When I worked at a parts store we had a seminar with Castrol. We asked them how much of synthetic blend oil is synthetic, and they wouldn’t tell us. That tells me it is probably embarrassingly low.
Miles isn't the best way to determine when to change oil. Unfortunately, it's the easiest. Lots of idling, towing, winter driving and short trips are oil killers. 10k highway miles is better than 5k miles in extreme conditions.
Full synthetic 5w30 in April and October for me, which works out to be between 2k and 5k miles. If you have a turbocharged GDI vehicle, then I wouldn't recommend going any more than 5k miles. A naturally aspirated port injected engine can do okay with a bit more. Highway miles is the only way way anyone should go beyond 5k miles. Never go more than a year.
Well, I am advocate for 5K oil change MAX. I own 5 Mercedes Diesels and they drive flowless. Mention that to a guy who has Sprinter RV and he advocates 20 K oil intervals as per book and did his lab tests and this was his response: "Many people think the same as you. I am an engineer and rely on data for these type of decisions. My old oil testing by Blackstone Labs showed the oil was still good after 20k miles. I did it for 2 oil changes. Of course your experience may be different so go with what works for you."
Synthetic blend. What percentage is synthetic? Marketing trickery ? You’re right‼️ 3/3 was the rule when all we had was straight 30 weight. I think 5k is maximum. All you have to do is remove valve cover and see the sludge to see the results. VW’s back in the 80/90s had terrible sludge in oil pickup tubes. Lot of engine failures back then. I had one customer say I wiped out her savings when both of her neglected Passats had oil lights come on. No argument from me on your decision on oil change intervals. Del
I prefer the 3k/3 month rule no matter what oil but I tend to be crazy about my oil in my vehicles as I know its the important factor on keeping the engine healthy plus its cheap insurance!
@@TheEnthusiastMechanic Unless you have proper control data with say 30 cars having engine oil changed at say 8,000 miles year on year. Then the same type of cars with the oil changed at say 5,000 miles. Then monitor them for say 10 years and compare the maintenance cost of both the 5k miles and 8k mile samples, you cannot fairly claim that the 5K mile change extra cost over that time compared to the 8k oil changed units is a cheap insurance. Please provide that data of reduced engine failure over say 10 years on the control sample of both groups of vehicles.
@@eddiecairns2623 unfortunately I don’t run a lab that can get those kinds of numbers when I’m saying this stuff it’s based off of experience. When you do this every day for a living and you work on vehicles that follow the 5,000 or 10,000 mile yearly oil change intervals and you crack open those engines. You will find a lot of sludge buildup or debris buildup. If you were to change your oil every three months 3000 miles and you’re using a good quality oil as you always should. I have found that those engines when you crack them open. You will find that the aluminum or metal still has its silver shine and it hasn’t sludged up. This is simply based on experience to give you a little bit of hindsight I worked at a manufacturer that I won’t mention that was pushing yearly oil changes every 10,000 miles and we were replacing engines left and right and I owned one of the cars that was known for this issue however, I changed my oil on my interval, not on the manufacturer interval and I never had an issue with the vehicle I wound up selling that vehicle to a family member and has over 200,000 miles on it following the same schedule as I was doing on it and the car is running strong under the original engine so many of these had to have the motor pulled.
@@eddiecairns2623I’m the same way. Seen way too many engines full of sludge. I spent 50 rears in this rat race fixing cars. I’ve seen first hand the decline of regular service over five generations. It was not pretty. Too many variables to perform the types of tests you suggest. Manufacturers want to get through warranty and sell you another so they are not to be trusted. It would be interesting to see a long term study though.
Been driving since 1965, and changing my own oil all the time (when sick, the kids did it). In the 60’s it was straight 30w, every 2500-3000 miles. Normal engines no problem. In the mid 70’s it was 10w40 was the big thing, some 10w30. In the 80’s 10w30 was the thing. I have an 84 Mustang 5.0L V8, that I bought new in 84 and has been doing 10w30, and it’s clean, with about 75,000 miles. It’s stock and an still using 10w30, but a synthetic blend. Currently my 2009 Honda Crv, bought new, has 140,000 miles using synthetic oil 5w20. Also have a 2017 Toyota RAV4, bought new, with 91,000 miles using 0w20. These last cars I change oil April 15 and October 15. Neither of the last cars have had any work done on them at all, no gaskets, etc. I have replaced normal things, also changed PS fluid and PB fluid. Honda Trans fluid and rear end (AWD) ever 30,000 miles. Toyota trans fluid at 60,000 miles (no rear end, front wheel drive only). I live in a NW suburb of Chicago. PS: I was a GM man till early 90’s, it was normal to drive and repair. Bought a used 1992 Honda, in 1996 and driving changed. Now it was and still is enjoying driving, but not repairing. Toyota, same as Honda. I changed to Toyota, when Honda went to the little engines, turbos and CVT transmissions……not for me.
When I worked at a parts store we had a seminar with Castrol. We asked them how much of synthetic blend oil is synthetic, and they wouldn’t tell us. That tells me it is probably embarrassingly low.
