Rarely Drive it, Q About Oil Changes

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

3K changes with synthetic is IMO silly. If your doing that then save your money and go with Dino oil. But if you wanna waste $$ be my guest.


Case in point my 3rd gen T4R was used about every other week, mostly for something like a grocery run or some other silly errand. It racked up on average just over 3K a year for the 9 years I owned it. Oil was changed with Dino oil in the beginning @ 2x a year. Then I sent it for testing and the lab said it was still good, so I went from 2x to 1x a year unless I exceeded the mileage threshold. That truck was just sold with 194k on the ODO no leaks, burning oil, and cylinder compression tests were good.. so yeah.

My current T4R is a 4th gen.. its been getting Mobile 1 synthetic since its previous owner, and will continue to get it from me. It's frequency of use is still going to be about 3-4K a year.. and that oil will still get changed 1x a year. I may send it off for testing and if they say its good maybe I'll change my mind.


Even my 69 Charger which rarely if ever sees more then 500 miles a year, sometimes 500 miles in 2 years.. I change the oil once a year.

Just remember if you drive your car minimally to at least run it up to operating temp at least once month to burn of any condensation.

 

[firebirdguy]

3K changes with synthetic is IMO silly. If your doing that then save your money and go with Dino oil. But if you wanna waste $$ be my guest.


Case in point my 3rd gen T4R was used about every other week, mostly for something like a grocery run or some other silly errand. It racked up on average just over 3K a year for the 9 years I owned it. Oil was changed with Dino oil in the beginning @ 2x a year. Then I sent it for testing and the lab said it was still good, so I went from 2x to 1x a year unless I exceeded the mileage threshold. That truck was just sold with 194k on the ODO no leaks, burning oil, and cylinder compression tests were good.. so yeah.

My current T4R is a 4th gen.. its been getting Mobile 1 synthetic since its previous owner, and will continue to get it from me. It's frequency of use is still going to be about 3-4K a year.. and that oil will still get changed 1x a year. I may send it off for testing and if they say its good maybe I'll change my mind.


Even my 69 Charger which rarely if ever sees more then 500 miles a year, sometimes 500 miles in 2 years.. I change the oil once a year.

Just remember if you drive your car minimally to at least run it up to operating temp at least once month to burn of any condensation.

agree with the 3k changes on synthetic being a complete waste, good synthetics can easily go to 7500 miles, some go more & the analysis comes back saying the oil is still "good"... in engines that are in good condition.

my classic cars get driven very rarely too, 500 miles in one year does not need changed IMO. i let my cars go at least 2 years with below 1000-1500, if only 500 i will go 3 years... been doing that for 20+ years & zero signs of engine problems or oil issues, it comes out looking almost new & usually goes another season in lawn mowers.

also, if you do "warm ups" once a month on low mile cars like when in winter storage, it needs to be fully warmed up from a 20+ minute drive to fully warm up the oil, just getting it to operating temp on the coolant gauge at idle does NOT fully warm up the oil to burn off condensation. actually if youre storing the car for 3-4 months in the winter & cant drive it due to snow & salt on the roads... its best to just not start it at all, if stored properly with fuel stabilizer, it can sit untill spring or untill it can be driven. a few months sitting wont hurt anything & is better than 10 minute warm ups at idle or revving it a bit.

& please do an analysis of your mobil 1 oil at 3-4k miles & 1 year. would like to see the results.