Stupid question (was Changing the oil filter only)

Sorry for the stupid question...............

When I have my oil changed (and filter) ...they say 3000 mile or a
date......lets say 3 months.......If I drive my car only 1000 miles in
at 3 months , do I really need a oil change (and filter).

What if I drove my car only 3000 miles a year......do I still need to
change the oil every 3 months.........

Just how old is the oil that you buy off the shelf........1 month or 6
months......or...........

Not trying to be a wise ass.....................more question to
follow.......not the same subject...........Thanks

Bill F wrote:

> Sorry for the stupid question...............
>
> When I have my oil changed (and filter) ...they say 3000 mile or a
> date......lets say 3 months.......If I drive my car only 1000 miles in
> at 3 months , do I really need a oil change (and filter).

3000 miles or 3 months is a rather "conservative" figure. It's a nice
round number that's easy to remember. Most carmakers now specify a
slightly longer period (3750-5000) for their "severe" conditions oil
change. If you're driving short trips every day and only racking up
1000 miles......yeah - do it every three months.

> What if I drove my car only 3000 miles a year......do I still need to
> change the oil every 3 months.........

Tough call. If you're mostly taking the car out for 10+ miles at a
time and garaging it otherwise, then twice a year might be a better
choice. That's what most manufacturers would recommend. That's a
rather unusual driving pattern, and the manufacturers' periods
don't adequately cover that. What if a car is mothballed for two
years while someone is overseas? I don't think the oil needs to
be changed on a car

The ideal would be one of those cars where an onboard computer
recommends oil change times based on driving conditions and time.
Those actually crunch the numbers rather than simply provide a
"lowest common denominator" that's really meant to cover their
collective asses. Of course most people here used to 3000 mile
oil changes would freak out at how long these things say to go
between oil changes.

> Just how old is the oil that you buy off the shelf........1 month or 6
> months......or...........

I wouldn't get overly anal about it. The oil is probably stable, but
the container's seal might not be tight enough to prevent moisture
from entering.

> Not trying to be a wise ass.....................more question to
> follow.......not the same subject...........Thanks

This stuff is discussed all the time.

"Bill F" > wrote in message
...
> Sorry for the stupid question...............
>
> When I have my oil changed (and filter) ...they say 3000 mile or a
> date......lets say 3 months.......If I drive my car only 1000 miles in
> at 3 months , do I really need a oil change (and filter).
>

What schedule does the manufacturer recommend for your model of car?
Follow this, or if you are particularly fussy, shorten the schedule by 15 to
20% using the recomended oils and filters. Remember in particular that there
is much more to servicing your car than oil changes.




> What if I drove my car only 3000 miles a year......do I still need to
> change the oil every 3 months.........
>

You've got to be kidding? If you have any common sense at all, use it.



> Just how old is the oil that you buy off the shelf........1 month or 6
> months......or...........

Wasn't it born in the time of the dinasaurs? Why should it worry you? It is
not fresh cream after all!
Officially, most oils have at least a five year shelf life but an unopened
can will last almost indeffinately. Be aware that oil standards change [for
the better?] on a fairly regular basis so if you buy too much oil today, it
would probably not be suitable for thae car you run in five years time.


Huw



>
> Not trying to be a wise ass.....................more question to
> follow.......not the same subject...........Thanks

Bill F > wrote in
:

> Sorry for the stupid question...............
>
> When I have my oil changed (and filter) ...they say 3000 mile or a
> date......lets say 3 months.......If I drive my car only 1000 miles in
> at 3 months , do I really need a oil change (and filter).
>
>snip<
>
> Just how old is the oil that you buy off the shelf........1 month or 6
> months......or...........

Yes, but maybe not at 3 months, could probably extend it to 4. The
problem is all the contaminents the oil picks up while in the crankcase,
and the additives it looses while in the crankcase.
While on the shelf, the oil is not in contact with metal, rubber, fuel,
carbon deposits, water and acids like it is when it is in the crankcase.
The anti-corrosion additives in the oil get used up, whether it is
running in the motor, or sitting in the crankcase. Running the car
actually will improve the life of the oil over sitting, as a considerable
amount of the contaminents get 'boiled off' or evaporated when the oil is
heated for a long enough time.







--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email

Anthony wrote:
> Bill F > wrote in
> :
>
> > Sorry for the stupid question...............
> >
> > When I have my oil changed (and filter) ...they say 3000 mile or a
> > date......lets say 3 months.......If I drive my car only 1000 miles
in
> > at 3 months , do I really need a oil change (and filter).
> >
> >snip<
> >
> > Just how old is the oil that you buy off the shelf........1 month
or 6
> > months......or...........
>
> Yes, but maybe not at 3 months, could probably extend it to 4. The
> problem is all the contaminents the oil picks up while in the
crankcase,
> and the additives it looses while in the crankcase.
> While on the shelf, the oil is not in contact with metal, rubber,
fuel,
> carbon deposits, water and acids like it is when it is in the
crankcase.
> The anti-corrosion additives in the oil get used up, whether it is
> running in the motor, or sitting in the crankcase. Running the car
> actually will improve the life of the oil over sitting, as a
considerable
> amount of the contaminents get 'boiled off' or evaporated when the
oil is
> heated for a long enough time.

