15,000 mile oil change

[fabsroman]

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday to buy some Mobil 1 to change my dad's oil. Noticed that there was the regular Mobil 1 and then the extended life Mobil 1 that was guaranteed to protect for 15,000 miles. The extended life Mobil 1 cost 65 cents more per quart and I almost broke down and bought it, until I really started thinking about it.

Why do I want to keep the same oil in my car for 15,000 miles? Any particles too small to be caught by the filter will remain in that oil for 15,000 miles. Not only that, but by the time I get to 15,000 miles, there will be 3 times as many of those small particles suspended in the oil by the time I go to change it. Heck, the oil is pretty black with me changing it every 5,000 miles as it is.

Do any of you guys use this stuff, and if so, do you really keep it in your car for 15,000 miles? Is it worth the extra 65 cents per quart?

[Jack]

Not me, for certain.
I grew up next to a Ford mechanic that was a maniac about changing oil every 3,000 miles, and the habit rubbed off on me, too.

[Dom]

Me neither. I was also pretty old school trained to change oil religiously at 2500 miles or so, but now I'm new school and using Mobil 1 and change at 5000. But that's a long ways from 15000 and I have the same thoughts as you do with those particles Fab. Now that I change at 5000 I like it and think Mobil 1 does a good job to there, heck, I only have to change half as often. Seems like I was just about living under the truck pulling the plug for a while there!! I think I'll wait it out and see how it does over time before I think about going that long between oil, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[fabsroman]

Dom,

That is a good idea. Let other people be the guinea pigs before doing it yourself. I usually take that approach with new computer operating systems (e.g., Windows XP, Vista) and new mode cars (e.g., Ford 500/Taurus). I'll wait a decade to see what people have to say about this 15,000 mile oil change stuff before I end up doing it. I have 167,000 miles on my Taurus right now and did 5,000 mile oil changes on it from day 1 using Mobil 1 oil and Mobil 1 filter. Added a filter magnet to the deal about 40,000 miles ago. The car doesn't burn any oil whatsoever. So, for now I'll spend the extra $60 on oil for 3 oil changes every 15,000 miles. It surely beats buying a new car and I am hoping I can get 300,000 miles out of this Taurus before it has to be retired.

[skeet]

Quite a few years ago I sold Amsoil products. The oil was good for 50,000 miles. I did change the filter every 5000 miles and put an oil additive in at 12,500 though. I was running the oil (plus transmission oil and rear grease) in a Datsun pickup. I even had the oil analysis done, like they do for aircraft engines. Had virtually no metallic particles in the oil. Put 90,000 miles on it before I sold it. It rusted apart before the engine quit. Guy had 340,000 miles on it when he took it off the road. never had any problem with the engine. He continued using the synthetic in it. In it's lifetime it had 9 complete oil changes and 3 of those were regular oils. You know, until about 1958, all cars didn't have oil filters. That was part of the reason for oil changes at 2,000 and 3,000 miles. Remember the Kendall oil sign with 2 fingers held up for oil changes at 2000 miles? I do change the oil every 5,000 in my wife's Diesel Jetta and it uses synthetic....at 5 bucks a quart!

[fabsroman]

I don't think I would try that with Amsoil no matter what people told me. The investment just isn't worth it for me. If a car runs for 200,000 miles and I change the oil every 5,000 miles with Mobil 1 at $5 per quart and $10 for the Mobil 1 filter (i.e., $35 per oil change), the total cost to me is $1,400. To keep a car on the road for well over 10 years at that cost for oil changes, I'll change the oil every 5,000 miles. If I can get my Taurus to 18 years, the cost of the car will be less than $1,000 per year to me, not including maintenance, gas, insurance, etc., merely what I paid for the car.

[Tall Shadow]

A few years back, consumers reports did a big test on oils, oil changes, and engine wear.

The short story is that they found no real need for the old standard 3,000 mile oil change. That running Any SAE approved oil 6,000-8,000 miles was just fine.

I have run Mobil 1 for 10,000 miles in a few trucks that I've owned...(5)...changing the filter (Wix from NAPA) every 5,000 miles + adding a quart to replace the one lost.

EVERY one was still running strong at 200,000+ miles...when I sold them. The rest of the truck was falling apart...the engines were clean and tight.

