Timeline for Is it necessary to change motor oil every 5,000km/3,000 miles?
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13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 12, 2012 at 12:48 | comment | added | vartec | IIRC, my car's manual (VW diesel engine) suggest changing oil every every checkup, checkups are every 15,000km (about 10,000 miles). However, VW only accepts synthetic oils as conforming to it's standards. | |
| Jun 6, 2011 at 17:49 | comment | added | Chad | That is true. I can say that it was true of 1980-2004 Ford Rangers and Escort wagons. They had 2 trucks and an escort and replaced one every year (at around 250k ususally selling the other one for ~1k). It also worked well for my parents ford vehicles which ran like new at 140k when they sold them. The tbird they got me for my 16th birthday did not last as long but it was well used and I drove it like i was invincable... I must have been :p | |
| Jun 6, 2011 at 15:38 | comment | added | Hendy | @Chad: I'm open to this, but your experience from even an above-average number of vehicles is not yet representative of the statistical distribution. Ideally we'd need records from thousands of different makes/models in different climates and to know their service histories. In other words, substantiate that following the manufacturer's recommendations constitutes "not caring about the life of your car post 100k miles." Lastly, I don't know of any connection between the air conditioner longevity and oil changes -- the two are independent. | |
| Jun 6, 2011 at 15:30 | comment | added | Chad | If you do not care about the life of your car post 100k miles that is true. But ever vehicle I have ever known that was operational at 150k+ had regular oil changes throughout its life. My father owned a parts store and had the oil changed on all of the delivery vehicles regularly. Despite being many being driven like they rental cars by the delivery drivers every one lasted over 150k miles. Most of them over 200k. He used standard Napa 10w30 oil no custom name brand or synthetics. Most of them even had working airconditioners when they finally surrendered to the abuse. | |
| Jun 5, 2011 at 17:21 | comment | added | David Thornley | @Werner: My earlier cars typically suggested 6000 miles for light use and 3000 miles for heavy use (and at least two-thirds of the driving around here counts as heavy), and mechanics may have gotten used to saying 3000 miles to people who insisted on the 6000. My current car tells me when it wants maintenance, but I don't know exactly how it figures it out. | |
| Jun 5, 2011 at 13:24 | vote | accept | dpatchery | ||
| Jun 4, 2011 at 14:43 | comment | added | Werner Schmitt | @Hendy as i said scanning-probe microscopy - atomic force microscope (AFM). Also there much more knowledge on plasma gas processes and using this for micro-engineering of surfaces.Clusterpyhsics (engineering of bigger molecules and their properties) is much better inspectable.Tribology might be good start. Material research is no more chemical trial & error, more dircet engineering of material properties from a physical pov.I dont expect moores law for engine oil, but therr are drastically better investigation method for mid-class firms than in 70s | |
| Jun 4, 2011 at 13:52 | comment | added | Hendy | @Werner Schmitt: on that note, I would be very interested to know what analysis methods could definitively answer this questions. I'm supposing that auto manufacturers have some and come up with 7,500 miles based on some "safe bet" set of conditions... but it would be very neat to know that one could take a sample, analyze for particle content, average hydrocarbon chain length, and whatever else, and objectively know whether they needed a change or not! | |
| Jun 4, 2011 at 12:43 | comment | added | Werner Schmitt | from a speculative pov i would assume that current state of art in lubricating properties of oil could have increased drastically, as in last decades especially physial nano-analyisis methods progressed pretty much (scanning-probe microscopy, SEM) and the 3000 mile rule is more of a legend than a myth. Of course always look in ur manual. We have a pure engine oil company here in germany, so the change rate will directly define their revenue... | |
| Jun 3, 2011 at 22:01 | comment | added | Hendy | @crasic: Good point, though in my skimming did not see any mention of alternative schedules for oil maintenance when using synthetic. Thus, I'd still stick with the manufacturer's recommendations, regardless of the type, unless more information was provided about this particular issue. | |
| Jun 3, 2011 at 21:34 | comment | added | crasic | Type of Oil plays a huge role. With all-synthetic engine oil you could get away with much more than with regular oil. | |
| Jun 3, 2011 at 19:58 | history | edited | Hendy | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jun 3, 2011 at 19:49 | history | answered | Hendy | CC BY-SA 3.0 |