Oil Change Interval - 04 Neon 2.0 - MaxLife Blend

[racer12306]

As I remain astonished that I have yet to add oil to my engine after switching to 5w30 MaxLife Blend (previous consumption was 1qt/1200ish miles) a couple thousand miles ago (exact numbers are in the car).

Now to decide a starting point for the oil change interval. Borrowing from the sticky about oil types:


1. 2004 Dodge Neon SXT 2.0 4cyl
2. 5w30 SL and 3000 mile severe service, 6000 mile regular service per the manual.
3. Live in Maryland
4. Normally I drive to conserve fuel, but there are some times where it will get wound up to redline.
5. Daily drive is 89% interstate, 7% rural highway, 4% "city" streets, total commute is 55miles each way
6. Minor leak starting under the car, just a little wet, no other problems with the car besides the infamous noisy Chrysler 2.0 SOHC and regularly moving oil out the PCV valve on hard right turns.

I figure 5000 is easy peasy, but that may be the best starting point.

7500 seem like a good starting point?

 

[WobblyElvis]

Your driving is easy on the oil.

7,500 on conventional oil is where I would start. 10,000 miles on synthetic and 9,000 if using synthetic blend.

Check the oil level often.

 

[bulwnkl]

I used to drive a '00 Plymouth Neon (single-cam). I posted various analyses on here. Another fellow whose 'handle' escapes me at the moment posted a bunch of his Neon data, too. If the board hasn't flushed older info, look back in the 10-12, maybe 10-15 years ago timeframe. In short:

If you're going to gather empirical data from your own car & usage to set your OCI, then use the manual's recommendations as a starting point, from which the data will tell you what to do.

If you're not going to gather that data, then use the manual's recommendations.

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: WobblyElvis
Your driving is easy on the oil.

7,500 on conventional oil is where I would start. 10,000 miles on synthetic and 9,000 if using synthetic blend.

Check the oil level often.


I check it every other fill up (700 miles) at a minimum

Originally Posted By: bulwnkl
I used to drive a '00 Plymouth Neon (single-cam). I posted various analyses on here. Another fellow whose 'handle' escapes me at the moment posted a bunch of his Neon data, too. If the board hasn't flushed older info, look back in the 10-12, maybe 10-15 years ago timeframe. In short:

If you're going to gather empirical data from your own car & usage to set your OCI, then use the manual's recommendations as a starting point, from which the data will tell you what to do.

If you're not going to gather that data, then use the manual's recommendations.


I know exactly who you are talking about. I want to say it's ewetho or something like that. He had a 2003-2005 neon.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
As I remain astonished that I have yet to add oil to my engine after switching to 5w30 MaxLife Blend (previous consumption was 1qt/1200ish miles) a couple thousand miles ago (exact numbers are in the car).

Now to decide a starting point for the oil change interval. Borrowing from the sticky about oil types:


1. 2004 Dodge Neon SXT 2.0 4cyl
2. 5w30 SL and 3000 mile severe service, 6000 mile regular service per the manual.
3. Live in Maryland
4. Normally I drive to conserve fuel, but there are some times where it will get wound up to redline.
5. Daily drive is 89% interstate, 7% rural highway, 4% "city" streets, total commute is 55miles each way
6. Minor leak starting under the car, just a little wet, no other problems with the car besides the infamous noisy Chrysler 2.0 SOHC and regularly moving oil out the PCV valve on hard right turns.

I figure 5000 is easy peasy, but that may be the best starting point.

7500 seem like a good starting point?


With a good % as highway miles, 7500 is where I'd start. Take a sample and leave it in....

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'd go 7500 without issue in that engine. Port injected and there is no timing chain.

I haven't found any UOAs for this engine, but is aluminum / iron high with how noisey these engines are? Friend of mine has a 2002 and that thing sounds horrible when cold. But quiets down.

The only concern for me with going so long on an oil change is the propensity of these engines to blow the head gasket randomly. But if you're checking / adding regularly, you'll notice the loss of coolant or milkshake on the oil cap.

 

[Branson304]

I would follow the owner's manual recommendation of 6,000. Your driving conditions sound pretty easy though so 7,500 miles would be a good point to start also.

