...I've built a couple of VW engines and in the case of air cooled engines, in hot weather 3,000 miles is too far to drive before an oil change. Although RVs are liquid cooled, and the larger engines can take greater loads keeping 'em well lubricated is how we make 'em last; every 10,000 miles in some cases with synthetic oil? I don't go over 5,000 miles in our 2000 Beetle that uses only synthetic oil.
I think this 3,000 mile oil change myth story is something that has questionable research (if any) behind it. Change that oil regularly 3,000 miles or every three months, that's a proven way to save fuel and therefore, oil.
The 3000 mile oil change is a myth promoted by the oil companies, change shops and even car dealers. Following a longer change cycle will reduce their business.
The oil companies screamed blue murder when GM introduced their oil life monitor system in the 90's. They said that 3000 mile changes were still required.
GMs response was somewhere along the lines of "We design 'em, we build 'em and we warranty 'em. America can save millions of gallons of oil with this system". Exactly what "Big Oil" didn't want to hear.
As my daily vehicle I have a '94 Buick Roadmaster wagon with 175,000 miles on it. Oil has been changed when the computer tells me, and it has been as high as 7500 miles and uses no oil between changes.
"Change oil" monitor message just came on in my truck (D'Max). Even the GM dealer who did the oil change told me I needed to bring it back in 3 months or 3000 miles.
I asked "Do I void my engine warranty if I wait for the monitor system to tell me?". "Errrrr, no" was the embarrassed and obviously uncomfortable answer. That's when I reached in and pulled the 3000 mile change sticker out of my windshield they had just installed.
To Revleonidas - Do you really think GM did not research the oil life before introducing their monitor system? After all, they as a company do not benefit from the retail side of more or less frequent oil changes. And they assumed the warranty failure risk if it was not a good idea.
I was a GM engineer when this all took place and trust me when I say A LOT of research went into it. The change intervals now suggested are extremely conservative. Unofficial discussions were along the lines of you could probably double the recommended change interval. But I will stick with what the computer tells me.
* This post was
edited 06/17/08 09:47am by kaydeejay *
Keith J, Retired from GM Engineering
2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLE 2WD/CC/SB/DA.
1999 Sunnybrook 27RKFS Fiver
Bilsteins, Line-X, Westin steps, Prodigy, Retrax, 16K Superglide, 5th-Airborne pin-box, Multi-vex mirrors.
In the 1950's, it wasn't 3000 miles, it was 1000 miles. We had the same overheated discussions when oils and metallurgy improved, and manufacturers raised change intervals to 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 miles and more.
I also recommend frequent oil changes, yet my beater car a 20 year old Mazda has over 200,000 miles on it, and I've changed the oil about 2 maybe 3 times in the last 13 years/100,000 miles. 'I know', 'I know', but I hate the car its ugly and I just wish it would die! I drive the snot out of it and it just keeps going. It is as zippy as a brand new one(I know I just bought a new Mazda3 for DW which will get oil changes every 3500 miles).
Still, this old car always passes California smog test with no problem, runs great and gets 30+ MPG! With the current prices for gas, I'm starting to like the old junker, I just may go ahead and change the oil to go another 30,000 - 40,000 miles!
My new Chevy Cobalt does not have an oil change schedule listed any were in the owners manual. It says nothing about 3,000 miles or any other amount of miles. Chevy designed, tested, built and sold the car. They also warranty the thing. If they say change when the computer says so, I will. I always thought the whole 3,000 mile thing was crap. On my first new car, 1980 Mazda, the salesman said, change the oil every 3,000 miles or three months. That first evening I was reading the owners manual and it said 7500 miles, nothing about any number of months. I asked my boss, an old fighter plane mechanic, what he thought. He scratched his head, thought for a minute and what he told me has stuck for years. He said, do you think the salesman knows more than the guy that designed the car? I said no, he told me to follow the book. The book is what the car company is going to stand behind. Since then I have always followed the owners manual recommendations and ignored the whole 3,000 mile thing.
3000-mile oil changes mysteriously came about with the advent of quick oil change places. Changing oil at less than the manufacturer-recommended intervals is a waste of time, money, and oil. Unless you are driving under extreme conditions (heavy dust, all stop-and-go driving, etc.) changing oil at 3000-mile intervals is foolish, unless of course you own a Jiffy Lube franchise, then every 500 miles or so would be preferred, wouldn't it?................
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