http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/586/the-3000-mile-oil-change-myth/;_ylc=X3oDMTE0cnVqb3Q4BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawMzMDAwLW9pbA--




Any thoughts on this? I know for myself I change our vehicle oil every 4,000 miles, not 3,000, because we do not do any driving on dirt roads, do not tow anything, and most of our driving is hwy driving, not slow city driving.
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NMCB 28 Seabee Battalion

Everyone has an opinion on when you should change your oil. This is, of course, absent any analysis of the circumstances. Just based upon how they feel about it and nothing more. The bottom line for early changers is that oil is cheap and is worth the level of comfort it provides. It's hard to argue against that because, again, it's an emotional arguement.

I found this quote interesting:

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"Greatly improved oils, including synthetic oils, coupled with better engines mean longer spans between oil changes without harming an engine. The 3000 mile interval is a carryover from days when engines used single-grade, non-detergent oils."

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Originally posted by GerryProctor:

Now, anyone who has the original Rotunda service label on the cowl of their Fairlane can read what the factory recommended service interval was. On my '67, it says to change the oil at 5k mile intervals with a filter change every other oil change. Yes, even in the days of that crappy oil.

So this begs the question of where did the 3k mile service interval come from? Certainly didn't come from the factory over the last 50 years. As with nearly everything, you have to follow the money trail. Who would profit from changing oil earlier than the factory recommends? Could it be the oil companies and the service centers? Yep, that looks like a hot trail to me.

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Oh by the way, the factories do actually push the short intervals on the service and parts side.

However, from the sales side, they tout longer life, less breakdowns, superior products, blah, blah, blah.

But the Field Service Reps and Parts Reps actually do work closely with the dealerships on developing programs to bring in customers for service.

Everyone wants to sell a product!

I am sure the oil companies don't mind though!
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Scott
1963 Fairlane Mini tub 10pt cage New 408" C4 Canfield 195CC heads Comp solid roller Victor Jr. 9" w/4.11? gears Moser spool & 35 spline axles. www.marksullense85carburetors.com

Soooo.............what's the idea oil change interval for regular grades of oil (not synthetics)?
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NMCB 28 Seabee Battalion

No such thing as "ideal" SD. It depends upon how hot the oil gets how often and other driving conditions. For conventional oils under normal use, you can go 5k miles easy. Only way to know for sure for your situation is to have an oil analysis done.

A few years back I worked for a shop and we had a customer who came in for oil changes who was a retired Gm engineer and he ran synthetic oil and changed the filter every other time and went 5000 miles per oil change . The thing that always struck me odd was he only ran 3.5 qts of oil on a vehicle that should have had 4.5 qts . He claimed the car would get 3 more mpg by not having the extra oil sloshing in the pan . We had hired a kid who had worked at a lube center and was very anal about everything . I thought him and that guy were going to get in a fight over how he had his car serviced .

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Originally posted by Finally 1:
A few years back I worked for a shop and we had a customer who came in for oil changes who was a retired Gm engineer and he ran synthetic oil and changed the filter every other time and went 5000 miles per oil change . The thing that always struck me odd was he only ran 3.5 qts of oil on a vehicle that should have had 4.5 qts . He claimed the car would get 3 more mpg by not having the extra oil sloshing in the pan . We had hired a kid who had worked at a lube center and was very anal about everything . I thought him and that guy were going to get in a fight over how he had his car serviced .

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