Glad to hear your engine is liking the MaxLife, it's some awesome stuff.

 

[bigt61]

7500 on Maxlife Blend is probably enough - just keep it topped off. How many total miles on this unit?

 

[AnthemBassMan]

My Wife has an '05 Neon SXT with 163,600 on it. I got it for her in '07 with only 19k on it. I've used Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 ever since I saw it on the shelf. Before that it was maybe a year's worth of changes using Mobil 1 synthetic. I've just started running extended oil changes since the beginning of the year. I change mine at roughly 7,500 miles using a Fram Ultra filter. Driving conditions are almost identical to yours. The next change I may opt for the high mileage Platinum. I've taken very good care of this car. I would have no hesitation driving it across the country.

L8R,
Matt

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I'd go 7500 without issue in that engine. Port injected and there is no timing chain.

I haven't found any UOAs for this engine, but is aluminum / iron high with how noisey these engines are? Friend of mine has a 2002 and that thing sounds horrible when cold. But quiets down.

The only concern for me with going so long on an oil change is the propensity of these engines to blow the head gasket randomly. But if you're checking / adding regularly, you'll notice the loss of coolant or milkshake on the oil cap.


I do believe they have an iron block/aluminum head. It's something about these engines that just have a really noisy valve train. I have heard of some with piston slap. Then there is the manual transmission cold noise, I swear the trans sounds like it has a handful of marbles in it when it's cold.

I'm pretty sure the head gasket hasn't been a problem since the switch to the MLS gasket. My head gasket was replaced at 95000.

Originally Posted By: bigt61
7500 on Maxlife Blend is probably enough - just keep it topped off. How many total miles on this unit?


122000 and change.

I've put almost 20k on it since October 2015, but from February 2008 to October 2015, it was driven a grand total of probably 8000 miles.

Originally Posted By: AnthemBassMan
My Wife has an '05 Neon SXT with 163,600 on it. I got it for her in '07 with only 19k on it. I've used Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 ever since I saw it on the shelf. Before that it was maybe a year's worth of changes using Mobil 1 synthetic. I've just started running extended oil changes since the beginning of the year. I change mine at roughly 7,500 miles using a Fram Ultra filter. Driving conditions are almost identical to yours. The next change I may opt for the high mileage Platinum. I've taken very good care of this car. I would have no hesitation driving it across the country.

L8R,
Matt


I was thinking of swapping to Platinum High Mileage down the road to bump the OCI since I rack up the miles, but if it doesn't use any oil now, I'll probably leave it alone.

 

[earlyre]

Used to have an 05 neon, my brother bought it new, and put the first 54k mi on it, he had a similar commute, plus dallas heat, he Stuck to 7k mi OCI's with whatever was on sale. Motorcraft, QS, whatever. When I bought it, I at first went to 3k b/c I didn't know any better, ended up settling on 6 mos. Which for me is in the 3-5k mi range, but I'm a constant short tripper....

 

[VNTS]

I would change every 6 months.

Have the 2.4 and 2.4 turbos in my Cruisers, very simple and dependable engines.

I run various xw-30 synthetics I have grabbed on sale at bogof or 2$ per qt autozone clearance.

Never had any noisey valve train or issues, just change the pcv and timing belts and these engines will run forever.

 

[Alex_V]

Maxlife @ 6,000-7,500 sounds good to me. Maxlife is good stuff, and considering your driving profile and that it's not a particularly high perf. or turbocharged engine, it can protect that engine just fine up to the longest spec'd oil change interval and then some.

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
I would change every 6 months.

Have the 2.4 and 2.4 turbos in my Cruisers, very simple and dependable engines.

I run various xw-30 synthetics I have grabbed on sale at bogof or 2$ per qt autozone clearance.

Never had any noisey valve train or issues, just change the pcv and timing belts and these engines will run forever.


6 month intervals would be in the 13000-14000 mile range.

The 2.4 is a much nicer engine than the 2.0.

 

[bulwnkl]

The Neon HG issue, at least in the initial series of engines, was that the holes in the block, especially at one end, were not always _quite_ deep enough for the head bolts. The bolt(s) would bottom out before full clamping force was achieved on the HG, so they'd blow after a while.