when should i change my oil?

G

gotchopsticks

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Sep 18, 2005

#1

• Sep 18, 2005

• #1

i kno this sounds stupid, but whe should i change my oil? i have an 02 gt with 42k on it, and i run castrol syntech (full synthetic) with the motocraft filter. everytime i change the oil, it is still very clean looking, and drains smooth; no clumps of anything, and no hesitation. i usually change it every 3k, but that is getting expensive, and i just want to make sure i am making the most of my oil. thanks

 

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bdcardinal

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Sep 18, 2005

#2

• Sep 18, 2005

• #2

3-5k is a good interval. with Mobil 1 EP you can go 15k between changes. amsoil says you can go longer with UOAs.

 

K

Kilgore Trout

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#3

• Sep 18, 2005

• #3

I think you could easily go to 5-7k intervals with your set up.

 

urban96

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#4

• Sep 18, 2005

• #4

bdcardinal said:

3-5k is a good interval. with Mobil 1 EP you can go 15k between changes. amsoil says you can go longer with UOAs.

Click to expand...

the problem with 15K oil changes is your oil filter wont last that long

 

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bdcardinal

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#5

• Sep 18, 2005

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urban96 said:

the problem with 15K oil changes is your oil filter wont last that long

Click to expand...

true, i woudl change the filter, assuming you were using a FL-820S every 5k miles. however Mobil 1 is coming out with a 15k mile filter. but remember that a lot of german cars regularly go 15K+ miles between oil changes. one of my neighbors has a Porsche Cayenne Turbo and he was told to not come back until he was at 20k miles.

 

sgarlic

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#6

• Sep 18, 2005

• #6

Or if you're like me, and your car sits all the friggen time without driving it, in desert temperatures/climates, you might want to change it based on time passed. It'll take me 3 years to hit 15k on my '04.

 

40th GT

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#7

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Wow you definetely need to drive it more sgarlic. I put in about 7k a year on mine and I thought that was very little..

 

timeless2

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Sep 18, 2005

#8

• Sep 18, 2005

• #8

Just because oil isn't "dirty" or "clumpy" doesn't mean it hasn't lost its life. Oil recommendations are there because it is cheap insurance to keep you multi-thousand dollar vehicle running and on the road.

I say anywhere betwee 3 to 5 K miles or 6 months elapsed time is a good metric to use.

 

DropTopPony

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#9

• Sep 18, 2005

• #9

I change mine between 4-5k unless it sits for long periods then i'll have it done every 4-6 months if I only drive 1000 miles or so. I only put @3000miles a year on it now.

 

back_in_black

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Sep 19, 2005

#10

• Sep 19, 2005

• #10

I remember cusumer reports did a test using 300,000 mile a year taxi cabs in new york city and they found that the oil did not start breaking down until after 6,000 miles, or for a car not driven very often one of the above time intervals sounds good

 

sgarlic

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#11

• Sep 19, 2005

• #11

40th GT said:

Wow you definetely need to drive it more sgarlic. I put in about 7k a year on mine and I thought that was very little..

Click to expand...

No thanks, I'm fine. Just keeping the mileage down til the KB goes on.

 

9

98-GT-Vert

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Sep 19, 2005

#12

• Sep 19, 2005

• #12

An excellent website: bobistheoilguy.com

Look for the forums.

What you're doing is probably overkill (full synthetic and 3k OCI)...

OCI stands for "oil change interval"...

as long as your oil doesn't get dirty. That full synthetic can last much
longer, but then the main concern is when it gets dirty.

If you don't want to go with a longer OCI (5k would easily be fine) then
consider using a quality dino oil. This would cost much less, and with
dino, if you change it at 3k you're absolutley fine.

Check out the site above. People there do UOAs (used oil analysis) and
verify, for the most part, that they're not just blowing smoke.

For example, most people there love the Havoline brand due to the
high molybdenum content and excellent UOAs. This might be counter-
intuitive, because Havoline is also one of the cheapest.

With a Ford, use the excellent Motorcraft filters! In fact, they're back at
Wal-Mart, cheap!

Regards, Cliff

 

G

gotchopsticks

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Sep 19, 2005

#13

• Sep 19, 2005

• #13

thanks alot cliff