Oil change interval?

time2roll wrote:

Eric&Lisa wrote:
Daily driver #1: 306k miles.
Daily driver #2: 296k miles.

Both on original motors, never been rebuilt. I am religious about doing oil changes every 1500-2k miles. I do them myself, less than $25 in oil + filter, and about 20 minutes of work.

Take it for what it is worth. That is my personal experience, and I am sticking with it.

-Eric

Changing at 10,000 most likely would create the same result.

You could change every 500 miles but there would not be any real proof it was necessary.

Do you change your belts and tires annually too?

Ah, see there is another thing! Because I am regularly under the hood of my vehicles, I am noticing wear before it becomes a problem. So do I change belts annually? Nope, but I do proactively change them before they become a problem and are fully worn out.

Transmissions are serviced annually though, every October. Drop the pan, change the filter, change the fluid. Original transmissions in both daily drivers too.

Your reference to tires is not applicable. Tires have a visible wear indicator telling you when they should be replaced. Modern vehicles attempt to have a similar function for oil, but it is based on mileage, driving habits, or something like that - not the actual condition of the oil. There are no sensors in the motor which determine there are too many contaminates in the oil or it is starting to lose its lubrication ability.

My neighbor has a Suburban of similar vintage to my GM daily driver vehicles. He changes oil every 5k - 6k miles. The 'burb is on its 2nd motor. He thinks he needs to change it again as it is down on power and is starting to consume oil.

As I said, take it for what it is worth. I'm sticking with it. In my experience frequent oil changes are the cheapest maintenance I can put in to the internals of a motor. Your experiences may be different.

Some philosophy....

When I see questions or topics about oil changes, it isn't about the oil change interval. The question really is, 'How long can I defer vehicle maintenance before it hurts me?' The answer to that varies based off the individual and there is no one right answer that fits everyone.

Myself for example... Cars are expensive items to replace. I (obviously) drive them as long as I can before replacement. Therefore, for me it makes sense to be aggressive on my maintenance schedule.

Someone else... They may really like having new cars and the payments that go along with them. They know they will move on to a new vehicle every few years. They don't care if deferred service affects the long term wear on the vehicle. A different person will own it when it becomes a problem. So going as far as they can between oil changes makes sense for them.

-Eric