Oil Change routines

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Oil Change routines

April 07, 2013, 06:39:11 PM

Hello...

In the interest of curtailing expenses, I have cutback oil changes in recent years. This with several things in mind. First, the TBird is way old (1988) and the other vehicle is an '89. Second, much preaching has been heard in the past decade on the subject of the better quality lubricants and modern engines that are better able to run on the extended life period of oils...and so on. And also, we do not drive these 2 cars as much, so they sit longer as well--we do not use them on trips. Today, I went ahead and changed the filters on the 2 vehicles figuring on the theory those filters will still spoil (crud up) in a short time due to the age of the vehicles and the aged oil. I add a new quart but keep the rest in the pan. In fact, the larger vehicle seemed to have a locked up filter (spin the filter off and nothing from the engine poured out--although the filter is full?). SO, I ask, what is the opinion on this? Anyone else do this? I had not changed the oil in these vehicles since mid last year and wondered whether this practice will get me into trouble. The oils look OK on the stick. I cannot imagine just leaving a filter in place for as long as the oil. Also, these vehicles need to have the ball joints and steering gear lubed up periodically--you cannot ignore that.

JR

Oil Change routines

Reply #1 – April 07, 2013, 06:46:39 PM

I've seen plenty of new engines that were damaged even though the OEM guidelines were followed. GM even recently announced a recall where they're reprogramming the oil life monitors on their vehicles because of high warranty costs due to oil-related wear. Frequent changes are cheap insurance. That's all I've got to say on the matter...

Oil Change routines

Reply #2 – April 07, 2013, 06:47:25 PM

Normally storage is harder on oils than driving. The contaminants and acids are in the oils as they sit. No sense in changing a filter if you dont change oil. Normally i change the oil before storage, I have been doing this for years. But i normally change oils in my TOYS more often than my DD. Been doing this for years. Just me!!!

If you drive a TOYOTA you better change oil or the engine will sludge up real nice.

Oil is cheap engines are not. Change oils it is cheap insurance. Just my thoughts on the subject!!

Oil Change routines

Reply #3 – April 07, 2013, 06:59:33 PM

I'm with Tom & Thunder on this. It's cheap insurance.

Oil Change routines

Reply #4 – April 07, 2013, 08:15:42 PM

I store my Cougar for the winter. Last spring I put fresh Mobil 1 10w-30 in and after 1000km (600mi) I put it in storage WITHOUT fresh oil. So just for S's and G's when I serviced it last week, I took an oil sample and sent it off to http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ for an annalist and will relay the results when I hear back in 3-4 weeks.

Oil Change routines

Reply #5 – April 07, 2013, 08:46:15 PM

Before my T-bird lost daily driver duty, I'd change filters at 4k and 7k miles (with topoff), then filter and oil at 10k miles. I use Amsoil's 25k mile (I think) line of oil. This came out to $40-45/year for 10k miles and ran the oil far from its useful life with new filtration every 3-ish thousand miles, which our engines can use since they aren't as "clean" as newer engines. I just figured with a vehicle that the manufacturer recommends 3k mile changes, you're looking at $60-100 for 10k miles at a quick lube. I was saving a bit, using quality oil, and still keeping the filtration up (using the FL1A filters). Plus it's pretty easy to simply spin a new filter on at the 4k and 7k intervals.

Now I don't know how to best change my oil. It sits a lot so I assume annual changes with regular oil would be more ideal.

Oil Change routines

Reply #6 – April 07, 2013, 09:55:32 PM

Quote from: QUICKSHIFT;412808

I store my Cougar for the winter. Last spring I put fresh Mobil 1 10w-30 in and after 1000km (600mi) I put it in storage WITHOUT fresh oil. So just for S's and G's when I serviced it last week, I took an oil sample and sent it off to http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ for an annalist and will relay the results when I hear back in 3-4 weeks.

I don't think it takes that long, they e-mail you the results...

Anyway, you'll be fine, the high TBN of today's good synthetics neutralize the acids(TAN on your Blackstone report), so if you ran it say 1000 miles a year, could go two and maybe three years safely... I change my daily drivers once a year, and the toys maybe every other year... For the 2011/2012 change the wife's Grand Marquis racked up almost 10K mi, on same oil and filter... Looking through the oil fill, the top of the head and valve springs still looks like new(and it's a '98)... It gets Mobil 1 Extended Performance that's good for 15K mi... Hasn't gotten as many miles on this change, but will be due again in three months and will get another dose of same(as will the '07 Grand Marquis also on the same schedule)... One key issue to keep acid from building up is be sure the engine is fully warmed when started and then run(driven) for another 15-20 minutes... Short trips on cold engine is extremely hard on the oil...

GM's problem is with the direct injection engines that tend to be a lot harder on oil than the port injection systems...

