Even Jiffy Lube now officially admits they recommend 3000 mile oil changes just in order to make easy money. Now there going with manufacturers who recommend 7500-10,000 miles except for certain conditions. I change my reg oil cars at 7500 and my synthetic ones at 10,000 or one year intervals....been doing it for years. Only oil I change sooner is the intial oil or break in oil on a new engine.

http://moneyland.time.com/2...ge-every-3000-miles/

We go by manufacturers recommended intervals with our change stickers at work. Most if not all of the newer (2003ish and up) vehicles we do recommend 5000 miles or 6 months, upwards of 7500 miles or 6 months. Of course, those same vehicles ere manufactured (for our convenience, and certainly not because people are lazy) with an oil change idiot...err, reminder light.

i always go 5k,
i am at 4k now on my 2000 VR6 and it still looks out of the bottle clean
being german, it reccommends 0w-40 and i have always run Mobil one in it

but if it is cheap non synthetic i would be carefull of it turning to sludge after 3k

Mine burns oil so I refill it at 2k then get a change at 5k.
Some cars need it, but it's not like they say you will die if it's not done. Everyone I know knows that's not vital every 3k for every car. 4-5k is a good amount for most cars though.. 10k is good for newer cars I guess but that's pushing it in my book.

Spring and fall

I put 20w50 in the spring and 20w40 in the fall
Both are SBC and are drove around town and back and forth to work. Been doing that for years.

I believe if you changed your oil every day, your engine would last almost forever.
I wish someone would try it and see.

It would be an easy test to run.

I have a buddy who drives a VW, his policy is he fills it half a quart every 500 miles, and changes the filter every 5,000. Never pulled the oil drain in about 30,000 miles and still runs strong. Well, as strong as you could expect for a car that burns oil like that.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I believe if you changed your oil every day, your engine would last almost forever. I wish someone would try it and see. It would be an easy test to run.

Thats a lot of oil, I have talked to someone before that only changes the filter then tops off the oil lost from the change. Has been doing it for years.

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: Spring and fall

I try to do this also, Iowa has some extreme weather changes from 100+ to -30. Just in-town driving, less than 2K a year.
I really worry more about water condensate more than anything else. Light brown goo on the dipstick and in the fill hole in the winter?
88 Fiero coupe @ 100 K and a 94 Buick with 40 K. The Buick goes a quart every 1 K miles? Go figure?

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Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto.
Turning white on top, like owner.
Leaks a little, like owner.
Doesn't smoke....... OK, we're trying to quit.

I go every three months cuz' it's free.
(free oil changes for the life of the car)

But thanks for th ehead's up...

The Caprice gets the oil changed when the light comes on- usually between 5,000 and 7,000 miles.
My s10 does not have the light and the owner's manual says every 3,000 miles. Go figure...

quote Originally posted by Xerces_Blackthorne: We go by manufacturers recommended intervals with our change stickers at work. Most if not all of the newer (2003ish and up) vehicles we do recommend 5000 miles or 6 months, upwards of 7500 miles or 6 months. Of course, those same vehicles ere manufactured (for our convenience, and certainly not because people are lazy) with an oil change idiot...err, reminder light.

In my case its not an idiot light.. it uses temperature and rpm ( and I'm sure other factors ) to calculate the true oil degradation, not pure miles. I know when i overheated it once due to a broken water pump belt it instantly said the oil was bad.

quote Originally posted by FieroRumor: I go every three months cuz' it's free. (free oil changes for the life of the car) But thanks for th ehead's up...

I get free oil changes for the life of the loan, so I get mine changed every 2500 miles because it makes me feel good.

I would also be interested to see how long an engine would last if you changed it every day... oil today has higher deturgent levels than oil of the past, so this makes me wonder if the engine seals could stand up to those levels for an extended period of time.

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May the Lord guide me where I must go. May the Fiero get me there in style

My Subaru turns the oil black in about 1000 km - even fully synthetic oil. Must be the heat from the turbo. I stick with the recommended 6,400 km oil change intervals required by my warranty. Interestingly, Subaru increased the oil change intervals to 13,000 km for the 2011 engines, but requires you to use their own brand of synthetic oil. I can't imagine leaving oil in the engine for that long.

I am a strong believer in the 3000 mile oil changes on older cars, that are not owned by car people. I like the idea that someone is under the hood that often. Most oil change places to a quick look over on the car. This can help someone who isn't car savvy avoid a break down. Also cars with more then a 100k tend to use some oil. And may be fairly low when they reach 5-7500 mile.

While I agree that the oil doesn't necessarily go bad in 3,000 miles, you car might burn it. And that low oil is worst then dirty oil. So that is the main reason I would suggest someone not good at checking their own oil to get their oil changed at 3,000.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Even Jiffy Lube now officially admits they recommend 3000 mile oil changes just in order to make easy money.

Was a scam when Jiffy Rube and others first came out 3000 changes... Most vehicles since '70 had 5,000 or more in Schedule Maintenance. 3,000 was for "Extreme Use" = Taxi and other Commercial kind of use.

