3000 mile myth

[2761377]

yesterday in long beach, ca. i saw a city vehicle with a sticker on it proclaiming a new way to conserve and protect the planet- change your oil less frequently- 3000 mile intervals are a myth!

what next? performance tires as gas guzzlers?

God save us from the environmentalists!

The 3,000 Mile Myth

14 June 2009 Comments

There I was reading up on the world of trash when I came across an article (pdf) that said:

“There’s an easy way to make a big difference for the environment: Simply

follow your car manufacturer’s guidelines for oil changes.”

This completely blew me away. Like a newly awoken child I ran out to my car to check what my car manual says. Every 10,000 miles!

I drive an Acura and I should be doing it every 10,000 miles or every year (whichever comes first). The manual even said under severe/extreme conditions I only need to do it every 5,000 miles. My 2 brothers, Dad, and friends all experienced the same thing. We were all following the 3,000 mile schedule.

This is absolutely amazing to me. I thought that every 3,000 miles was the rule. I was even feeling a little guilty for pushing it to 4,500 miles. Turns out that I was changing the oil 2-3 more times than I needed to.

Now this is awesome. I was just instantly saved $120 ($40 per change times 3 for the year) or all the time spent doing it myself.

I highly suggest you check this out for yourself. Look at your car manual from the manufacturer of your car. Look at the California website dedicated to debunking the 3,000 mile myth:

3000milemyth.com

[CharlieG]

So...I'm not following.

On most modern cars running synthetics, 3000 mile oil changes are way overkill. 6-8k changes are usually perfectly fine, and some people are doing 15k with a filter change. On my M50 & M44 powered cars, I'm running Mobil one and swap it out every 6-7k with no ill effects, the '02 drinks dino juice 20w50 and changes its own oil.

-Charlie

[eurotrash]

... the '02 drinks dino juice 20w50 and changes its own oil.

-Charlie

LOL -Feed me Semour!

[robspeed]

on my e30, which is fuel injected (no gas washing down the cylinder walls contaminating the oil) and fairly tight (no dramatic contamination of oil by blowby issues), i use royal purple 10/40 (synthetic) and change every 10k miles, with an additional filter at 5k.

i do the filter at 5k because after working at a dealership and seeing how the filters look/feel at 15k change (they become brittle like a cracker), i figure that is safe policy.

RP tech guy told me im safe to change at 12k now, but i just use 10k to keep things simple and as an extra margin of safety (although last time i went over 2k so it worked out anyway)....

on a carbureted 02 with or without dramatic blowby problems, i would stick with 3k on dino and 5k on synthetic.

the "myth" angle actually reminds me of the old story ive told before, about consumer reports testing on NYC cabs. they did a test on four sets of cars. one was dino changed at 3k, second was dino changed at 6k, the third was synthetic changed at 3k and the last was synthetic changed at 6k. at 60k miles they tore down the engines and found absolutely zero difference in the wear among the different motors.

[Anschauer]

yesterday in long beach, ca. i saw a city vehicle with a sticker on it proclaiming a new way to conserve and protect the planet- change your oil less frequently- 3000 mile intervals are a myth!

what next? performance tires as gas guzzlers?

God save us from the environmentalists!

The 3,000 Mile Myth

14 June 2009 Comments

There I was reading up on the world of trash when I came across an article (pdf) that said:

If you want to be serious and are starting with a fresh engine - check this out:

http://www.oilconditioningsystems.co.nz/ocs/downloads/Spinner%20II%20996%20Centrifuge%20info%20Sheet.pdf

“There’s an easy way to make a big difference for the environment: Simply

follow your car manufacturer’s guidelines for oil changes.”

This completely blew me away. Like a newly awoken child I ran out to my car to check what my car manual says. Every 10,000 miles!

I drive an Acura and I should be doing it every 10,000 miles or every year (whichever comes first). The manual even said under severe/extreme conditions I only need to do it every 5,000 miles. My 2 brothers, Dad, and friends all experienced the same thing. We were all following the 3,000 mile schedule.

This is absolutely amazing to me. I thought that every 3,000 miles was the rule. I was even feeling a little guilty for pushing it to 4,500 miles. Turns out that I was changing the oil 2-3 more times than I needed to.

Now this is awesome. I was just instantly saved $120 ($40 per change times 3 for the year) or all the time spent doing it myself.

I highly suggest you check this out for yourself. Look at your car manual from the manufacturer of your car. Look at the California website dedicated to debunking the 3,000 mile myth:

3000milemyth.com

[Anschauer]

yesterday in long beach, ca. i saw a city vehicle with a sticker on it proclaiming a new way to conserve and protect the planet- change your oil less frequently- 3000 mile intervals are a myth!

what next? performance tires as gas guzzlers?

God save us from the environmentalists!

The 3,000 Mile Myth

14 June 2009 Comments

There I was reading up on the world of trash when I came across an article (pdf) that said:

If you want to be serious and are starting with a fresh engine - check this out:

http://www.oilconditioningsystems.co.nz/ocs/downloads/Spinner%20II%20996%20Centrifuge%20info%20Sheet.pdf

“There’s an easy way to make a big difference for the environment: Simply

follow your car manufacturer’s guidelines for oil changes.”

This completely blew me away. Like a newly awoken child I ran out to my car to check what my car manual says. Every 10,000 miles!

