Oil change: Mileage or Months?

[jeff]

Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Was changing my oil today, I use full synthetic and usually change it between 4000-5000 miles. Sure it can go 7500 but meh, that's another discussion. I have some car friends who swear by "even if you don't make the mileage you need to change it every xx months!" With pandemic/lockdown a whole lot of cars weren't/aren't getting driven and the mileage isn't racking up, but still some say that oil sitting too long needs to be changed regardless of mileage if too much time goes by.

So, mileage or months?

 

[Dpro]

I have a car that does not get driven a lot. In my opinion if the oil has been sitting for a few months but is still clean it’s fine. Molecular break down does not happen by sitting. On the other hand if the car has been driven hard for awhile and then allowed to sit there could be containments in the oil that would cause some breakdown. Which takes it back to the first point of if it’s clean or not. I use that as a determining factor. As far as how many miles that indeed is another question as Ford themselves has I believe a 7k change rate currently. I know this because I have the sticker from when I was still on stock turbo and having them do warranty changes.

 

[CarGuy]

Just like brake fluid which should be flushed every 2 years because it absorbs water, oil should be changed even when sitting. I believe the standard that most adhere to for oil is 1 year.

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[TyphoonFiST]

I do mine Every 5k no matter what*

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[CarGuy]

I do mine Every 5k no matter what*

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Right now I'm only adding about 3k a year so once a year for me.

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[TyphoonFiST]

I do mine Every 5k no matter what*

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I also do Blackstone oil reports every change. They have Said I could push it to 7k as the additives are still plentiful and not much Gasoline contamination.

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[Zormecteon]

It's whichever comes first. If you're doing 5000, or 3000 or 7500, that's up to you and manufacturer recommendations, but no more than ONE YEAR in any scenario. The oil doesn't break down but the additives do.

 

[flbchbm]

It's whichever comes first. If you're doing 5000, or 3000 or 7500, that's up to you and manufacturer recommendations, but no more than ONE YEAR in any scenario. The oil doesn't break down but the additives do.

Yeah, I've read that the oil becomes acidic after a year of little to no driving. That's why you change the mower oil before winter, not after. Then I read another article in contrary to it...

 

[haste]

All depends on how much it's driven and where it is stored. If it's stored outside and not driven much, change it by date. If it's driven often and hits the mileage mark, change it.


My '02 Focus SVT gets around 3-5k miles put on it each year, so I change it annually. The other two cars get changed by mileage.

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

Time if not hitting 5k

 

[Capri to ST]

I change it once a year since I only drive about 4,000 miles a year. Changing the oil is one of the best things you can do for your car as far as preventive maintenance goes, and I don't like letting oil sit in it for longer than a year.

 

[iammacey]

The FiST gets changed at 5k, so usually twice per year. Motul 5w30.

Same with the Gladiator.

I only do approximately 2k miles a year on the GT4, so it gets changed annually.

 

[Tonda-B]

So, mileage or months?

Both.
5000 miles is OK,
12 months is OK too.
Whichever comes first.

 

[Ford ST]

On the ST I do 5,000 miles or 12 months. I personally worry about the additive package breaking down due to contaminants from the combustion process.

I used to be on a Ford focus site, I was on it for several years and one of the reasons I actually left it is because of this particular discussion. Of course the differences on this site is 99% of you are reasonable, but on that site most people were morons.

Anyway the individual that made it a toxic Hell hole, I made him lose his mind when I told him he was basically a fool to think it was ok to change the oil once every 3 years if a car is not driven much. I tried to tell him about the oil becoming acidic even gave him a few links that talked about this particular subject. Yeah he lost his mind very glad to be done with that site.

At the end of the day your car your choice. But it costs less money to do a synthetic oil change with a OEM filter than a tank of 93 gas.

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[TyphoonFiST]

On the ST I do 5,000 miles or 12 months. I personally worry about the additive package breaking down due to contaminants from the combustion process.

I used to be on a Ford focus site, I was on it for several years and one of the reasons I actually left it is because of this particular discussion. Of course the differences on this site is 99% of you are reasonable, but on that site most people were morons.

Anyway the individual that made it a toxic Hell hole, I made him lose his mind when I told him he was basically a fool to think it was ok to change the oil once every 3 years if a car is not driven much. I tried to tell him about the oil becoming acidic even gave him a few links that talked about this particular subject. Yeah he lost his mind very glad to be done with that site.

At the end of the day your car your choice. But it costs less money to do a synthetic oil change with a OEM filter than a tank of 93 gas.

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Was his name Bob? Bob the oil guy?

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[Ford ST]

Was his name Bob? Bob the oil guy?

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No but man he sure was a idiot.

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[abrahamovaca]

i think kilometers.

 

[pixelzombie]

Synthetic oil doesn't break down as easily as conventional motor oil. My first car with a turbo was a Mazda MX6 and I'd change the oil every 6 months. It ran fantastic to 130,000 miles until I got rear ended and the car was a write off. I would've easily been able to reach 200,00 miles assuming the drivetrain held up.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^True, but it still does not totally combat/neutralize/eliminate the internal component eating acidity caused by the combustion process, oxidation, and moisture, no matter how great the additive package, or how high the starting TBN.

But yes, 6 months is FINE, especially for a quality synthetic, unless the car is ever ONLY 'short-tripped' in cold weather and never ever gets hot enough, for a long enough period of time, to burn off the moisture and wash down fuel in the oil.

 

[METZGER]

I have done mine every 5000km since brand new.. The car is never sitting long enough to go by time as it's our only car.

We ignored the BS lockdowns here in messed up Victoria Australia.. we were out trying to see what they were up to while they expected us to stay inside.. spraying us like bugs and rushing to put the deadly 5g towers up (microwave weapons)..

I have to do gearbox oil change every 12 months as it gets very notchy shifting gears and nearly drivable.. need a better gear oil. I been using Penrite Pro Gear, forgotten the viscosity..

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