I think there is a little more to that than just the oil changes..
Rubiranch wrote:
mikehart92 wrote: Go ahead the throw your money out the window if you want to change at 3000.
I prefer to spend mine wisely and wait till the computer says to.
Mike
They're right Les, it's your hard earned money so spend it how ever you like.
I just took these two pictures;
Here's our Jeep Grand Cherokee with just over 133,000 miles it. The previous owner (we purchased the Jeep with 109,000 miles on it) changed the oil and filter every 5000 miles whether it needed it or not.
Here's my Mustang with just over 220,000 miles on it. I have changed the oil every 3000 miles whether it needed it or not.
Judging by the two pictures which engine do YOU think will last the longest??
Changing your oil at $40 per service every 5000 vs every 3000 you will save $500 in 100,000 miles, or $75 yr (based on the average of 15k miles/yr), or $6.30/mo, or $1.56/wk, or 22ยข per day.
Save all that money and change it every 5000 miles, you'll have enough money saved in no time to retire.
If you're only going to keep it for 100k, who cares?
JMO
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Not trying to be a smart a$$ but those kits cost somewhere from 22.00 on up unless you buy more than 3 kits at a time. I only looked at 4 sites they might be cheaper, for that money I can pretty much buy oil and filter. Just out of curiosity how many take care of their own maintenance. Again its your vehicle do what you think is right.
rob85546 wrote: I think there is a little more to that than just the oil changes..
I'd be curious to know my self.
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wcjeep wrote: Avoid Fram. They're not built to meet or exceed OEM spec. I missed the type of vehicle that started this thread. I think the Cummins 07.5'+ trucks have a sensor in the oil that checks for fuel dilution.
I use GM Delco (?). Not sure if they are any better than Fram.
FRAM = junk
These are pictures for the Duramax application...
Notice how cheap the FRAM looks? Cardboard inside where the AC Delco is metal? And look at the filter media -- About 60% of the size of the AC Delco one. Cheap! Cheap! China could build a better filter!
I agree, Fram sucks. I too cut a Fram "Extra Guard" filter open with an aviation filter opener tool. I was surprised at how the paper element filter inside was turned to a mushy pulp at 4,000 miles.
Since then, I've done much research myself and found that Mobil-1 "Extended Performance" filters work much better. First off, they don't have paper filter media inside them. They have a synthetic material that won't degrade under hot temperatures and standard oil pressure conditons. They also have roughly 30% more filtering capacity than the paper element filters do.
Yeah, the Mobil-1 synthetic filters cost a few dollars more. So does their oil. But hey, you get what you pay for.
If you want an engine that has no sludge, varnish and pretty much runs clean, go with the Mobil-1 synthetic products. You'll be happy and so will your engines.
I plan on keeping my 2008 diesel for at least 300,000 miles and I'll do it with Mobil-1 products. My last diesel truck got 310,000 miles on it and I never had a compression problem or even a serious engine malfunction. I finally got rid of the truck to a teenager that wanted it. The truck got t-boned and suffered damage to the passenger side doors. The teen didn't care, he wanted the truck. Otherwise, I'd say the Mobil-1 really took care of the engine. I could have gotten more miles out of that old oil-burner.
Here's another secret I did: I only changed the oil in that truck once per year. I averaged about 16,000 miles on it per year too! How's that for an oil lasting a long long time? Again, thanks to Mobil-1 filters and fully synthetic diesel engine oil. (Mobile DELVAC-1).
always refer (follow?) to the owners manual on the fluid changes, but also: use some common sense in your vehicle upkeep. the new gm oil life system depends on a computer program that monitors your driving habits from engine/outside temperature, milage, speeds, engine loads and so forth. its so far a pretty good system. but as always keep an eye on the color of your dipstick, the color inside the oil filler cap, and most of all the smell and tactile feel of the oil. theres nothing better than getting to know your own vehicle by the way it feels and smells, so forth.
i myself always use mobile 1 filters and oil on all my vehicles, no exception. i always do the touch and smell of the oil when under the hood. always do the same for the tranny fluid. what happens if your thermostat get stuck and your engine overheats?, change it at its next due date ( durr use the common sense) i cant remember the estimated loss of properties in engine oil after an engine overheating but its pretty big, the same for transmission fluid, the hotter they get, the faster they will loose being a good lubrication substance different driving conditions create different outcomes and need different types of service ( gm oil life system kicks in)
but as always follow your book and use the best judgement in your own vehicle. besides, who knows the vehicle better than the driver?
