Technical How often do you change the oil?

I change it on both Flatheads when it starts to look dirty.

 

Changed mine this morning.

 

Last time I saw one of those oil test gizmos, was at a country fair, with a guy selling snake oil additive. I got him to try my oil - I had a small container of EP gear oil with no label. That had the torque wrench way over, and the motor just kept going like it had no load. I enjoyed the look on his face.
Most car handbooks have a page about the size of a postcard detailing maintenance. The basic stuff. Check / change oil, coolant, tires, washer bottle and not much more. Thing is, if you follow the instructions, the car just about lasts forever. Go figure - how can it be that simple.
Garpo

 

Interesting test! Did you tell the guy what it was?
A lot of additives can be snake oil for sure. Some may be good. My experiment was with a lawn mower I had just changed oil in and it was idling. I had a tach on it. When I added Pro Blend the motor sped up some (50-100 rpm as I remember).

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

Old wives tail, been around many years. Unfortunately it's false. Oil does go bad. Oxidation of the oil, plus depletion of the additives, and contamination that filters don't remove.

 

See, here's another one.

 

And another

 

Last week I fired up a o.t. Suburban that has 378,000 miles on that I put on 214,000 miles with no oil changes.
3 year old non oxy gas. Put in a good battery and it fired right up. No smoke, purred like a kitten.
Yeah.... I better change the oil. Not.
That Suburban was only used on long trips. No around town or trips of 30 miles or less.
Short trips or only putting on a few thousand miles a year is harder on oil and engines than longer distances.
My 45 years of driving vehicles and not changing oil disputes the “old wives tale” statement.
I’ll do what I do and anyone else can do what they want.

 

Same here. My DD is a lease vehicle, the lease pays for all maintenance, and their interval is 7500 miles. On my personal cars, it's twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.

 

Yikes! My 6.7 Cummins Diesel only takes 12 quarts!


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Don't want to argue with you, but it's basic chemistry. Oxygen in the atmosphere combines with the hydrocarbon molecules of the base oil causing a chemical change at the molecular level. The resulting molecules are heavier in weight leading to increased viscosity, the oil gets thicker; it gets darker; the heavier weighted molecules are also polar, meaning they are attracted to metallic surfaces. They plate out on the interior surfaces and we've all seen the results, often referred to as lacquer. Let it continue and it starts to turn to sludge. Anyone who's worked on older engines knows exactly what I'm saying, they've seen it, and this is what causes it. Oxidation. When it happens to steel we call it rust.

Beyond that, engine oils are formulations that contain many additives for varying purposes. Once the additive does it's job it's done, gone, no longer available to do the intended job. A good example is zinc anti-wear additives (ZDDP). The zinc molecules plate out on the wear surfaces of the engine to provide a self-sacrificing layer, called a tribo film, it's often described as a glass like consistency. The term "self-sacrificing" means that it is intended to wear off, so that tribo films wear instead of metal. Once the zinc is plated out on the surface and worn away it is no longer available to do that job again. If you don't replace the oil with fresh oil that contain fresh anti-wear additives, the oil eventually runs outs of active zinc. That's just 1 example, of 1 additives. There are many others. The only way to correct for additive depletion is to replace them, i.e. change the oil.

I could go on, but I'm late for a gig I'm playing tonight. Like you said, you're gonna do what you're gonna do, but you are simply wrong if you think oil doesn't wear out or get old. It most certainly does.

 

A good analogy imho would be my Grandfathers. Mom's Dad was a physician. He never smoked, drank alcohol, didn't even drink soda (CO2 is something the body is trying to rid itself of he would say). He exercised, ate a good diet, passed at 86.
My Dad's Father did everything detrimental, smoked, chewed, drank, very overweight, never exercised, horrible diet. He passed well in to his 90s.
Genetics plays a huge part, and they both had long-lived parents.
My point is there certainly are exceptions to everything.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

3000 miles on a filtered engine ,1000 on flat heads , if the oil is black I change it sooner.

 

Mostly about every year on my good cars. On a few low buck beaters,at some point,the engine dumps it out most of it's holes as I add more,or makes it's own new holes.