Tall Shadow

[Dan Morris]

Fabs, about 6 years ago, I retired a 78 Blazer...had oil/filter changed EVERY 2500 mikes...hand nothing but Castrol n wix filters....retired at 547K........yep, figure is right! That is what I stay with.
Dan

[Rocky Raab]

I believe that much or even most of the "Recommended Service" on cars is purely to keep us digging into our wallets. It's based on engine and lubricant technologies that have been outmoded for half a century.

I can remember when they recommended oil changes every 1,000 miles - but the oils then were primitive, often merely filtered and recycled. No modern additives, nothing but raw petroleum oil. (They sold it in glass bottles with pour spouts, from wire baskets at every gas pump!)

Today, they try to make you feel guilty, stupid or both unless you get their full service deal once a month or so.

Balderdash.

Gas and oils are better, additives are doubly better and engines are trebly better than when such rigorous maintenance practices were truly needed.

[skeet]

I have to agree with you Rocky. The oil change intervals now seem to keep the dealers happy and we have to keep our "warranties" intact ya know. Mo money..mo money. Heck it wasn't until the 60's that the SAE group even addressed motor oils by giving them ratings. When I sold that Amsoil they had definitive proof that oils don't really wear out. The additives would lose their effectiveness but the oil was good for a long time. Remember using recycled oils in the past? They cleaned the oil and resold it with a few primitive additives in it and made more money. I hate to admit this but I had a 49 Studebaker 4 door. Don't laugh..it got me there and back. Had no oil filter at all an oil bath air filter and the only oil I ever put in it was the recycled stuff. It cost half as much as new and i changed the oil every 1500=2000 miles anyway. Only reason I got rid of it was cause the Studebaker mechanic in town wanted one for parts and he paid me a lot more for it than I paid. I made 90 bucks on that car and ran it for 20,000 miles. I'm glad you had the nerve to say that about oil, Rocky. The way I have felt for a long time, too. A guy I worked with once bought a new chevelle..He ran it back and forth to work for over 90,000 miles and NEVER changed the oil. Just added it when he needed to and kept on driving. Now I don't reommend doing that but it ran for a couple hundred thousand miles with no problems

[indyhntr]

I know that in an aircraft that is operated for hire the oil and filter must be changed every 50 hours of flight time. UNLESS you use an approved full synthetic oil (read Mobile 1) then you can go 200 hours between oil changes provided the filter is changed at 50. 4 times longer, good enough for the FAA, good enough for me.

[fabsroman]

Okay, maybe I'll think about going to a 7,500 interval, maybe even a 10,000 mile interval. However, since I change my own oil it isn't quite as expensive as taking the car in for service. Same goes for other maintenance. When I first met my wife, her car was due for its 30,000 mile checkup and I asked her if she wanted me to do it. Since we had only been dating for a month, she said no thank you, until she found out it was $450 for the 30,000 maintenance/checkup at the dealer. She asked me how much it would cost for me to do it, and when I told her it would cost about $60 she asked me to do it.

[skeet]

You do make a pretty good point though. Those service intervals with the things that have to be done are very costly when done by the dealers. Or anyone else for that matter. I really don't mind changing the oil in the Ford diesel but getting under that jetta sure is a problem. It is true that there isn't that much savings on the oil changes when you do it yourself..but most people don't do their own oil changes. The Jetta costs 70 bucks to have the oil changes. The Ford diesel really isn't a whole lot more and it takes 16 quarts of oil. Soon I'm going to go to a synthetic on the Ford

[fabsroman]

Yep, the savings on oil changes is pretty minimal, but by doing it myself I know exactly what is being done. I have heard stories where the oil in the car actually wasn't changed (e.g., my uncle, and father in-law). I have heard stories where the oil pan bolt has been stripped from over torquing it (e.g., my sister, a co-worker). I want to make sure that the oil and filter get changed, that they get changed with the oil and filter I want used, and that the oil pan bolt goes on smoothly. Those are the reasons that I do my own oil changes.

In the Ford diesel, I used Mobil 1 15w-50 when I changed the oil. The next time I change the oil I'm going to use Mobil 1 that is specifically formulated for the Turbo Diesel. I saw it at Wal-Mart over the weekend and I think it costs $25 for 4 quarts. Not cheap, but neither was my truck.

[fishdoggydog]

I go with the service manual recommended 7500 mile oil change with plain old 5W-30 but a good brand of oil, I use Castrol mostly.
I think the biggest mistake made is letting oil levels get low, even a quart makes a difference in the cooling an engine gets from the oil in the pan.