40000 mile oil change

40k is nothing by modern long-haul standards. For example, the Detroit DD13 recommends 50,000 mile intervals for oil and filter on long haul applications. With 10.5 gallons of oil on board, they prefer to stretch those oil change intervals out! Even with 50k between oil changes, team drivers would still have to change the oil every 3 months.

http://www.demanddetroit.com/pdf/Engines/DD13-Brochure.pdf

Bryce

I've read of some TDi guys who are slightly nuts about oil and have access to cheap testing. They'll change the filter at 10k, but leave the lol in as long as it passes the tests, only topping off as required from the filter. Personally, I'm fine with changing the oil every 10k. New MINIs often go 15k, although the g/f usually wants it done every 5k or so. Granted, now that synthetic is pushing $10/qt, she lets it stretch a bit farther.

I remember that Bimmerforums thread. That's a classic that hopefully will never get deleted.

Daughter went a little over 10,000 in a hand me down Elantra once. Oil came out in clumps. Found out she was trying to kill it so she could get rid of the plain white,4-door mommy mobile. She was about 19 at the time. Car went over 100,000 miles before I let her trade it in. Her choice... a Hyundai Tiburon GT.

Years ago I bought a 74 Pinto for about $250. It leaked and burned oil. I kept the oil level topped off (about 2-3 qts a week) and replaced the filter every couple thousand miles. After a while it stopped leaking and burning oil. Went to regular oil changes after that. This car was the only car I sold for more than I had into it. Had about $500 into it including purchase price and sold it for $800. Owned it for about year and a half and put about 30,000 on it.

Ian F wrote: I've read of some TDi guys who are slightly nuts about oil and have access to cheap testing. They'll change the filter at 10k, but leave the lol in as long as it passes the tests, only topping off as required from the filter.

I really don't understand that.

I mean, I can sort-of see the case for extended intervals in the sense that some people just want an appliance that they can ignore as much as possible, and I can see it in the case of commercial vehicles where every minute of downtime is money not being made, but the TDI-fiend method makes no sense to me. They're not saving time, because they're still doing regular testing. They're not saving money, because OMG have you SEEN what happens to the PD engines when the cams go flat? They're not saving oil, becase four quarts every so often isn't even a drop in the bucket, and it's not like that oil disappears - it displaces crude oil in making "bunker fuel", or it displaces crude oil in making asphalt, or it displaces heating oil in feeding shop furnaces. (So not changing oil is forcing people to use "new" hydrocarbons instead of "used" ones)

Maybe the TDI guys dump their used oil into a hole in the ground or flush it down the toilet or something.

In the old Elantra and the wife's 210k mile Accent, I run/ran 6k intervals with 4qts of Walmart synth and OEM filters. For some reason, on BOTH of those cars, it would use 1 qt of oil in 6k miles, usually the first half quart by ~5k, the second half quart by 6k. If you topped it off and ran it another 500 miles it would use another quart. Change it, put a new filter on and it will go another 6k miles before it uses another quart.

I've yet to explain this phenomenon. but I don't bother putting in oil change stickers now lol.

Knurled wrote: I really don't understand that.

Like I said - Nuts.

Plus, as far as some of these guys are concerned, VW hit the high point with the ALH engine. The PD doesn't exist.

Bobzilla wrote: Change it, put a new filter on and it will go another 6k miles before it uses another quart. I've yet to explain this phenomenon. but I don't bother putting in oil change stickers now lol.

My '91 Integra had a similar quirk. I changed the oil every 3K miles. The car would normally get about 30 mpg. If I tried to stretch the oil much past 3K, the mileage would drop into the mid 20's. Change the oil - back to 30mpg.

Everything I've read says this makes zero sense and shouldn't happen, but the car was like that for the 150K miles I owned it.

There's easier ways to make pudding.

at toyota it wasnt uncommon to have cars come in that u would pull the plug and nothing would come out and ud have to poke with a screw driver to get it to drain then pull the valvecovers and oilpan to see how bad it really was.

