Oil change intervals

[Gaz64]

Originally Posted by w-lewis

I drive my car 300-400 miles a year, admittedly, not enough and change my oil once a year. Do any of you with similar annual mileage change yours more or less often than that?

I change my oil on my low usage cars every six months regardless of distance, which may be 500-1000km (300-600 miles).

Oil not getting to operating temp has high acidity and then sitting for long periods will eat the bearings away from chemical erosion.

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by Gaz64

Oil not getting to operating temp has high acidity and then sitting for long periods will eat the bearings away from chemical erosion.

Could we focus on this statement for a bit? My routine has me driving for 3 months (probably less than 1,000 miles, to be honest), then changing the oil and letting the car sit for the next three months. My oil change routine involves allowing the engine to idle until it is up to operating temperature (which is usually 180*), then pulling it into the garage for it's 3 month nap before it is started again.

First, I wonder if there is any measurable water content to the oil if I only start it after the oil change and then after putting it away I don't start it again for so long. My concern is that in that 10 minutes it idles, there might develop enough acidity to do exactly as described, eat away at bearings during the long sit-up. What do y'all think, is that a dangerous practice?

Before I restart the engine after it's three month nap, I pull all the spark plugs and operate the starter until the engine registers oil pressure...would rather have a pre-lube fitting or an Acusump, but those are future improvements.

I had always hoped that by changing the oil and then getting it into quick storage that I was ensuring that the old oil, with whatever acidity it might have developed over the 3 months it has been in use, would not be a factor during the storage. Am I fooling myself??

Cheers!

Dugly

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Am I fooling myself??

Yes, I think you are. The oil samples I send out in the spring are after a short, "warm up" drive -- nothing fancy. No sign of moisture, or anything else untoward, in the samples. And that's after just sitting in a bag with desiccant for five months.

[madmaxx]

The plot thickens, now we are risking stripping a spark plug after stressing the spark plug boots. Ever hook the plug wires backwards. Please just drive the car there is no acid they are managed by the detergents in the oil once they form after 7k miles.







QUOTE=YerDugliness;1199763]Could we focus on this statement for a bit? My routine has me driving for 3 months (probably less than 1,000 miles, to be honest), then changing the oil and letting the car sit for the next three months. My oil change routine involves allowing the engine to idle until it is up to operating temperature (which is usually 180*), then pulling it into the garage for it's 3 month nap before it is started again.

First, I wonder if there is any measurable water content to the oil if I only start it after the oil change and then after putting it away I don't start it again for so long. My concern is that in that 10 minutes it idles, there might develop enough acidity to do exactly as described, eat away at bearings during the long sit-up. What do y'all think, is that a dangerous practice?

Before I restart the engine after it's three month nap, I pull all the spark plugs and operate the starter until the engine registers oil pressure...would rather have a pre-lube fitting or an Acusump, but those are future improvements.

I had always hoped that by changing the oil and then getting it into quick storage that I was ensuring that the old oil, with whatever acidity it might have developed over the 3 months it has been in use, would not be a factor during the storage. Am I fooling myself??

Cheers!

Dugly [/quote]