RD
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Changing by the computer makes far more sense than the old 1950s 3000 mile deal.
Originally the 3000 was to extend the 1000 mile changes when the oil was improved with additives. Now the 3000 mile interval is just to keep selling stuff you don't need.
JMHO
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My FIL, a diehard GM fanatic who won't even look at other cars, had a hard-time swallowing the oil life monitor also. 50 years of changing his own oil, and 3000 miles was the number for all those years, then the 05 Silverado came into his garage and it wanted him to wait until 10,000 or so. It didn't sit right with him either, and he decided the "fancy-schmancy computer don't know squat". Instead, he does the 3000 mile change to this day, ignoring the computer altogether. I don't know what it matters so much to him, he trades in cars around 80k miles so he could probably get by with about 8 oil changes in total.
I gave up on the 3000 mile oil change years ago when I was a mechanic at a Chrysler dealership. We had photocopies of the service schedule for all the models at that time, so we could "recommend" (upsell) customers when they came in. I noticed on my first day that the "severe duty" schedule only required oil changes every 5000 miles, and the "normal duty" schedule called for oil changes every 15k miles! Of course the dealership still put the oil change reminder stickers on people's windshield and used 3000 as the next service interval. I asked the shop manager why we did that, when even the severe duty schedule said 5000, and his reply was "People don't read the manuals, and 3000 gets them in here more often." Nice eh?
I myself tested the oil change interval extensively. I ran a 1988 Plymouth Voyager 230k miles changing the oil about twice a year (12k miles give or take). And for the record, I definitely should have been following the severe duty schedule the way I used that van. It was a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder van, 5-speed manual trans. I never had engine problems of any sort, and even after my brother took ownership and ran the van near 300k miles it didn't use more than a quart of oil between 12k mile oil changes.
Oh, and for all you synthetic oil guys, I never use the stuff. As a mechanic I saw plenty of engines come apart and the owners scratching their heads "But I've been running Mobil 1 since it was new!" It wasn't the oil's fault, if a motor is going to come apart it generally isn't because it wore out, which is the only thing oil prevents. Sometimes it's just luck-of-the-draw. I ran whatever oil was cheapest when I went shopping, switching brands to whatever coupon I had and always buying the cheapest filters (typically Fram or store brand).
All that said, on my newer cars I've increased the service intervals. It averages to about 5-6000 miles between changes, and I suspect I could go further by the look of the oil. I still use the cheapest oil and filters, but now I buy a case at a time to save even more money. If I had the GM oil life monitor, I would definitely follow it. These modern engines are so much tighter they just don't wear out oil like the old motors. Most of the reason for the 3000 mile oil change was gasoline leaking past the piston rings diluting the oil over time. That just doesn't happen anymore.
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Rangerdave wrote: always refer (follow?) to the owners manual on the fluid changes, but also: use some common sense in your vehicle upkeep.
I don't get it. The owners manual for the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD 5.9L has 7,500 mile oil changes for heavy use and 15,000 miles for light use. However, just about everyone I talk to, including the dealership, friends, people on other forums, recommend that I don't follow the owners manual and do the oil changes between 3,000-5,000. They say that the 7,500 and especially the 15,000 mile interval is just asking for trouble, which is weird since these values came straight from the people who designed the truck
A few people say that the 7,500 mile interval is O.K., but I cannot find a single person who agrees that the 15,000 mile oil change interval is O.K.
Of course, when I ask the same people when I should do fuel filter changes, tire rotations, and just about any other maintenance interval, they tell me to refer to the manual. I guess the engineers got everything right but the oil changes...
The oil life monitors are a gimmic, just like the MPG trip computer.
Why is it that when it comes to owners manuals people choose what to go by and what to ignore. if you go to the maintainance schedule everyone does what they want and thinks they can push it and be cheap! when you go to the towing section people only go 80% and say the manuf. are optimistic and say they would never tow what the manuf. says it can tow! what gives?
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