 

Now this is totally from memory as the article in Circle Track magazine I think it was, back in the 90's. They tested synthetic oil to see how it lasted. AS I REMEMBER, they used it in their race car, then tested it. Then put it in the semi trailer truck that hauled the race car, then drained it after its normal usage time was up, then tested it. Then used it in the scooter they used to run around the track, then tested it. Then used it in their daily driver or push truck, etc. etc. If I remember correctly, they even used it in their lawn mower. If I remember correctly, the article stated there was no significant breakdown of the synthetic oil even after all that. It's possible I could be wrong, but it's never happened before.

 

I run full synthetic in my DD F150 and change at 8-10k. 177k on it with no issues. I change my race cars oil every other event, its cheap why not. Do I think it needs it, no, but cheap insurance. Adjust the valves and do the filter at the same time. Cheaper to replace the DD motor than the race car!

 

The friction test.... that's how I came to use havolene. Change the triumphs when something breaks.... Indian once a year, the old chevy at 3000- 3500 miles, it's got 502900 miles, been rebuilt 3 times, one cam 2 timing chains and a few sets of plugs.... my packard will be changed after its on the road (9) qt pan . When it gets dark ie less slippery. My uncle I got it from changed it approximately every 7500 and we rebuilt it b4 I parked it in gatageneral fer 23yrs.... no Ridge or reborn needed at 103900 miles....

 

3000-3500 Gen 1 SBC.

 

I change the oil and filter every year before the car goes into winter hibernation. Fully synthetic 5W50, which probably is too good for the ZZ4 383. But hey, with no wife or kids I can at least spoil the car!

In the daily driver it's done when the service light goes on which is around 14K-15K miles (turbo diesel, 0W30 synthetic).

 

After managing a fleet of police pursuit vehicles and having our oil analyzed by an independent lab.
We switched from Castrol to Schaffer's semi synthetic and doubled the interval between oil changes.
We also went from replacing an average of 6 engines per year. We went to no failures. In fact the GM crate engines we stocked were sold off as excess property .
I use full synthetic in my daily and change it once a year or 10,000 miles. My drag car had 500 plus passes on it when I pulled it down for maintenance . Changed the valve springs and the rings and reused the bearings because they looked brand new and checked out when I measured them.
Changed the oil once a season using Schaffer's semi synthetic 15-40.

 

Now I know why the world is running out of oil. - Everyone changing their oil so often.
In my daily drivers, every 20,000 km, that is between 12,000 and 13,000 miles.
In the flathead, every couple of years depending on milage.

 

Simple maths also says that over time, the top ups from what gets lost in the filter would equate to an oil change anyway. ( especially with monthly filter changes )

 

I was at one of my local tire/ muffler/ oil change places talking with the owner. He showed me the sheet on a little OT Ford. The girl worked in a big town quite a ways away. She had the oil changed at 50,000 and was back at 100,000 miles for the oil change and other maintenance. Told the owner she never checked the oil or had any trouble out of the car!
Mind you I’m not recommending this, just stating what I saw!




Bones

 

I purchased a 1989 Jeep Cherokee new, got 300000 miles on it before the body rusted away, ran great even when I got rid on it. I changed the oil 3 times the first year I owned it. After that I never changed the oil for the next 290000 miles. Always passed emissions never burned oil ran good.

 

Change the oil before it looks like this



This is the y block that came in my wagon.
You know there’s a problem when you pull the plug and no oil comes out but the dipstick shows full. you have to make a hook out of mechanics wire to get it started then pull it out like a rope.

The new 292 gets an oil change once a year which is probably less than 1000miles and has a PCV which helps a bunch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

SBC, every year or 3k.What ever comes first.

 

Incase you need instructions,





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Bet that took a while

Ben

 

Before dropping the pan I had used a trick my dad had taught me and added a quart of kerosene to the oil and ran it for about 30min before changing the oil.
The kerosene didn’t even touch this stuff.
The engine had been converted to a spin on filter and I wish I had cut it open to see what was inside.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

this serves as a good reminder to change mine, I probably drive only about 3,000 a year in my truck. Taking care of my wife with health problems has cut my activity. Plus at 76 years young, I just can't do it like I did at one time!