Miles isn't the best way to determine when to change oil. Unfortunately, it's the easiest. Lots of idling, towing, winter driving and short trips are oil killers. 10k highway miles is better than 5k miles in extreme conditions.
Full synthetic 5w30 in April and October for me, which works out to be between 2k and 5k miles. If you have a turbocharged GDI vehicle, then I wouldn't recommend going any more than 5k miles. A naturally aspirated port injected engine can do okay with a bit more. Highway miles is the only way way anyone should go beyond 5k miles. Never go more than a year.
Well, I am advocate for 5K oil change MAX. I own 5 Mercedes Diesels and they drive flowless. Mention that to a guy who has Sprinter RV and he advocates 20 K oil intervals as per book and did his lab tests and this was his response:
"Many people think the same as you. I am an engineer and rely on data for these type of decisions. My old oil testing by Blackstone Labs showed the oil was still good after 20k miles. I did it for 2 oil changes. Of course your experience may be different so go with what works for you."
Hell, I've always changed my oil every 2000 miles using store brand synthetic. Never had a failure and every vehicle still ran well when I sold it.
Synthetic blend. What percentage is synthetic? Marketing trickery ? You’re right‼️
3/3 was the rule when all we had was straight 30 weight. I think 5k is maximum. All you have to do is remove valve cover and see the sludge to see the results. VW’s back in the 80/90s had terrible sludge in oil pickup tubes. Lot of engine failures back then. I had one customer say I wiped out her savings when both of her neglected Passats had oil lights come on.
No argument from me on your decision on oil change intervals.
Del
I prefer the 3k/3 month rule no matter what oil but I tend to be crazy about my oil in my vehicles as I know its the important factor on keeping the engine healthy plus its cheap insurance!
@@TheEnthusiastMechanic Unless you have proper control data with say 30 cars having engine oil changed at say 8,000 miles year on year. Then the same type of cars with the oil changed at say 5,000 miles. Then monitor them for say 10 years and compare the maintenance cost of both the 5k miles and 8k mile samples, you cannot fairly claim that the 5K mile change extra cost over that time compared to the 8k oil changed units is a cheap insurance. Please provide that data of reduced engine failure over say 10 years on the control sample of both groups of vehicles.
@@eddiecairns2623 unfortunately I don’t run a lab that can get those kinds of numbers when I’m saying this stuff it’s based off of experience.
When you do this every day for a living and you work on vehicles that follow the 5,000 or 10,000 mile yearly oil change intervals and you crack open those engines. You will find a lot of sludge buildup or debris buildup.
If you were to change your oil every three months 3000 miles and you’re using a good quality oil as you always should. I have found that those engines when you crack them open. You will find that the aluminum or metal still has its silver shine and it hasn’t sludged up.
This is simply based on experience to give you a little bit of hindsight I worked at a manufacturer that I won’t mention that was pushing yearly oil changes every 10,000 miles and we were replacing engines left and right and I owned one of the cars that was known for this issue however, I changed my oil on my interval, not on the manufacturer interval and I never had an issue with the vehicle I wound up selling that vehicle to a family member and has over 200,000 miles on it following the same schedule as I was doing on it and the car is running strong under the original engine so many of these had to have the motor pulled.
@@eddiecairns2623I’m the same way. Seen way too many engines full of sludge.
I spent 50 rears in this rat race fixing cars. I’ve seen first hand the decline of regular service over five generations. It was not pretty.
Too many variables to perform the types of tests you suggest. Manufacturers want to get through warranty and sell you another so they are not to be trusted.
It would be interesting to see a long term study though.
Been driving since 1965, and changing my own oil all the time (when sick, the kids did it). In the 60’s it was straight 30w, every 2500-3000 miles. Normal engines no problem. In the mid 70’s it was 10w40 was the big thing, some 10w30. In the 80’s 10w30 was the thing. I have an 84 Mustang 5.0L V8, that I bought new in 84 and has been doing 10w30, and it’s clean, with about 75,000 miles. It’s stock and an still using 10w30, but a synthetic blend. Currently my 2009 Honda Crv, bought new, has 140,000 miles using synthetic oil 5w20. Also have a 2017 Toyota RAV4, bought new, with 91,000 miles using 0w20. These last cars I change oil April 15 and October 15. Neither of the last cars have had any work done on them at all, no gaskets, etc. I have replaced normal things, also changed PS fluid and PB fluid. Honda Trans fluid and rear end (AWD) ever 30,000 miles. Toyota trans fluid at 60,000 miles (no rear end, front wheel drive only). I live in a NW suburb of Chicago.
PS: I was a GM man till early 90’s, it was normal to drive and repair. Bought a used 1992 Honda, in 1996 and driving changed. Now it was and still is enjoying driving, but not repairing. Toyota, same as Honda.
I changed to Toyota, when Honda went to the little engines, turbos and CVT transmissions……not for me.
We are on mile 385,000 on 30k mile oil changes without any issues.
You’re one of the few