How many miles would you go before you changed this oil?

[greybeard]

My wife's o work car, she'd say my cars smoking its out of oil.. kidding I would say .wait till it quits smoking, then it's out..

My youngest son once had a riding lawnmower he hated. Told me he asked his wife if he could go buy a new one and she said "You'll have to run that one till it quits"

Next time he mowed, he drove off to the backside of the property where she couldn't see, , pulled the drain plug and kept mowing till it chunked the rod out.

 

[Travlr]

My youngest son once had a riding lawnmower he hated. Told me he asked his wife if he could go buy a new one and she said "You'll have to run that one till it quits"

Next time he mowed, he drove off to the backside of the property where she couldn't see, , pulled the drain plug and kept mowing till it chunked the rod out.

LOL... I have a mower I bought cheap to mow overgrowth on the ranch in '06. Used it rough then, and since have mowed my lawn with it. Maybe changed the oil three times total, changed the spark plug once over ten years ago, and otherwise nothing but gasoline. I can't kill it. At this point it's kind of a source of interest just to see how long it will go in a state of neglect.

 

[Ebenezer]

I think the filter qualities are more of an issue than the oil. I've used extended oil up to 15000 and never had a problem. It was a 30 yo truck that ran great and is still going strong.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

It's guaranteed that if you keep going 20,000 miles between oil changes.... You'll be buying a new car

 

[CowboyRam]

I had a Ford Tempo that leaked so much that I could have followed my ex wife where ever she went in that thing. We took a trip to Denver and traded it off for an Explorer. About a year later I got a notice one of the Counties in The Denver area that the car was abandoned; it turns out that the dealership never changed the tile on that car. I could have gone and claimed it. Somebody probably bought it and never checked the oil and ran it until the engine seized.

 

[1982vett]

Same here. Old school I guess but it has worked well for me.
I still can't get my head around 150,000 miles before first transmission fluid change on the F150. It doesn't even have a real dipstick for the transmission..

Our 2015 Tahoe had ~157,000 on it when we changed transmissions.....


How's this for luck Kenny....it went out turning into the Buc-ee's in Melissa, Texas. Almost ran into a car at a stop light cause it didn't want to disengage.

 

[kenny thomas]

Our 2015 Tahoe had ~157,000 on it when we changed transmissions.....


How's this for luck Kenny....it went out turning into the Buc-ee's in Melissa, Texas. Almost ran into a car at a stop light cause it didn't want to disengage.

It was on a mission. Lol

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

My run around vehicle is a GMC Envoy with a 4L60E transmission. 225k miles and the transmission has never been serviced other than adding a little fluid now and then to make-up for the drips is has here and there.

 

[Warren Allison]

Even with synthetic oil, I change it every 3 or 4 thousand miles. Got a buddy I coon hunt with, that has a 1983 Ford F150 with the 300 in-line 6 cylinder. Every once in a while, when he changes the oil in his Peterbuilt, he will put some of that old oil in the truck!! Actually, I think oil was optional in those Ford inline sixes. Ford mechanics worked their entire careers, form the time they got out of high school til they retired, and never worked on one of those motors. They were like the Maytag repair man. I did hear a rumor once a few years back, that there was an old retired Ford mechanic down in south Ga that had rebuilt one once. but I think it was a myth and a legend, rather than fact.

 

[1982vett]

It was on a mission. Lol

Probably not a better place to break down if your going to break down, except for in front of the repair shop. Ya got food, drink, bathroom and phone service. Not stranded on the side of a highway out in nowhere land.

 

[TexasRancher]

My trucks wouldn't have any oil left at 20k.

Then you're lucky you never have to do a complete oil change..just change the oil filter every two years. I had some vehicles like that when i was young. ran 20w-50 and thick oil treatment. Those kind of loose-engine vehicles last a long time..year after year...they keep going.

 

[wbvs58]

I was told years ago that 12 months is about the limit with oil due to moisture from condensation causing it to deteriorate especially machinery sitting around a lot so have always tried to give them fresh oil every 12 months. If modern oils hold up better to moisture I would pay a bit more for their longevity but I would have to be confident that the information was right. Maybe I should be doing some oil testing.

Ken

 

[Atimm693]

Consider that these 10k mile oil change intervals are brought to you by the same people that dreamt up "lifetime" transmission fluid. Their definition of lifetime is known as the warranty period to us, get through that and it's your baby, they don't care.

It is very common for direct injected engines (especially turbocharged) to dilute the oil with fuel. They also produce a lot more carbon than you would think.

On top of that most modern engines have pretty intricate cam phaser and timing chain setups that rely on clean oil to function properly, failures in them are extremely common and dirty oil is usually to blame. It's not just one manufacturer either, those long intervals are the common denominator.

As many have proven with oil analysis that you can run it that long in certain circumstances, but I don't believe those represent the average owner. 5-8k miles is plenty long for me, on my F150 the oil life monitor usually shows 40-50% remaining at 5k miles.

 

[Allenw]

That's what you put in the wife's car so you don't have to worry about it.

In a well running modern vehicle being driven on the road for a distance regularly I would say it would be ok. In a vehicle just being drove around town for short drives I would stick to a shorter interval.

 

[jltrent]

That's what you put in the wife's car so you don't have to worry about it.

In a well running modern vehicle being driven on the road for a distance regularly I would say it would be ok. In a vehicle just being drove around town for short drives I would stick to a shorter interval.

I went 9K miles once on 15k oil rated and it was extremely dirty looking. As far as lubing it may have been alright, but oil is cheap maintenance.

 

[Travlr]

I went 9K miles once on 15k oil rated and it was extremely dirty looking. As far as lubing it may have been alright, but oil is cheap maintenance.

Nothing is cheap if it's done unnecessarily.

 

[Ouachita]

I had a Ford Tempo that leaked so much that I could have followed my ex wife where ever she went in that thing. We took a trip to Denver and traded it off for an Explorer. About a year later I got a notice one of the Counties in The Denver area that the car was abandoned; it turns out that the dealership never changed the tile on that car. I could have gone and claimed it. Somebody probably bought it and never checked the oil and ran it until the engine seized.

I have an ex-wife that also leaves a path everywhere she goes. Just glad it's not mine to trail anymore, going on 28 years.

 

[Brute 23]

For the average person running a couple personal vehicles I don't see the cost benefits of 10K plus intervals.

If you had a fleet of vehicles with meticulous service records and were pulling oil samples and what not I could understand the interest more.