That Bimmerforums thread doesn't do much for the BMW owner stereotype. I like BMW, but sheesh.

Tyler H wrote: That Bimmerforums thread doesn't do much for the BMW owner stereotype. I like BMW, but sheesh.

That just makes the buy-in cheaper for a fella like me.

Ian F wrote:

Knurled wrote: I really don't understand that.

Like I said - Nuts. Plus, as far as some of these guys are concerned, VW hit the high point with the ALH engine. The PD doesn't exist.

Bobzilla wrote: Change it, put a new filter on and it will go another 6k miles before it uses another quart. I've yet to explain this phenomenon. but I don't bother putting in oil change stickers now lol.

My '91 Integra had a similar quirk. I changed the oil every 3K miles. The car would normally get about 30 mpg. If I tried to stretch the oil much past 3K, the mileage would drop into the mid 20's. Change the oil - back to 30mpg. Everything I've read says this makes zero sense and shouldn't happen, but the car was like that for the 150K miles I owned it.

The Elantra started doing that around 50k, and was like that when we traded it in over 100k miles later. The Accent has been doing it since we bought it with 110k on it and it's pushing 210k now.

bludroptop wrote:

JohnRW1621 wrote: I am sure this has to happen often by those who change their oil, "once a year whether it needs it or not"

Guilty. Mrs. BDT's wagon racks up about 5000 miles a year. I use synthetic and quality filters and I figure once a year is fine.

Yep, my wife's TSX, too. My car only needs 2 changes a year. The GC-van is lucky if it gets an oil change every 2 years, by mileage.

Knurled wrote:

TrophyGirlDesigns wrote: While doing oil testing in a semi truck for work, we took an oil change interval to up over 100K miles. We sampled the oil and met by conference call on a regular basis with the manufacturer to monitor it. It was our goal to not change it unless any of the test sample parameters came up out of range. Not sure how long it could have gone, we had to drain the oil for other engine component changes soon after the 100K mark, but the numbers still looked really good.

You're also talking about a best-case scenario, too. Rarely cold-started, lots and lots and LOTS of oil, filter probably the size of a paper towel roll, temps high enough to cut condensation but low enough to prevent breakdown, etc. Well, a BEST case scenario is like one of those marine engines where combustion byproducts never get to the oil, but still...

Um, no.

chandlerGTi wrote: Yes, but what engine was it. The new engines are designed for much longer change intervals. Owners manuals calling for 50k on a change for DD15 and ISX15. Edit: also, this engine had large issues. The presence of the quantity of potassium in the analysis makes it plain that the coolant was leaking in large quantities into the engine.

I guess 100K to 50K in a semi is like 10K to 5K in a consumer car. Not that impressive. IDK, we were shocked at the time.

KATYB wrote: at toyota it wasnt uncommon to have cars come in that u would pull the plug and nothing would come out and ud have to poke with a screw driver to get it to drain then pull the valvecovers and oilpan to see how bad it really was.

I bought a cheap '98 Impreza with the EJ22 from a friend of mine's wife. She did something with the oil whenever he remembered to remind her; change it, check it, whatever. The car had no oil showing on the dipstick when I bought it, and I got a little over 1 quart of fairly liquid black stuff out of it. Ran great, just a little noisy at startup until the temperature needle came off the peg.

Daughter #2's boyfriend has a '75 Monte with a 350 that leaks fluids like only a 40-year-old car that sat around for a decade or so can. That thing runs, sounds, and drives just fine with about 2 out of 5 quarts in the sump. I finally convinced him to check the oil every time he puts gas in it, and keep a little log, so we can get a handle on exactly how much oil it's going through.

That BMW thread lead me to other threads that made me lol

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226570

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4662308-What-is-5W-20-some-help-please

Dude! That Suzuki thread went to 101 PAGES!