I work for Jiffy Lube when they started... They Knew is was a lie and most people can change oil 1-2 a year even back then. JL and many others over sold/sell oil changes and other services.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top and bottom of every forum page...)

I use non synthetic in the Fiero and I change it every 5000km or roughly 3125 miles with a filter change. I do my own oil changes so I save a bit of money and I don't mind changing it more often for peace of mind. Plus I usually run a magnet through the oil to inspect and see if I can pick up any metal shavings/pieces in the oil.

The car doesn't see winter use either, so it makes me feel better to put some fresh oil in it in the Spring when it gets pulled out of the garage again.

The guy who sold my dad his reatta had a mazda miata H was trying a little experiment with. He was told years ago this oil never goes bad just change the filter so to test this theory he bought a brand new miata and has been running the thing constantly for 150K+ miles only changing the oil filter every 4K miles... said it still runs strong.

Depends on the vehicle and type of oil. I tend to go about 3K then change, but I change it myself and save money.

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: Thats a lot of oil, I have talked to someone before that only changes the filter then tops off the oil lost from the change. Has been doing it for years.

that sounds very messy!

So some here are saying that oil does not break down, lose any of it's properties, or become contaminated beyond the filters capibilites?
How do you explane sludge found on a rebuild, or even something as simple as the gasoline smell in used oil?

With just a couple thousand miles on fresh oil, I can smell varing degrees of gasoline on the stick of every car I've ever checked.

I work for Jiffy Lube, and I have to disagree with some of that. The only scam we have is charging $40 for a conventional oil change (seriously, why do people pay that?). The program where we show the "severe driving conditions" is called "Your Voice, Your Choice." Yes, the title makes no sense, but we show what the manufacturer recommends (usually 7500 or so), we show what we recommend (3000 if any "severe" conditions are done), and we even let the customer decide what they want THEIR STICKER** to say. And trust me, we're hardly making any money as it is. I was sent home 7 hours early today, because they couldnt afford to keep me on the clock.

**The window sticker is just a reminder to when they SHOULD get their oil changed. If you do not obey the sticker, its not a big deal. We wont penalize you, we wont hurt you, you'll be okay. Depending on your car and oil type, you may be good until 7500 miles or so. But some cars burn oil quickly, some cars dirty the oil quickly, and some have major leaks.

Personally, I change my SYNTHETIC oil every 3000 miles or so. Why? Because it takes 30 minutes and costs around $25, every 3 or 4 months.

Oil itself does break down; the polymer chains get shorter and that reduces its lubricity. However, it's a long, slow process so oil at 10K miles may have 80% of it's lubrication properties left. However, that's not the entire story, Perhaps more important than lubricity is the additive package which, among other things, neutralizes acid buildup due to cold-start HC blowby and condensation, and increases the viscosity as the oil heats. The additive package gets consumed over time and once it's used up bearing surfaces can begin to sustain erosion damage. Will that happen in 3K miles? 5K miles? 10K miles? Depends on the engine design and wear, environmental factors, driving behavior, etc.

My '81 GM product had a 7,500 mile oil change interval and a 15,000 mile filter change interval. I changed every 3-4K and at 100K dismantled the engine. The babit was worn to the copper basecoat on the rods, but the cylinder walls had less than 1 thou wear and the cam lobes (flat tappet) were in excellent condition. I attributed the bearing wear to (then) average build quality and SCCA racing.

quote Originally posted by grkboy707: I work for Jiffy Lube, and I have to disagree with some of that. The only scam we have is charging $40 for a conventional oil change (seriously, why do people pay that?). The program where we show the "severe driving conditions" is called "Your Voice, Your Choice." Yes, the title makes no sense, but we show what the manufacturer recommends (usually 7500 or so), we show what we recommend (3000 if any "severe" conditions are done), and we even let the customer decide what they want THEIR STICKER** to say. And trust me, we're hardly making any money as it is. I was sent home 7 hours early today, because they couldnt afford to keep me on the clock. **The window sticker is just a reminder to when they SHOULD get their oil changed. If you do not obey the sticker, its not a big deal. We wont penalize you, we wont hurt you, you'll be okay. Depending on your car and oil type, you may be good until 7500 miles or so. But some cars burn oil quickly, some cars dirty the oil quickly, and some have major leaks. Personally, I change my SYNTHETIC oil every 3000 miles or so. Why? Because it takes 30 minutes and costs around $25, every 3 or 4 months.

• JL knows Sticker = Bible to most owners and most owners doesn't know cars. No they wont penalize anyone, never has, but they know Sticker sells oil changes and can up-sell other services.
  
• Many JL are Franchises operations. One reason why oil change cost $40+. They're cost is $5 for materials, maybe less, for most oil changes.
  
• JL want to you to go home.... JL makes it money or out of business. JL and franchise doesn't give a rats ass if you don't make money. You don't like it? To Bad for you... Quit or Get Fire... Can find more hourly slaves. Want to work for Sear's (Sear's are a Franchisee of JL in many locations.), Pep Boy, etc? They want to send you home? Same answer....