Most oil bottles are not hermetically sealed (i.e. air-tight),
with the exception of 4/5 quart jugs. You could get some moisture
in there, but I wouldn't worry about storing a bottle of oil for
four or five years.

I guess it's tricky for a car in long-term storage, or even a car
stored over the winter. I understand the ideal would be to have
the engine run every month or so, but the trick is finding someone
to do it. I can't imagine that a car that's stored and driven less
than a 100 miles over two or three years would really need to have
the oil changed every three or six months. These are "one size
fits all" guidelines for cars that actually driven regularly.

Ever consider using synthetics to extend the period between changes? More
up front cost but it basically evens out to be the same. Synthetics hold
up much better in storage as well as through regular driving intervals. If
I had a vehicle under these circimstances, I would do synthetics and only
change once a year. Just my two cents.

Bill F wrote:

> Sorry for the stupid question...............
>
> When I have my oil changed (and filter) ...they say 3000 mile or a
> date......lets say 3 months.......If I drive my car only 1000 miles in
> at 3 months , do I really need a oil change (and filter).
>
> What if I drove my car only 3000 miles a year......do I still need to
> change the oil every 3 months.........
>
> Just how old is the oil that you buy off the shelf........1 month or 6
> months......or...........
>
> Not trying to be a wise ass.....................more question to
> follow.......not the same subject...........Thanks

"Gettin Dizzy" wrote:

> If I had a vehicle under these circimstances, I
> would do synthetics and only change once a year.

FWIW, the maintenance schedule for my 2004 VW Golf (2.0L gasoline
engine) advises to change oil every 10K miles (except under severe
driving conditions, or for the very first oil change at 5K miles).

Frankly, I get nervous at the idea of going 10K miles between oil
changes -- even with synthetic oil. What do other readers think?

Rich Wales http://www.richw.org

I have a 1997 Grand Caravan with the 3.3V6. I drove it 4-miles each way to
work at about 5K to 6K a year. I figured, like you, heck with the 3-monthy
oil change and did it every 6-months. Well at 29K miles the lifters started
sticking and the engine started "ticking". It seems that the oil never got
warm enough to "burn off" contimanants, especially to allow water (from the
byproduct of combustion) to "evaporate off". Result..SLUDGE that eventually
blocked/restricted oil passages to critical engine components. So there
really IS a reason why there is a time component to oil changes as well as a
mileage component and it's written "which ever occurs first". Oil changes
are cheap...do then!

"Rich Wales" > wrote in message
g...
> "Gettin Dizzy" wrote:
>
> > If I had a vehicle under these circimstances, I
> > would do synthetics and only change once a year.
>
> FWIW, the maintenance schedule for my 2004 VW Golf (2.0L gasoline
> engine) advises to change oil every 10K miles (except under severe
> driving conditions, or for the very first oil change at 5K miles).
>
> Frankly, I get nervous at the idea of going 10K miles between oil
> changes -- even with synthetic oil. What do other readers think?
>

In areas other than the USA these cars have up to 20,000 mile service
intervals and the diesels have up to 30,000 mile intervals, so I hardly
think you should be nervous. In fact they don't even need an early oil
change in most countries but their experience in the USA was that when they
tried this, a large proportion of owners changed before the first thousand
miles to the detriment of proper running-in. If these high quality engines
have their oil changed too early they will never bed in and will consume oil
in large quantity. The reasoning of VW USA worked because when they
shortened the first oil change to 5k miles the number of people who changed
extremely early fell substantially and so they had fewer complaints of oil
consumption.
FWIW I have experience of an Audi which was serviced every 20,000 miles and
which was sweet as a nut at 200,000 miles. This does not mean that I
advocate your car to run at those intervals. I only use these examples to
illustrate why 10,000 mile services are conservative for these cars.

Huw

"James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
...
>I have a 1997 Grand Caravan with the 3.3V6. I drove it 4-miles each way to
>work at about 5K to 6K a year. I figured, like you, heck with the 3-monthy
>oil change and did it every 6-months. Well at 29K miles the lifters
>started sticking and the engine started "ticking". It seems that the oil
>never got warm enough to "burn off" contimanants, especially to allow water
>(from the byproduct of combustion) to "evaporate off". Result..SLUDGE that
>eventually blocked/restricted oil passages to critical engine components.
>So there really IS a reason why there is a time component to oil changes as
>well as a mileage component and it's written "which ever occurs first".
>Oil changes are cheap...do then!
>

Jeez! For a developed nation you put up with some really crappy engines
filled with even crappier oil.

Huw