Changed my oil, surprised oil was so clean.

[throttleplate]

Put 3400 miles on latest oil change,148,000 miled honda civic 1.7 litre 4 cyl naturally aspirated engine, takes 3.75 quarts of mobil supreme 5w20 blended oil to fill. Most of the 3400 miles was highway from fishing last summer and this spring.

When i do drive in town i keep the auto tranny in 3 gear so to keep rpms up to keep cumbustion chamber hot and clean especially in winter in north dakota where the engine spends more time idling to warm up and cold air reduces the operating temp to where my fans dont even come on.

My oil which i drained hot came out the color of coca cola, this is the cleanest i have ever seen my oil at 3000 miles, its a 5000 mile oil says the manufacturer but i go 3500 at the most. Being highway miles mostly really does make a big difference in keeping combustion clean as compared to mostly city driving stop and go.

[Jig Man]

I used to go by mileage but I bought a Chevy truck with 2 years of free oil changes.  The first time I took it in GM refused to change it.  It was at 35% oil life and they required 23% or lower.  So now I go at about 20% oil life.  I don’t have any idea what it looks like.

[throttleplate]

3 hours ago, Jig Man said:

I used to go by mileage but I bought a Chevy truck with 2 years of free oil changes.  The first time I took it in GM refused to change it.  It was at 35% oil life and they required 23% or lower.  So now I go at about 20% oil life.  I don’t have any idea what it looks like.

Does your truck compute mileage and hours to determin % shown on the dash?

[Jig Man]

Maybe but I am not sure.  I’ve never asked anyone about it.  That was 3 trucks ago.

[BigAngus752]

That's fantastic that you take such great care of your vehicles, but I have to suggest that you stop with the 3400 mile oil changes.  The quality of oil has changed immensely since I started taking care of my vehicles in 1985.  The quality of the oil, the design of the engines, the fact that the engines recirculate everything including air...it all adds up to much longer mileage between oil changes.  The fact that you are using a blend of dinosaur and synthetic gets you even more miles.  I bought my first brand new truck in 2020.  I go strictly by the computer's percentage as it monitors the quality of my oil.  I change it when it gets below 20%.  The LEAST miles I've gone is 7500.  The Mercedes dealer won't change the oil in my wife's car until it has 10,000 on it.  They won't let us waste the money.  You shouldn't even look at that drain plug until you have 5000 miles on your oil.  It's going to run forever for you because you take care of it.  

[MN Fisher]

15 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

The LEAST miles I've gone is 7500.

I go 6000 on my '01 Silverado 5.3L between changes....oil comes out looking not too bad...I could probably go 10k...but I gotta take extra care of this baby cause it's probably the last vehicle I'll buy.

[Scott F]

My 2019 Ford F150 has had 4 oil changes so far and I’m halfway towards my fifth. I’ve only got 23,000 miles on the truck. I’ve been changing at 5,000 miles, which happens after about a year of driving. I always use the anniversary date of buying the truck to get my oil changed.

[A-Jay]

Between the free 1st dealer oil change that come with the initial purchase,

and then the GM 'reward points' that can be used for service/accessories 

and can even be used toward the down payment of the next vehicle,

I haven't 'paid' for service in a while.

I do my oil changes at the dealer in the spring & fall about 6 months apart.

Weather's often at least reasonable - oil might have 4 or5 k on it.

A-Jay

 

[Woody B]

GM's oil life monitoring uses a combination of miles, hours, temperature/heat cycles to calculate the percentage left....or at least that's what it done when I was a GM dealership tech.   

 

Modern engines don't waste fuel like older engines did.   This not only helps fuel economy, but also keeps the oil cleaner because way less unburned fuel gets in it.   

 

I change oil in all of our vehicles every 5000 miles.  That's overkill in most cases, but it's worth it to me for peach of mind.   

 

Decades ago the "normal" oil change interval was 3000 miles.  A few decades before that it was "normal" to change the oil every 2000 miles, but change the filter every other oil change.  (4000 miles)

[Log Catcher]

Like @Scott F I have a 2019 F150. I bought it in 2021 and it had about 23000 miles on it. I let the trucks computer tell me when I need to change oil. I think it has been changed three times since I got it. It has 31000 miles on it now.

