Interesting article - oil changes/Edmunds

[jtmann]

Stumbled across this article and was struck by what Edmunds said about oil & filer change frequency:
"….Reed says you should plan on changing the oil and filter in newer cars about once a year, or every 16,000 km…."

It is Edmunds so I assume they're credible in the statement - any comments from the forum - agree or disagree?

Quoted from:
tinyurldotcom/bpet4ba

[AML]

This has been covered ad infinitum all over. Toyota says 5k miles on conventional, 10k on synthetic. One of our members just did a Used Oil Analysis on his Camry and it was good at 7,500 miles with plenty of life left.

[leakyseals]

IMO disagree, think the length of an OCI depends on conditions, there is no set number.

What to consider:
1) Synthetic or dino. Conventional oils are much better today, for extended intervals beyond 7500 would use synthetic IMO.

2) Service conditions. I use:

% City [----25----50----75----]
....OCI...10k.......7500......5k

% HWY[----25----50----75----]

....OCI.........5k...7500.......10k

3) Mechanical condition. Burn oil, fuel contamination, coolant leak, sludge, etc. This one can be analyzed with a UOA stated in reply above.

4) Timing. I think a winter and a summer change is best. Clean oil before hot and cold periods.

Using this maybe you can figure out what works best for you.

[JustAnotherAsian]

i double-dare you to change your oil once-a-year.

[Foques]

well, it does show or every 16.000Km.. it is close to 10K miles. which is what toyota recommends now.

[Donald E. George]

Oil and filters are relatively inexpensive compared with with an engine change out. Best maintenance anyone can give a car. Go with the spring and fall oil and filter changes.Regards

[deadrx7conv]

If Edmunds is willing to give me an unlimited mileage engine warranty, I'll do what they tell me.

Until then, I'll maintain it as early as I want according to my needs and budget. An oil change is cheaper than a new car payment.

State of California is treating oil changes like incandescent light bulbs:
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...l-changes.html

Time for you to plead guilty to excessive oil changes and go to jail.... pulls tinfoil hat down tighter.

[AML]

Originally Posted by deadrx7conv

If Edmunds is willing to give me an unlimited mileage engine warranty, I'll do what they tell me.

Until then, I'll maintain it as early as I want according to my needs and budget. An oil change is cheaper than a new car payment.

State of California is treating oil changes like incandescent light bulbs:
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...l-changes.html

Time for you to plead guilty to excessive oil changes and go to jail.... pulls tinfoil hat down tighter.

Originally Posted by Donald E. George

Oil and filters are relatively inexpensive compared with with an engine change out. Best maintenance anyone can give a car. Go with the spring and fall oil and filter changes.Regards

Originally Posted by JustAnotherAsian

i double-dare you to change your oil once-a-year.

http://papers.sae.org/2007-01-4133/

" In one of our previous studies it was observed that engine oil samples collected from fleet vehicles after 12,000 mile drain interval showed 10-15 % lower friction and more importantly, an order of magnitude lower wear rate than those of fresh oils."

"As in the previous study, the results showed that the aged engine oils provide lower friction and much improved wear protection capability. These improvements were observed as early as the 3000 mile drain interval and continued to the 15000 mile drain interval."

[deadrx7conv]

There are too many variables in most SAE papers, but they always like to come to 'conclusions'. Read it an enjoy it, but by no means expect that it is 'fact'.

As we've seen with the 2.2/3.0 sludge monsters, there are other oil issues and wear isn't the only thing that we worry about.

[AML]

I've been running 10k intervals in my vehicles for about the last 7 years for about 500k combined miles now. Never had a single engine problem.

Ask the taxi drivers in Europe how many oil related engine problems they've had with their 25,000 mile interval.

[JustAnotherAsian]

Originally Posted by AML

I've been running 10k intervals in my vehicles for about the last 7 years for about 500k combined miles now. Never had a single engine problem.

Ask the taxi drivers in Europe how many oil related engine problems they've had with their 25,000 mile interval.

10,000 mile intervals are fine. it's just adding the "once-a-year" to the title that's a bit misleading. you can't say that to a typical california car owner.

edit: i do mine almost religiously every 5k, but i used to use my car for my courier work. i should move on to 7,500 mile intervals like originally intended in the maintenance guide, but habits stick. lol.