Duke wrote:

bludroptop wrote:

JohnRW1621 wrote: I am sure this has to happen often by those who change their oil, "once a year whether it needs it or not"

Guilty. Mrs. BDT's wagon racks up about 5000 miles a year. I use synthetic and quality filters and I figure once a year is fine.

Yep, my wife's TSX, too. My car only needs 2 changes a year. The GC-van is lucky if it gets an oil change every 2 years, by mileage.

Guilty. Miata only needs a change once a year.

Jeep gets a change every 6 months whether it needs it or not.

MX6 gets a change when it looks black and reeks of gas.

Nashco wrote: 40k is nothing by modern long-haul standards. For example, the Detroit DD13 recommends 50,000 mile intervals for oil and filter on long haul applications. With 10.5 gallons of oil on board, they prefer to stretch those oil change intervals out! Even with 50k between oil changes, team drivers would still have to change the oil every 3 months. http://www.demanddetroit.com/pdf/Engines/DD13-Brochure.pdf Bryce

Some semi drivers never change their oil, just filter and top up with fresh oil. Plus regular analysis.

As for me I have been running long oil changes, usually around 8-9k miles. Done this for years. My 2011 fiesta, ford says every 10k miles. so I just did my third oil change at 30K.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

Duke wrote:

bludroptop wrote:

JohnRW1621 wrote: I am sure this has to happen often by those who change their oil, "once a year whether it needs it or not"

Guilty. Mrs. BDT's wagon racks up about 5000 miles a year. I use synthetic and quality filters and I figure once a year is fine.

Yep, my wife's TSX, too. My car only needs 2 changes a year. The GC-van is lucky if it gets an oil change every 2 years, by mileage.

Guilty. Miata only needs a change once a year. Jeep gets a change every 6 months whether it needs it or not. MX6 gets a change when it looks black and reeks of gas.

My wife's grand caravan just had its second oil change this year. It gets used three times a week maybe so it doesn't really ever meet mileage.

I do 7500 in my MZ5 and in my old civic the owners manual called for 10000 on a highway schedule.

TrophyGirlDesigns wrote:

chandlerGTi wrote: Yes, but what engine was it. The new engines are designed for much longer change intervals. Owners manuals calling for 50k on a change for DD15 and ISX15. Edit: also, this engine had large issues. The presence of the quantity of potassium in the analysis makes it plain that the coolant was leaking in large quantities into the engine.

I guess 100K to 50K in a semi is like 10K to 5K in a consumer car. Not that impressive. IDK, we were shocked at the time.

No, you were right to be shocked. The soot content has been goin down as the emissions regulations become more stringent which is really making these new engines able to go much further before NEEDING to be changed. Some of our long term customers are still coming in for 10-12000 mile oil changes even though they have updated to new trucks. They just can't wrap their heads around it.

No different than those of us who were raised in the 3k mile days and there is NO car out there now that calls for that and you know there are lots of folks still doing that change on new cars.

chandlerGTi wrote: No different than those of us who were raised in the 3k mile days and there is NO car out there now that calls for that and you know there are lots of folks still doing that change on new cars.

GM issued a reflash for certain engines that, amongst other things, changed the maintenance interval to 3,000mi.

OTOH, maybe they're sick of doing warranty timing chains in as little as 10,000mi.

I note with pleasure that the trend is going back to timing belts. They're IN the engine, so oil-bathed belt life remains to be seen, but belts still don't have eleventy thousand links to wear and plastic guides to wear/break.

Knurled wrote: GM issued a reflash for certain engines that, amongst other things, changed the maintenance interval to 3,000mi.

Which ones?

My 2010 Dodge diesel likes oil changes between 3000 and 5000 miles.

did a 49k mile change in my old 91 caprice once just to see what would happen. went from 100k-149k. oil came out like normal, wasn't sludgy, no clumps, filter looked normal, ran fine, no noise, etc...

pulled valve cover, stuff was still clean.