Community Forums

Grandpadave · 03-03-2013, 06:01 AM

Is it appropriate to change your engine oil every year if you only put 1-2 k miles on it? Or is every 3-5 k ok even if its every 2 years?

dsbike · 03-03-2013, 06:11 AM

I change mine once a year, and I drive 2-3 k per year. The problem isn't that the oil is dirty, but with the inactivity of driving the vehicle moisture can developed in the oil. There for you should change it. Most manufactures actually recommend a higher mileage than 3 k and a 6 month interval for conventional oils or 12 months for synthetic.

Triker56 · 03-03-2013, 06:12 AM

I have been changing mine every two years with less then 7,000 miles.
Regular calls for 15,000 miles before a change or once a year.

I'm betting the engine will out live me by many, many years.

HD4Mark · 03-03-2013, 06:13 AM

Diesel or gas? The manual for our Cummins says 10,000 miles or one year. We never put 10K on in a year so I change it myself. Some folks have gone to using an oil analysis company rather than changing it so often. That is probably a less expensive alternative but so far I have just changed it.

If you plan to pay to have it done the analysis might be a much cheaper way to go.

Grandpadave · 03-03-2013, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD4Mark

Diesel or gas? The manual for our Cummins says 10,000 miles or one year. We never put 10K on in a year so I change it myself. Some folks have gone to using an oil analysis company rather than changing it so often. That is probably a less expensive alternative but so far I have just changed it.

If you plan to pay to have it done the analysis might be a much cheaper way to go.

Sorry, it's gas. 2004 With 16,000 miles

vsheetz · 03-03-2013, 08:50 AM

I change all our low usage engines once/year in my birthday month. The coach (and genny), Jeep, old truck, lawn tractor, backup generator, etc. Wife's car which runs 10-15k miles a year gets synthetic oil change every 7500 miles.

Tha_Rooster · 03-03-2013, 09:36 AM

My cat is yearly reguardless of mileage and I believe even gassers say yearly reguardless of mileage I would read the manual. In the end it's yours do what ever you feel comfortable with the people replying aren't going to pay when it tears up.

RickO · 03-03-2013, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

My cat is yearly reguardless of mileage and I believe even gassers say yearly reguardless of mileage I would read the manual. In the end it's yours do what ever you feel comfortable with the people replying aren't going to pay when it tears up.

Ditto. Our Cummins is the same and I change yearly.

It may help get better responses to your questions if you add the year, make, and model of your rig to your signature so that all of your posts indicate to everyone what you are driving.

Best of luck.

Rick

Grandpadave · 03-03-2013, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

Ditto. Our Cummins is the same and I change yearly.

It may help get better responses to your questions if you add the year, make, and model of your rig to your signature so that all of your posts indicate to everyone what you are driving.

Best of luck.

Rick

2004 seabreeze national 1311 gas with 16,000 lies on it

Pepper2 · 03-03-2013, 04:05 PM

I change mine at the end of the camping season every year.

Benny367 · 03-03-2013, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepper2

I change mine at the end of the camping season every year.

XX2

and I also change the oil in the generator too.

HD4Mark · 03-04-2013, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grandpadave

Sorry, it's gas. 2004 With 16,000 miles

No problem

Our last rig was an '04 gasser V10 Ford. I changed that once a year too. Much easier and less expensive with only 6qts of oil and a small filter compared to the 24qts and massive filter in the diesel.

I got looking at the V10 crammed in to the class C van type chassis and though "if that blows up it is going to be really expensive". So I used Mobil 1 synthetic every year hoping to keep it forever. That didn't happen but hopefully the new owner will years of fun out of it.

deandec · 03-05-2013, 10:06 AM

Appropriate? No one can say specifically.

Most folks err on the side of caution and change yearly or every three thousand miles following the manufacturer recommendations.

Jiffy Lube will tell you when they think you need to change the oil, in order to max their revenues.

The manufactures present the oil change frequency erring on the side of caution to avoid warranty claim issues.

Oil analysis at about $35 a test will tell you can retain the old oil in your engine for a much, much longer time. But it is probably just as cheap to change the oil in a gas rig rather than paying the cost of the oil analysis.