Oil Change Intervals....

Scenic WonderRunner

Scenic WonderRunner

Adventurist
Oil Change Intervals....

The SWR is not my daily driver. It's a garage queen until I am ready to take it out. My last oil change was almost one year ago after I got my new free engine under warranty. I did my first 500 mile oil change. And now I have less than 1,000 miles on my second oil change. But this oil has been in my engine for almost a year. It looks clean and clear just like new oil.

If my oil looked black I would change it right away! But my oil looks clean and just like a new oil change.

We always see mileage change intervals. But we do not see rate of time oil change intervals. I am trying to search this on the net. But I can find nothing.

Any idea's?


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My FJC is 14 months old now, and has 1400 miles on it. Thinking about going ahead and changing it. I read somewhere about moisture and acidity from the oil being in the motor too long. Not really sure but once a year is cheap insurance.
 
Miles don't mean much on a vehicle like this. On the dune buggy I installed an hour meter, and promptly ignored it. I adopted a policy of changing the oil before every major outing. Did not matter how many hours or miles were on it. That oil had been sitting in the engine with combustion by-products suspended in it, in a coastal region where fog is a frequent thing. Moisture + combustion by-products = not good stuff for an engine to have in it.
 
It's not the cost that bothers me. I can get it changed for $11.88 at the local shop. You know the one! That's cheaper than I can do it myself. I love that price! And I have been changing my own oil since I was just 15 years old. It's the standing around and waiting that I can't stand! And what dent are they going to put on my classic Toyota 4Runner!
 
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That is why I do my trucks, I hate to think of the damage the oil change guys does. Classic example, I drove my wife's Honda Fit to teh local place and after filing out the paperwork I sat in the car as they work. I finally noticed they were searching for something for quite a while, I asked what they needed, "looking for transmission dip stick" - it's a manual I reminded them.... but what if it was one of the new AT without a dip stick, would they ever let you leave?

Scenic WonderRunner said:
It's not the cost that bothers me. I can get it changed for $11.88 at the local shop. You know the one! That's cheaper than I can do it myself. I love that price! And I have been changing my own oil since I was just 15 years old. It's the standing around and waiting that I can't stand! And what dent are they going to put on my classic Toyota 4Runner!
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A couple of years ago I had an oil change. They took my front skid plate off to access my oil filter! I have never had to do that. They did not put the four bolts back on tight! And I think it was Overland Mike who caught this when he helped me change my tie rods. The skid plate was found being held on by one bolt and the back safety hangers! Now I know what those bangs under my truck were when doing 65 on the freeway. It was the bolts falling off and bouncing off the road and hitting under my truck.....:eek:
 
lol, that is funny, I assume you are talking about the 22re. I took my skid plate off on my old '91 for years until someone told me Toyota is smarter than that and how to reach in through the wheel well. On the '91, there was a hard access panel you unbolted, but easier than the skid plate!
 
Looks like we're bunch of like minded compulsive oil changers here! What we do with our vehicles is well beyond most manufacturers definition of "extreme service". While I'm guilty of Rotella by the case too, I apply different standards to different vehicles as it seems the reasonable thing to do.

EFI trucks with tight rings will contaminate oil with fuel and combustion byproducts at a much lower rate than than my little carbed 2.2 6 which spends alot of time at WOT/4200 rpm with it's constant thick flow of smoky crankcase blowby. Most modern oils, especially synthetics, are incredibly shear resistant. Line haul guys get away with 20k-30k OCI's, although their sumps may be similar in size to smaller car's fuel tanks. The same 15w-40 in my Suzuki gets torn down in less than 2000 miles, but its an air cooled machine that also runs it's scant 2.3l of oil through it's transmission. It also gets subjected to 5000 rpm+ for hours on end, with engine temps over 300F.

My personal take for a rig like the SWR would be 2500 miles, 6 months, or after any extremely harsh usage condition. However, I don't really know what's going on with that oil. The surefire way to know if your engine oil is broken down, contaminated, or perfectly fine for another 5k is to pony up the $25 and send a sample off to Blackstone for analysis. I haven't done this, but I'm curious about the effect of flogging my engine through dust clouds with a K&N fitted..
 
Yep, BITOG is the place to go to really nerd out about oil.. For those of us who change engine oil on a regular basis because we feel like it, little harm is likely to be done. The worst I can think of is shortened catalytic converter life if you run diesel spec oils in a gasoline engine due to increased ZDDP fouling the catalyst. The newest specifications of oil for gasoline engines require much lower levels of additives that may foul the catalysts.
 
Diesel spec oils are going that way too. In example: Good ole Delo 400 is just about gone. All that can be found now is Delo 400LE. The "LE" suffix doesn't mean that it's exclusive to Law Enforcement. Those of us with that ancient technology, push-rods, meaning that the cam (singular) resides in the engine block and the lifter has significantly higher loads placed on it are not too happy about this.
 
Sadly true, but I don't think its all that bad yet. I believe the the difference between the "good 'ol" delo multigrade and the new "LE" is 1500ppm vs 1300ppm. Shell and Mobil are tight lipped, but UOA's and anecdotal evidence point at about 1300 for the CJ spec Rotella and a bit lower, 1000 or so, for the Delvac 1300 Super. My genset might be OHC, but I still run a truck with a flathead so I try to pay attention to the oil specs.
 
I too change it before every use, or before each season of use. I tend to go by idle hours on the rover and truck since i idle them a lot. My last 3000 miles equaled to 1000 idle hours..... oil hates that.
 
The Bad news is......The SWR has been parked this whole time!

The good news is......

I just had my oil changed yesterday at Express Tire for only $18.99. Wheeeeee!

That's the same price it would cost me for oil and a filter at wally world! If I did it myself!

And I don't have to crawl under my truck!

I remember when it used to be only $11.99.....! Wow!

Those were the days!

Now let's get ready for some Winter off road fun! I'm all set!

Anybody ready for some outback San Diego Fun?
 
Why guess or ask for other people's "guesses". If you want to learn over the course of a few changes run oil samples. This is how those "line haul" guys get such long intervals. They find out if their oil is contaminated or depleted (of additives).

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
 
Jr_Explorer said:
Why guess or ask for other people's "guesses". If you want to learn over the course of a few changes run oil samples. This is how those "line haul" guys get such long intervals. They find out if their oil is contaminated or depleted (of additives).

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
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That's a great idea. I have seen that site before, thanks. I need to do this for my 1972 Porsche 911 also. I think I am getting gas in the oil, and maybe MFI fuel injection issues. Or idle issues with the six intake stacks not synchronized properly.


2006_07051972Porsche9110025-3_zps07cb0454-1_zpsd8617c84.jpg
 
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