Best time of the year to do an oil change?

FCD

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Oct 22, 2015
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Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
In an old, carbureted engine with points ignition, would right before winter be the best time to change the oil?
My logic is that during the winter ( i drive it year round ) the engine takes quite a while to warm up, so the automatic choke stays on for longer which means the engine is running richer, and more fuel is being dumped in the oil.
Or would right before summer be the best time? It can get to nearly 100F in July and August here and the engine does get quite hot if it has to run for a long time in that heat, even though it never gets to the point of overheating.
Bit of an odd question but what would you do?
 
Just my own approach, but in my BMW, I change the oil right after Winter, typically in April. I figure the oil took a beating during winter due to low ambient temps, often running at below operating temps. This is when I observe mayo under the oil cap. So I figure, I want to get that beat up oil out instead of continuing to run it for the following three seasons.
 
If its driven enough all year round, why not before and after winter?
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Should summer be affecting the oil's viscosity, might be worth changing. Solving excessive moisture or fuel in the oil is easier - nice long motorway drives.
 
If its a cold winter there is a good chance that the used oil will not meet the cold pumpability requirements if its well used. This may only matter in cold starts below -25C If the winter is just around 0 C +/- at the coldest, It wont likely matter. Studies have shown Engine will exhibit lower wear 2/3 of the way into the OCI, typically.
 
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....Balearic Islands.... Really?

Of course it is in the morning.... preferably before the doo-gooders wake-up so you have time for 1/2 hour test drive

ALso, I thought you in Europe have access to true synthetics?
 
The lowest temperature we have in January-February would be about 0C ( 32F ) in the morning that is, it always warms up to 10-15c ( 60F ) during the day.
I usually just change the oil once a year, since i don't drive it more than 1800 ish miles every year.
 
Originally Posted By: pandus13
....Balearic Islands.... Really?

Of course it is in the morning.... preferably before the doo-gooders wake-up so you have time for 1/2 hour test drive

ALso, I thought you in Europe have access to true synthetics?

Yes, Mallorca to be precise why?
I'd rather not run synthetic oil in it as it's an engine that is 36 years old, that has about 100k miles on it, i'm going to start using Valvoline VR1 20W-50 dino in it, maybe a 15W-40 HDEO.
And as i said i only do 1800 miles or so in a year with it so dumping it in a year seems like a waste of money.
 
For annual oil changes I like to do it in November before the cold weather really sets in. If I change the oil twice a year then I did it May and November. I have two vehicles on the annual schedule and one based on miles driven, which often means changing oil when its cold out. Fortunately I have a garage and portable heat in it if needed.
 
Our winters here are not harsh at all, but still the winter is about 15-20c colder than the summer, we get snow maybe once every winter, and daytime temps have only been below freezing once since i can remember, after all we are 200 miles from the coast of Africa, but it gets cold enough that the engine takes noticeably longer to warm up than in summer.
 
There could be a lot of fuel dilution in the oil over the winter. I would want that out of there before summer temps, so I would change in the spring if the car only got one oil change per year. Or better yet, spring and fall. Oil isn't that expensive.
 
Oil is more expensive here than in the states, in the states Valvoline VR1 can be found as cheap as 1$ a quart, here it's about 5-7$ a quart.
I think i'll change it in spring then, so as soon as a notice the oil level on the dipstick has dropped, as i currently have no oil to add.
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Our winters here are not harsh at all, but still the winter is about 15-20c colder than the summer, we get snow maybe once every winter, and daytime temps have only been below freezing once since i can remember, after all we are 200 miles from the coast of Africa, but it gets cold enough that the engine takes noticeably longer to warm up than in summer.

This clarify your local conditions, please respectfully ignore my previous post, i was trying to pull your leg...
 
Originally Posted By: umungus1122
Spring. If you do it once a year, I'd do it in the spring.


+1

Spring to get some clean 10W-30 or 40 in there for the heat. Since the changes are reasonably frequent (mileage wise), I would not spend the money on synthetic. Just good dino oil with proven track record
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Originally Posted By: umungus1122
Spring and fall


+1

I run conventional and with the mileage I do, I find this is the best schedule to follow.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Are we being a little OCD about this?


Isn't OCD about oil the reason for Bitog?
 
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