Oil change conspiracy?
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“…Let’s start with the fundamentals – why we need to change the oil in the engine? Because oil gets “used up.” This means that after being in the engine crankcase, churned at high temperature by the crankshaft and circulated throughout the bearings, it will eventually lose it’s lubrication quality. This lost of lubrication is due to contamination from the engine (anti-freeze, unburned gasoline, metallic particulates from the bearing) and physical destruction of the oil molecules due to intense heat and sheer forces which the oil is subjected to.
But why 3,000 miles? This number has been considered the useful life of the oil and everyone who is alive today seem to know that number from “way back when I first learn to drive!” Some 30 years ago, it was brought to my attention that we in the US may have been taken for a ride. A visiting scholar from the UK decided to buy a car while he and his family were in the US so they could see the country. He bought the same car (make and model) as his own at home as he’s familiar with it. As the shade-tree mechanic at that institute, I was asked to help him check out his find. His first question after scanning through the US version of the owner’s manual was why the recommendation to change oil very 3,000 miles whereas the identical model he owned in the UK had a recommendation of 7,500 miles interval. Oh really? I did an informal survey among our overseas visitors from Germany, Japan, UK and France and indeed everyone said that their oil change intervals at home were anywhere from 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles. So, was their oil better than ours? Is their driving conditions less demanding? Are their gasoline (petrol) cleaner? The answers were no, no, and no. Car owners outside the US were just not brainwashed with the superstition that oil only lasts 3,000 miles…”
Yau-man has some great points in the rest of the article… And touches on an issue that has always disturbed me — Why the hell do I need to change my oil every 5000 KMs (according to my auto dealer, and the oil change guy, and practically everyone else that has ever touched my car?) Does oil *really* break down that quickly?? I doubt it. And, thanks to Yau-man and his test, my suspicion has been confirmed… It’s a scam.
How often do you change your oil?Mr. Troop Mom psp
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When you need to change your oil depends on many things including car model, your driving habits. The problem is that you don’t really know when you should go and change the oil so it is better to just do it at regular intervals. You wouldn’t want to risk waiting too long, I know that from experience
@Ianiv – oh oh… did you kill a car’s engine waiting too long?
now I have to check my owners manual
to see what they said. I always figured 6000 miles was good enough. The 3000 mile people are fanatics, but welcome to their own opinion. What really matters is what will keep your car’s warranty in effect.
david, tree house man’s last blog post was… Why I will never vacation in Mexico again
I have to periodically put oil into my car because of the way I drive. Heavy foot I hear.. so my car burns it’s oil between my 3-5k intervals. My car is also 13yrs old now too..
I get mine done by my buddies’ shop so its fun to take it in and shoot the shit with them while it gets done.
I will NEVER go to Mr.Lube ever again.
Ah, I have an old ’85 BMW, and I go way outside of the 3000 mile mark, and it runs very well. On a slightly different note, I went to one popular oil change shop, (I’ll let them remain nameless) and they said that because of my type of car, it would be over $100.00 minimum to change my oil. The other one that I called said regardless of the make and model, I wouldn’t have to pay more money. So always get a second opinion, even for a simple oil change!
My father-in-law is a retired master mechanic. He says that at the very least, expect to get about 5,000 miles out of a regular oil change. You should, however, change your oil yearly even if you don’t drive anywhere, and/or don’t reach 5,000 miles in that year.
However… The mileage is just a rough estimate, and oil will break down faster if it is exposed to summer driving, and slower if used for winter driving. Therefore, most modern-day cars (like mine, for example), will calculate oil breakdown based on factors such as engine RPM, temperature, mileage, and driving style. When the oil life is down to about 10%, a reminder light comes on.
Still (according to my father-in-law) the 3,000 mile rule is one that preys upon the fears of folks who drive expensive cars; a money-making scheme, you might say.
That’s what he says. Your results may vary.
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The book that came with my car says to do it every 7500 miles. My husband thinks it should be done every 3000 miles (he knows nothing about it, though) and I compromise and do it every 4500 miles, give or take a few hundred.
Sounds like you are getting conned if the service intervals are that different. But … Don’t believe everything you hear. Engines will burn their oil up but not for the reasons that Yau-man has put.
Anti-freeze – nope. Coolant in an engine is kept entirely separate from the oil and fuel lines. It has to be, as the emulsion that forms when oil and fuel mix is Very Bad for engines. And the only place in an engine where there’s anti-freeze is in the coolant.
Unburned gasoline – mebbe. But if the seals and gaskets are ok, then the unburned gasoline goes out the exhaust, it shouldn’t get into where the oil is.
Metallic particulates – I’ll give him this one, although the whole point of oil in the engine is to make sure you don’t get metallic bits floating around.
An engine will be designed to keep things separate – Coolant goes in it’s own path. Air gets mixed with fuel, goes through the combustion area and then goes out the exhaust. Oil looks after the moving parts. They’re kept away from each other through seals and gaskets.
However, the seals aren’t perfect, which is why the engines burn the oil. The usual way is for oil that’s gone to vapour (big pressure & heat in crankcase) gets fed into the air inlet and burned off. If you see blue tinged smoke out of someone’s exhaust, the oil is getting burned with the petrol due to the O-Ring seals in the pistons breaking down.
Apologies for the rant – Bad advice through incorrect information irritates me !
Certain people will make their cars burn oil faster than others – especially if they thrash their cars. Same with certain cars compared to others, one reason I didn’t get a Mazda RX-8 is because its unusual engine (Wankel) burns oil extremely quickly …
Different oil types for different places of the world too … Go by what the manufacturer says in the book, instead of what the garage people say. I’ve got a very low opinion of garage people, I’ve seen a few too many reports of work claimed but not done.
PS I have caused a car engine problems with the oil ! But the long term breakage was the starter motor getting jammed …
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I guess I’ve been conned as well. I get an oil change every 5000K. I also have an older vehicle – 96 Toyota Tercel. At least this way I remember to get one instead of waiting until the engine oil light comes on.
In reality, in countries like the U.K. there are few oil change quick stops and some claim they have never changed the oil in their car and yet their cars continue to run without significant problems
The last couple of cars we’ve bought, the service tech guys have all said 7500 miles. I think the manual on our current car says 7500 as well. Yet we’re so keyed into the whole 3000 mile idea that we get itchy when it’s “time” to change the oil. Slowly but surely, I’m getting over that.
My cars have over 200K miles…if I waited for 7500 miles to change oil, there wouldn’t be any in the crankcase to change! LOL! I do mostly highway driving and probably change oil around 4000 miles. Why? I find that if I wait longer it starts to get very dirty and…who doesn’t like clean oil?
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I wouldn’t say scam even if the internetz sez.
It’s a matter of optimum. I remember dad used to only change the oil when there was a big problem and the thick black sludge that came out and the trickle that went in.
when is it best to clean? do you wash your clothes after your wear them or only when they fail the sniff test?
best to skip the car equation all together when we can.
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I’m not a mechanic, but the core concepts here seem pretty simple. Oil starts out with a certain consistency, and it gets stickier over time. If I wanted to find out when is the right time to change oil, I’d have a mechanic friend take out oil after 1,000 miles, 5,000 miles, 7,000 miles, and 10,000 miles and compare them. If it starts getting sticky fast, I’d probably change it early. If it seems to be about the same, it could go longer.
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