[gim]

I go by the oil tracker too. I think the factory setting is 7500 miles. When it gets down to under 20%, it’s time to schedule maintenance.

[TnRiver46]

I ain’t got no oil tracker…… 😂 

 

I change it when I can remember to, meant to change it today after reading this thread this morning, got distracted making raised garden beds for my wife . Hopefully I will remember tomorrow 

[BigAngus752]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I go 6000 on my '01 Silverado 5.3L between changes....oil comes out looking not too bad...I could probably go 10k...but I gotta take extra care of this baby cause it's probably the last vehicle I'll buy.

Me too.  Got the "lifetime powertrain" for mine and I follow the rules to the letter.  

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

Got the "lifetime powertrain" for mine

You're one up on me - I got mine used....so no warranty beyond the 30day 'Lemon Law'.

[throttleplate]

4 hours ago, Woody B said:

Modern engines don't waste fuel like older engines did.   This not only helps fuel economy, but also keeps the oil cleaner because way less unburned fuel gets in it.

 

There is a problem with new direct injection turbo boosted engines, especially 4 cylinders in the hondas as the fuel pressure along with turbo boost pressure is forcing fuel past the rings washing down the cylinder and mixing into the oil.

 

Two weeks ago i was at the honda dealer gettin a filter and a salesman struck up a conversation so i asked him if honda still has fuel into the oil dilution problems and he actually told me yes but its gotten better with the newer models.

Wow ,i wont be buying a new or used honda in the years of having this well documented problem.

I also told him i wouldnt ever buy a honda with a cvt transmission because the engine revs really high on takeoff as honda is to cheap to do what toyota has done which was put a launch gear in their cvt to achive a normal take off from a dead start without having the engine rev out to 6000 rpms to get going.

[TOXIC]

I tend to keep my vehicles for a long time, so regular maintenance is a must.  My last truck, a 2004 3/4 ton 2500HD with the 6.0 had 175k on it when I traded it in on my brand new at the time 2016 Silverado High Country 5.3.  I had lifetime oil changes from the dealer on my 2004 and they wanted it in every 3,000 miles.  I have 95k on my 2016 and I do the oil every 5,000.  I have also had all of my fluids changed (transmission, transfer case and both differentials) I’ve had a radiator flush, brake fluid flush (found out the hard way on my 2004 what happens if you don’t) and just had new plugs, wires and induction service.  I’ve proactively done a new AC Delco battery, Powerstop pads and slotted rotors and Bilstein rear shocks.  Did Michelin LT tires at 65k.  All receipts are in my center console😂

[GReb]

My 2015 F150 has 180k miles on it. After the warranty expired I have changed my own every 7-10k miles or whenever the computer says to. I only use pennzoil or Valvoline full synthetic.
 

I know quite a few engineers who say not to exceed 7k miles but so far I haven’t had issues with this particular motor yet. I think if you drive a lot it’s fine to surpass 7k miles as long as the oil is topped off and you change it a few times a year. 

[Will Ketchum]

Being retired, I don't drive much, so I let the dealer deal with all maintenance done once a year.

[casts_by_fly]

BMW was on a 12k interval as far back as 2003.  I was working for an additives company that among other things did engine oil additives.  As noted above, the combination of direct electronic fuel injection and improvements in oil additive technology mean that with a properly maintained car and decent oil you can go far longer than 3k miles.  My ram 1500 with the 5.7 hemi is on a 10k schedule.  I go fully synthetic and a premium filter.  The oil when you change it looks better than some oils when you put them in the engine.  I'm sure it could do a 20k interval but 10k is 14-16 months for me so I just do it and consider it an 'annual' expense.  Also not cheap since it takes 8 or 9 quarts.

[spartyon8]

When I bought my Tundra, service book said oil change every 5,000 miles. A month later got a letter from Toyota saying 10,000 miles is the new update. I go 10,000 and it looks good each time. Truck has just shy of 200,000 miles now.