Community Forums

MichaelBarb · 11-07-2022, 05:06 PM

I have driven full size Ford vans for over 30 years. Gone through 4. I change my oil seasonally, spring and fall, no matter what the millage.

ln the spring after the sand and dust has been cleared from the roads I change it once. It always seems to be dirtier after the winter. Change air filter also. Sometimes I use full synthetic but not always. Depends on how much driving I am going to be doing in the summer. It also depends on where. It is amazing how much dirtier the oil gets in duster areas. I may need to change it a third time for the year.

In the fall I always use full synthetic. Makes a huge difference in starting on the cold minus F temperature mornings.

I have never had an internal egine problem.

Phil G. · 11-07-2022, 07:00 PM

FWIW: I once had an uncle with no mechanical savvy at all. In his early twenties he bought his first brand new Ford V8 sedan and it was definitely His Baby.

I was talking to him about it one afternoon and I asked him about his engine oil maintenace and if I could check his oil ... he said sure.

The oil level was OK per the dipstick ... but jet black in color. I then asked him how often he changed his oil ... he said that he had never changed it since buying the Ford new. He said that he only added a little oil once in a while if it showed as low on the dipstick. His Ford still ran great with plenty of power, and no visible smoke coming out of the tailpipe.

I asked how many miles were on the car. It was around 90K miles at that time and I confirmed it by looking at the odometer.

Are we over-thinking engine oil changes ... or are modern engines real/overly sensitive regarding maintenance ... or was my uncle just lucky?

GypsyR · 11-08-2022, 11:57 AM

Luck. Any mechanic who has been in the business for a few years can list a number of vehicles they have personally seen mechanically killed due to lack of oil changes. My personal favorite example was a brand new Volvo turbo diesel sedan leased off the lot and never seen again until the repo guy dragged it in. The oil was black on the stick and technically full but when I pulled the drain plug nothing came out. I had to dig the black goo that used to be oil out of it with a screwdriver. As much as possible. Volvo leasing "totalled" the car. It had suffered other abuse too though. It still technically ran but knocked so bad no one was brave enough to run it more than a minute or so.

I rebuilt a 1974 model motorcycle in 1987 and rode it all over half the country and locally for 40 years until I drag raced it and shot second gear through the case. To repair that I had to disassemble the rest of the engine first. The retired factory mechanic giving me a hand exclaimed at how everything in the engine looked like new and couldn't believe it hadn't been apart in 30 years. I credit the REALLY regular oil changes I give it.
These are two examples of my real life experiences that color my opinion of oil changes.

77Travco · 11-09-2022, 05:37 AM

I knew a lady that bought a brand new 1993 Toyota Camery, 4 cylinder automatic while on a cross country trip as her other car had quit on her. A few years later, the Camry quit running just past the 36k mile mark. The engine was toast. She never knew about the need to change the oil and never did any kind of maintenance.
She was also known to run out of gas sometimes because she would never pay attention to any of the gauges or lights. She had pictures covering the instrument cluster. Nice lady but clueless about cars.

Onyrlef · 11-09-2022, 05:55 AM

Sam's has the Mobil-1 full syn. 5W20 & 30, 6qts for $41.98. Limit 5 cases.

Col. Klink · 11-09-2022, 09:16 AM

I enjoy watching Scotty Kilmer on youtube. He's a mechanic with 52 years experience. In one video he show cars with ruined engines who were keeping a 10,000 mile oil change interval. The owners say the manual says its OK to do 10,000, but the 10,000 is the maximum and not the recommended interval. He says the newer cars are really sensitive to it. Scotty never goes over 5000 and that has always been my limit as well.

F4Gary · 11-09-2022, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Col. Klink

I enjoy watching Scotty Kilmer on youtube. He's a mechanic with 52 years experience. In one video he show cars with ruined engines who were keeping a 10,000 mile oil change interval. The owners say the manual says its OK to do 10,000, but the 10,000 is the maximum and not the recommended interval. He says the newer cars are really sensitive to it. Scotty never goes over 5000 and that has always been my limit as well.

That guy wears me out. Stopped watching.