Oil Change routines

Reply #7 – April 07, 2013, 11:51:41 PM

Can you go to the parts store and buy an engine off the shelf and take home, change that in 20 minutes?

I change the oil in my Mountaineer once a month...am doing it in the AM, in fact. Better safe than sorry. What's 25 bucks for peace of mind, and possibly, if not likely longer engine life?

Oil Change routines

Reply #8 – April 08, 2013, 12:15:23 AM

I went over 40k miles without a oil change my last bird. just topped it off when it got low.

In my opinion you change the oil to clear contaminants and moisture. you drive the car long distances and get it hot i don't think its as critical. I still haven't changed oil on this third. I'm at least 12k already this year. I've only added 2 quarts. which i don't feel is out of line for 200k.

Oil Change routines

Reply #9 – April 08, 2013, 07:33:06 AM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;412826

Can you go to the parts store and buy an engine off the shelf and take home, change that in 20 minutes?

I change the oil in my Mountaineer once a month...am doing it in the AM, in fact. Better safe than sorry. What's 25 bucks for peace of mind, and possibly, if not likely longer engine life?

If you like wasting $25 every month for piece of mind that's fine, I sleep well with yearly changes... I 46+ years of vehicle ownership I've never changed oil more often than at 3K mi(in my younger years could have been once a month)...

Quote from: Haystack;412828

I went over 40k miles without a oil change my last bird. just topped it off when it got low.

In my opinion you change the oil to clear contaminants and moisture. you drive the car long distances and get it hot i don't think its as critical. I still haven't changed oil on this third. I'm at least 12k already this year. I've only added 2 quarts. which i don't feel is out of line for 200K

That's mostly correct but if you're only adding two quarts in 12K mi and using dino I'd rethink my strategy... Most Synthetics can go 10/12K without issue but that's stretching std oils...

Of course how you drive and engine condition are major players, highway miles and a tight engine with little blowby is easy on the oil... If a engine has ring seal problems, the blowby does break down the oil much faster but if you're adding a quart every 1200-1500miles it's mostly offset...

Oil Change routines

Reply #10 – April 08, 2013, 08:04:42 AM

i alwasy thought the "dark" stuff that eventually changes the color in the oil does not belong there so as soon as it starts to turn dark, it should be changed.
about once a year i have to do back to back changes in the same day to flush out the dark stuff with a can of kerosine.

i try to keep it simple like that, just change the oil when it changes color... and that does not take very long at all.

Oil Change routines

Reply #11 – April 08, 2013, 08:40:13 AM

Dark really doesn't have a lot to do with oil condition... Look at a diesel, in 100 miles it's oil will be as black as the oil that was just drained... True dark could indicate abrasive contaminates which is defiantly bad, but if you have a good filter(no orange can of death - Fram), it catches the particles that are large enough to cause wear...

Only engine I've flushed in the last 25 years is my 'Hoopie' '96 F-150 that had less than two quarts in it(incl filter)... That oil could have passed for a diesel drain, so I added three miscellaneous quarts and ran it probably seven or eight times over a month for 30-45 minutes each time before I put tags on it... That oil when drained was darker than the 10K oil that comes out of my Grand Marquis... The fresh fill now has a little over 1K on it, looks good and it's used maybe a half pint...

Kerosene has very little in the way of lubricating qualities, maybe in the shop heater would be as close to my engine as it would ever be...

Oil Change routines

Reply #12 – April 08, 2013, 09:52:35 AM

The main reason oil changes to a dark color has more to do with the residual casting material. That's why a few of my racing buddies out west would have their blocks baked, re-cleaned, then painted on the inside as well as the outside. It keeps the oil much cleaner. One person in-particular would tear his engine down at the end of each season to replace the rings/bearings. The oil removed was almost as clean as the day it was put in from the previous rebuild. The pistons looked they were just removed from the original boxes with little carbon on top. He was running a 64' Chevelle w/a 400 sbc

Oil Change routines

Reply #13 – April 08, 2013, 09:55:42 AM

I'm pretty traditional, 3month/3k, whichever comes first. Lately, since everything we have on tap at the shop is semi-synthetic, I've been running 5months/5k, but I start getting nervous around 4k. I add less than a quart in between, but I always add the same stuff I'm running. Once a year I substitute a quart of oil for a quart of Type F and run a slightly shorter interval. My oil is brown by the time I drain it, but it's always still translucent, never tar black, except for the yearly where I run the type F; that gets really dark.

Oil Change routines

Reply #14 – April 08, 2013, 11:47:18 AM

Clean it up with transmission fluid??? Doesn't happen, transmission fluid has no detergent additive as it isn't needed in a sealed system that's not exposed to blowby like a engine... Won't likely do any harm but is serving no purpose either...