I've never been overly concerned about oil changes although I am pretty good about changing the oil in my F350 with full synthetic every 25k km. However, some of our other vehicles can get a little neglected. For instance we have an old '92 Honda Accord that we've passed on from one kid to the next that now has 375000 km on it. My daughter has been pestering me to change the oil in this car for quite some time. So, today I finally performed the task. When I removed the filter I couldn't believe what I saw. I had written the date and mileage on the filter at the time of the last change....... September 2011 and 315,000 km. Man time flies, I guess it was time.

My sister did 35,000 mile oil changes on her '99 Mercury Cougar with the 2.5L Duratech V6. Or should I say, we were only able to commandeer her car once a year to do service on it, and that's how much she drove in a year. It did fine on that schedule for 4 years!

If only Honda made a HD truck with that kind of Japanese durability!

I got 5 work vans on the road 5 days a week and sometimes I don't get them serviced as often as I should and I can still get 250,000 to 300,000 miles out of the vans before replacing them, some of them do about 25,000 miles before I get the oil change but yet they just keep right on going, never lost a motor due to lack of oil change, I keep my personal autos up to service.My take on oil changes every 3 months/3000 miles is not necessary with todays modern oils and motors, I now use Mobile One 20,000 mile or 1 x per year oil change on my personal autos and my motorhome, oil still looks good even after 6 months, thinking of using the same thing on my work vans since they never see a oil change but maybe once a year or longer.I think old habits are hard to die and some still thinks that oil changes every 3000-5000 miles is a must do or you will damage the motor, well I guess if you plan on keeping it for a million miles than OK, but over the years with my business and work vans that some only see a oil change at 20,000 to 25,000 miles and still run good and not smoke all the way to 300,000 miles is proof you wont damage the motor, the main reason for replacement of vans is all the other stuff is wore out but always the motors still run good and every Craigslist buyer drives it away..My mix of vans over the past 20 years are Ford, Chevy and Dodge, Ford seems to last the longest with the least repairs over all, but the Dodge transmissions seem to last the longest.

PS - I do 100,000 fluid intervals on the 4r100 in my van. Power steering fluid is still factory!

oops .... forgot to change the oil | Good Sam Community

philh
Explorer II
Sep 30, 2018
Groover wrote:
if it makes you feel better to have an analysis and you can afford it go for it! No harm is being done.

What it showed me, between 12 & 15k miles there's an uptick in wear... however, 15k run was done in the winter, and I went through some oil (approx 2.5 qts) for some silly reason. I just checked my oil at 10k, and haven't burned a drop.
Groover
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2018
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
I'm doing three 15km filter changes and one 45km oil change unless the analysis comes back to change my mind. ... (18/ltrs)
Analysis may make sense when there's that big a crankcase. My comment about analysis was with regard to the more common 5-6 qt oil change - it's cheaper and easier to just change it at a lower interval.

It's your money - a waste of it to dump perfectly good oil when the package has barely been used. Most synthetics don't break down till 60km.
Blackstone charges $28 for an analysis. I can do an oil change for that. Who's the one wasting money?

An analysis can reveal more than dirty oil. I agree that for most private use the cost, hassle and other reasons it doesn't make sense in most cases. For example, in a car if the analysis shows rapid engine wear are you going to have the engine rebuilt as a preventative measure or just run it til it dies anyway. For commercial applications with large sumps or where reliability is demanded it makes a lot of sense. I would say that consumer diesels could go either way depending on how easy it is for you to get analysis done. Of course, if it makes you feel better to have an analysis and you can afford it go for it! No harm is being done.
mike-s
Explorer
Sep 29, 2018
ghostrider421 wrote:
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
I'm doing three 15km filter changes and one 45km oil change unless the analysis comes back to change my mind. ... (18/ltrs)
Analysis may make sense when there's that big a crankcase. My comment about analysis was with regard to the more common 5-6 qt oil change - it's cheaper and easier to just change it at a lower interval.

It's your money - a waste of it to dump perfectly good oil when the package has barely been used. Most synthetics don't break down till 60km.
Blackstone charges $28 for an analysis. I can do an oil change for that. Who's the one wasting money?

$28 just covers the cost of two filters. 18 ltrs of syn oil here is over $130. Two water/fuel filters is another $30 - so I've got $188 invested. The $28 analysis is worth it. When I was driving Cat 3116, the oil change was $300 at a Petro or TA stop.
You have a problem with reading comprehension.
ghostrider421
Explorer
Sep 28, 2018
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
I'm doing three 15km filter changes and one 45km oil change unless the analysis comes back to change my mind. ... (18/ltrs)
Analysis may make sense when there's that big a crankcase. My comment about analysis was with regard to the more common 5-6 qt oil change - it's cheaper and easier to just change it at a lower interval.

It's your money - a waste of it to dump perfectly good oil when the package has barely been used. Most synthetics don't break down till 60km.
Blackstone charges $28 for an analysis. I can do an oil change for that. Who's the one wasting money?

$28 just covers the cost of two filters. 18 ltrs of syn oil here is over $130. Two water/fuel filters is another $30 - so I've got $188 invested. The $28 analysis is worth it. When I was driving Cat 3116, the oil change was $300 at a Petro or TA stop.
ppine
Explorer II
Sep 28, 2018
A decent oil change facility operator is going to show you the full dipstick before you leave. If they don't, find another place.

If your oil analysis shows readings over the max allowed, change your interval. There is no sense in being flippant about changing oil and lubricants.
cummins2014
Explorer
Sep 28, 2018
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I do the Blackstone analysis, for one I just like to and I also don't want to change my oil every 6 mo if I am not at 15k. I am proving the oil and engine are fine running the full 15k change. MY oil change is North of $100 doing it my self and running 15k is well worth it to me with excellent results.

So if you don't follow the manual as far as the six months or 15K whichever comes first, and you have a oil related failure ( I know it would be rare ) do you think you would be covered on warranty.

I would think they would be looking at everything to deny warranty, you think they would care about the Blackstone analysis ?? I understand your thinking ,if I was paying the money you are for oil ,I too would want to get as much mileage as possible .
larry_barnhart
Explorer
Sep 28, 2018
His money to spend. Drinking beer is a waste of money among many products. Chevman
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Sep 28, 2018
I do the Blackstone analysis, for one I just like to and I also don't want to change my oil every 6 mo if I am not at 15k. I am proving the oil and engine are fine running the full 15k change. MY oil change is North of $100 doing it my self and running 15k is well worth it to me with excellent results.
mike-s
Explorer
Sep 28, 2018
ghostrider421 wrote:
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
I'm doing three 15km filter changes and one 45km oil change unless the analysis comes back to change my mind. ... (18/ltrs)
Analysis may make sense when there's that big a crankcase. My comment about analysis was with regard to the more common 5-6 qt oil change - it's cheaper and easier to just change it at a lower interval.

It's your money - a waste of it to dump perfectly good oil when the package has barely been used. Most synthetics don't break down till 60km.
Blackstone charges $28 for an analysis. I can do an oil change for that. Who's the one wasting money?
ghostrider421
Explorer
Sep 27, 2018
mike-s wrote:
ghostrider421 wrote:
I'm doing three 15km filter changes and one 45km oil change unless the analysis comes back to change my mind. ... (18/ltrs)
Analysis may make sense when there's that big a crankcase. My comment about analysis was with regard to the more common 5-6 qt oil change - it's cheaper and easier to just change it at a lower interval.

Two techs in most places: one to drain the oil and one to do everything else. Some dealerships are cheap and one guy does both.

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