Oil change intervals

[YerDugliness]

I drive for 6 months a year, try to miss the heat of summer and the winter rains down here along the gulf coast. It usually amounts to about 3 months in the spring and 3 months in the fall.

I change the oil at the end of each of those 3 month "driving seasons"...that way there is fresh oil sitting in the pan when I am ready to resume driving and I am not bothered with changing the oil before I can drive the car.

I don't care if I waste a bit of $$ changing my oil prematurely...this car is a dream come true for an old schoolteacher on a fixed retirement income, I like fiddling with it now and then and the expense of the supplies is diminished because I keep my eyes open for oil sales (usually very inexpensive and includes a filter) at the local automotive shops.

I had the valve covers off earlier this week...despite the drivetrain being from a 1989 Mustang GT, it looks factory fresh under the valve covers, no signs of ever having been neglected and forming sludge....I have no idea of total mileage, but in 3 years I have put 3,000 miles on it.

I would like to have the oil analyzed to get some info regarding how much wear the engine has suffered since it was put into service, but I tried to do this for my daughter when she bought a used car. None of the auto parts stores had the kits.

Patrick, you have a PM....

Cheers!

Dugly

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Patrick, you have a PM....

And it was a friendly PM too. (rare for me) Here's an old oil analysis that I had in my gallery:

[dallas_]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

I would like to have the oil analyzed to get some info regarding how much wear the engine has suffered since it was put into service,

x2 on Blackstone.
They will send you a free sample kit with instructions.
Pay them when you send in the sample (about $25) and they will provide an oil report with a narrative that helps explain the numbers and 2 more sample containers with mailing labels.

Blackstone Labs

Well worth it in my opinion.
John

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

I drive for 6 months a year, try to miss the heat of summer and the winter rains down here along the gulf coast. It usually amounts to about 3 months in the spring and 3 months in the fall.

I change the oil at the end of each of those 3 month "driving seasons"...that way there is fresh oil sitting in the pan when I am ready to resume driving and I am not bothered with changing the oil before I can drive the car.

I don't care if I waste a bit of $$ changing my oil prematurely...this car is a dream come true for an old schoolteacher on a fixed retirement income, I like fiddling with it now and then and the expense of the supplies is diminished because I keep my eyes open for oil sales (usually very inexpensive and includes a filter) at the local automotive shops.

I had the valve covers off earlier this week...despite the drivetrain being from a 1989 Mustang GT, it looks factory fresh under the valve covers, no signs of ever having been neglected and forming sludge....I have no idea of total mileage, but in 3 years I have put 3,000 miles on it.

I would like to have the oil analyzed to get some info regarding how much wear the engine has suffered since it was put into service, but I tried to do this for my daughter when she bought a used car. None of the auto parts stores had the kits.

Patrick, you have a PM....

Cheers!

Dugly

That makes no sense. If anything, you should change the oil before you start driving. Why have new oil sitting in the pan collecting moisture and becoming contaminated?

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by joyridin'

That makes no sense. If anything, you should change the oil before you start driving. Why have new oil sitting in the pan collecting moisture and becoming contaminated?

Yes, I agree...therein lies my quandry.

Would it be better for me to drain the pan and leave it empty when I store the car? Would it be better if I were to leave all that used oil in the pan while it is being stored, then change the oil before I start it up? That seems to me to offer the worst-case scenario, all that oil with the contaminants and acids sitting there in the pan...doing who knows what to the metals in the engine, particularly the bearings.

The replica is stored in a dry, secure garage, but the garage is not temperature controlled.

I'm asking these questions b/c I seriously wonder what the best storage procedure would be. It just seemed to me that clean oil sitting in a pan for 3 months might be the best option...it seems acidity in the oil would be at its lowest level in fresh oil.

Maybe a dry pan is the answer, I certainly don't know.

Then, again, maybe Madmaxx might be right, drive it like you stole it, don't worry about it, deal with the issues that might arise IF they do arise...

Good discussion....more opinions, please.....

Thanks!

Dugly

[FUNFER2]

Originally Posted by joyridin'

That makes no sense. If anything, you should change the oil before you start driving. Why have new oil sitting in the pan collecting moisture and becoming contaminated?

I like using fresh oil as the old oil may,.... have containments that sit on the bearings all winter. I use a new filter too, then it's ready to fire back up in spring. Oil is relatively low in cost, versus the cost of our engines we put in our cobras.

So,... oil being the blood of the engine, why not be assured that we are doing everything we can to help save our expensive performance engines, for the cost of a oil & filter change. No brainier for me folks.

(I also take my old oil & filter in to be recycled)

[madmaxx]

Less than 3k miles, irregardless Of time you have no contaminant concentration even remotely close to doing damage. Patrickt is right one morning you wake up not feeling well and your priorities change real quick.

Don't feel bad for people who smoke and get sick or motorcycle riders, they are a drain on our medical services, along with the obese.

Originally Posted by FUNFER2

I like using fresh oil as the old oil may,.... have containments that sit on the bearings all winter. I use a new filter too, then it's ready to fire back up in spring. Oil is relatively low in cost, versus the cost of our engines we put in our cobras.

So,... oil being the blood of the engine, why not be assured that we are doing everything we can to help save our expensive performance engines, for the cost of a oil & filter change. No brainier for me folks.

(I also take my old oil & filter in to be recycled)

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by madmaxx

Less than 3k miles, irregardless Of time you have no contaminant concentration even remotely close to doing damage. Patrickt is right one morning you wake up not feeling well and your priorities change real quick.

Don't feel bad for people who smoke and get sick or motorcycle riders, they are a drain on our medical services, along with the obese.

My guess would be that unless you change your oil, then start the car and run it for a while to flush out the old oil, the oil sitting on your bearings isn't going to drain into the pan anyhow. Now, if you do start the car after you change the oil, then you just took those contaminants you spoke of and put them right back into the new oil.

Add to that the fact that where I live in Ohio, the temperature all Winter fluctuates greatly. I do not have a climate controlled garage, so there is a lot of moisture generated on the block and in the block. As soon as you start cranking the engine, all that moisture is pumped through and mixed with the oil. Probably a lot worse than the contaminants you are talking about.

[mdross1]

Read one time a trucker went 409,000 miles on oil change using synthetic oil with added double or triple prefilters.Had oil tested periodically,this same E7-400 engine had over 600,000 miles on the clock.