I would like to be doing instead. Even though I am technically retired I am just as busy as I was when working. I have lots of interests and things to do in my life, and changing oil is not high on the list of value to me. So, I prefer to change it less often, but still well within the period that ensures the engine will outlast the rest of the vehicle. I have never had an engine failure before the car needs to be junked or sold for other reasons.

 

[wpod]

Removing lead from the gas did wonders for reducing the contaminants in the blow by.

 

[TiGeo]

In before someone tells me their short-interval oil changes got their car to some high mikeage milestone...as if someone with 5-10K hasn't also had the same results...opps too late!

 

[simple_gifts]

change your oil, and change it often. I will never do a 7500 or 10,000 mile change

Some people join the site, ingest technical info and make informed decisions about the safety of extending oil changes for their driving habit and vehicles; others just reiterate the mythology.

10K might not be for you, but it is not a concern for others. JMO

 

[WobblyElvis]

There is always a downside to changing your oil. Cost, time and the increased risk of doing something wrong.

The real question is, where is the limit where extending oil changes causes problems? I do longer than average oil change intervals and have never seen any indication or oil related problems. Maybe I have wasted a lot of time and money over the years.

 

[CKN]

Oil is cheap, engine repairs are not. By 3,000 miles most oil looks pretty dark and obviously whatever those particles are that cause it to turn dark aren't trapped by the oil filter. Only an oil change will remove them.

Sir,
It's been discussed on here NUMEROUS TIMES color has no bearing on what the oil may be doing/or not doing.

 

[fantastic]

I call it B.S. Before the "advancement" of CAFE regulations on car companies like Toyota and Honda, they used to build nice tight engines that went for hundreds of thousands of miles without burning a drop of oil.

Today those same "advanced" engines are now fitted with low tension piston rings to "improve" rotational resistance. All to boost CAFE numbers and credits.

The end result is now many burn oil, (as much as a quart every 1,000 miles). And are told by dealerships this is "normal" oil consumption. It wasn't 20 years ago before all of these "advancements" were put in place.

These same low tension rings allow for fuel dilution of the oil in the crankcase on many Honda engines. Again, all as a direct result of these wonderful, "advancements".

Both require more frequent oil changes in order to combat the negative effects. It's not a, "mindset". But rather a necessity brought about by all of these wonderful, modern, "improvements".

Vehicles are subject to a lot more power in a smaller package & then add in the emission. Still there have been advancements in engine design. There are also many components on the engine that last longer today too. Let's take spark plugs as an example. The OEM's have been doing 100k plug changes for many years now. I would not change them out simply b/c the old tech said to change them every year.

I'm not saying the new tech is issue free & that is why I outlined Fuel Delusion specifically. If one were to not use a UOA or go by the manual then absolutely change at the set schedule. For a lot of us BITOG that want to maximize our oil change investment or to at least follow the OLM then I don't believe there is any harm in that just like I don't believe there is harm in changing it early. We live in America so change your oil as you see fit. I do think that a person is capable of changing too much in the sense that there is nothing wrong with the oil & doesn't need to be changed yet. That it can remain in use either verifying with UOA or simply going by the OLM.

I will tell you about the oil burning & my opinion is that there IS a time period where having to add oil to an oil burner gets to be cost effective to just go ahead & change the oil. My saturn burned about 1qt per 2k or so & I topped it off several times. When the OL (Oil Light only) came on I would change it. Usually around 5,500 miles. I never got a UOA on this car before I handed it over to one of the young new drivers in the family.

To say "You can't change oil to much" in my mind implies that a person is changing the oil Regardless if it needed to be or not. IMO if there is nothing wrong with the oil then there is no reason to change it. To be clear I'm not against anyone that chooses to change their oil as they see fit. We're all on an Oil forum after all right.

Sir,
It's been discussed on here NUMEROUS TIMES color has no bearing on what the oil may be doing/or not doing.

Especially true in my diesel trucks. The old 7.3L was turning the oil black just going down the fill cap.

 

[doitmyself]

Time to stir the pot and poke the bear. The "increased wear with too frequent changes" probably comes from the 2007 Ford study: https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2007-01-4133/ , discussed ad nauseam on the interweb.

OCI will never have a consensus here. @bilt460 is most correct: "It all falls into the same category of trying to B.S. yourself.... " (cognitive distortion). As a successful recovering OCDer, it is liberating to choose moderation with most decisions (i.e., shower once a week whether needed or not, lol).