I drive an Acura and I should be doing it every 10,000 miles or every year (whichever comes first). The manual even said under severe/extreme conditions I only need to do it every 5,000 miles. My 2 brothers, Dad, and friends all experienced the same thing. We were all following the 3,000 mile schedule.

This is absolutely amazing to me. I thought that every 3,000 miles was the rule. I was even feeling a little guilty for pushing it to 4,500 miles. Turns out that I was changing the oil 2-3 more times than I needed to.

Now this is awesome. I was just instantly saved $120 ($40 per change times 3 for the year) or all the time spent doing it myself.

I highly suggest you check this out for yourself. Look at your car manual from the manufacturer of your car. Look at the California website dedicated to debunking the 3,000 mile myth:

3000milemyth.com

[napa02]

So the moral of the story is... Anything that is read on a bumper sticker in southern ca. should be ignored at all cost...

[robspeed]

So the moral of the story is... Anything that is read on a bumper sticker in southern ca. should be ignored at all cost...

the bumper sticker is actually correct. new, fuel injected cars can easily go 7-15k on their recommended oils. they even have new filters designed not to turn to saltines after 15k miles. carbureted cars, and old oil-burning cars, are a whole 'nother matter, however....

[Hammer03]

what next? performance tires as gas guzzlers?

God save us from the environmentalists!

In case that was a joke, yes, that is another place they're looking to protect people from themselves. I wonder how much personal safety they're willing to give up in the name of one more mpg? Or personal comfort? Solid plastic (well, soy plastic) would be pretty green.... Wouldn't stop worth a damn though!

I'm sure darwin has something to say about that...

[SteveJ]

So...don't change my oil as often. Motor internals wear out sooner and I have to replace the motor.

What is the difference in energy consumed for producing the oil and filters that I would have replaced, versus the energy consumed for producing all the parts for the new motor?

Or, howabout if I just let the motor wear and wear from NOT changing the oil every 3000 miles, and it then starts burning and blowing oil? It may not make 3000 miles before I have to add 4.5 new quarts, so in actuality I'd be using MORE oil than if I would have just been changing it every 3000 miles.

All said and done, I average between 3k and 5k for my dino oil changes, and 5k to 7.5k for my synthetic filled cars.

Now, let's talk about lifetime fluid in transmissions again.

[Harv]

I change the TDi's oil every 10K. It's synthetic and that's the recommendation from VW. Don't know it it's the right thing to do but That's what I'm doing.

Everyone should be able to agree that oil today is nothing like oils of yesterday and is much better at going the extra distance between oil changes.

Now does that mean I'm going 7K in my e30? Just can't bring myself to do it...

2002's are exempt from this conversation AFAIC.

John

[robspeed]

So...don't change my oil as often. Motor internals wear out sooner and I have to replace the motor.

the whole point of all this is that that isn't true. its a myth. Oils last longer than people think. Example, the NYC cabs/Consumer Reports example. There was NO difference in wear between 3k and 6k oil changes, even on dino oil. so you are wasting all that oil and money and time and bother doing it twice as often as you need to (if you stick to the 3k interval).

now all that goes out the window if you already have a bug sprayer (burns oil), because your oil is being contaminated by the acids created by combustion at a much quicker rate than a non-oil-burning motor. it also goes out the window if you have a carbureted car that isnt perfectly tuned, because chances are you are getting a good dose of raw gasoline contamination into your oil sump. if you have a carbureted, oil burning engine, then you have twice the reason to be concerned.

that being said, an oil burning motor needs to be rebuilt anyway, so why one would be all that concerned about keeping wear down I do not know...

here i found this after a quick net search:

http://www.triumphspitfire.com/Oiltest.html

[robspeed]

Now does that mean I'm going 7K in my e30? Just can't bring myself to do it...

John

i was equally as skeptical about it until i spoke with the RP tech guy (i forget his name but you can reach him via RP's website)...

http://www.royalpurple.com/rp-contact-us.html

[SteveJ]

3k is on the conservative side. Back in the day when oil was cheap and I had the time, I was pretty religious about that 3000 mile mark. As I got older, and have less time, and oil is more expensive I do good to ~remember~ at 5000 miles. (That's part of the reason I write the dates on all the filters and rad caps.) But usually, 1 or 2 quarts has escaped the motor prior to the change out.

As I was told, the detergents in the oils are what breakdown the soonest. Our chapter had a presentation from the guys at RedLine oil. I asked what advantage I would get from a high priced synthetic if I were to change my oil every 3000 miles. They replied "No advantage."

Now...what if I buy a really cheap oil and change it out every 5k? I'm saving oil by not changing it every 3k, and I'm saving money by buying the cheapest shi...er...oil I can find.

If I could only get this stuipd amber light to stop lighting up on my instrument panel I would be truely happy.

[2761377]

So the moral of the story is... Anything that is read on a bumper sticker in southern ca. should be ignored at all cost...

let me apologize for only implying the moral of this story. i thought it to be obvious, and it has nothing to do with peoples experience or habits of oil change intervals. it doesn't even relate to the truth of the statement.

that sticker was a manifestation of an extremely troubling tendency for governmental bodies to become the arbiter of the littlest decisions in our lives. helmet and seatbelt laws, secondhand smoke (another myth), and required health insurance are all examples of this- now, if you choose to maintain YOUR engine the way YOU feel it needs, YOU may run afoul of those WHO KNOW BETTER.

so, the moral is -leave me the fuck alone! as such, this thread may properly belong in politics and controversy.

robert w.