Synthetic oil

[UglyCasanova]

I've been getting my oil changed at the Mazda dealership (because they owed me 2 free ones due to a jackass salesman) and they are using synthetic oil and claiming I don't have to get it changed until 7000 miles. I've always done the 3000 mile oil change and waiting so long past there makes me kind of leery. Is this correct, am I safe waiting until 7000 miles? I don't want to mess my engine up.

 

[nickbits]

Probably. My BMW recommend one every 20k km

 

[TridenT]

Probably. My BMW recommend one every 20k km

Wow, that is extremely long...

I know my Honda recommends like 3,000-5,000 for regular oil and something like 5,000-7,500 for synthetic...

But I tend to change it around 3,000-5,000 for synthetic. (I used to do 3,000 mile full syn; now I do 5,000 mile full syn while doing my tire rotation. Cuts down time working on my car a lot)

Anyway, 7,000 isn't overly high for full synthetic. Some new cars recommend 10,000 miles and I think that's high.

Also, don't you have your owner's manual? It'll tell you what to do for shit like oil changes.

 

[996GT2]

Wow, that is extremely long...

I know my Honda recommends like 3,000-5,000 for regular oil and something like 5,000-7,500 for synthetic...

Not sure where you got these numbers from, because they are wrong (unless you have a very old Honda).

Honda's recommendation for most of their recent (2003+) inline-4s is a 10,000 mile oil change interval. For severe service (lots of stop and go city driving), the recommended oil change interval is 5000 miles. Honda's factory oils are were formerly conventional oils (rebranded Mobil 5000) and are now synthetic blends from Conoco Philips, so their recommended intervals do not require the use of fully synthetic oils.

For filters, Honda recommends a filter change every 20,000 miles. Apparently their factory testing showed that the OEM filter could actually last 30,000 miles in between changes, and so they recommended 20k intervals to be conservative.

Here's the recommended service interval for an 03 Civic, for example:
http://owners.honda.com/service-maintenance/minder?year=2003&model=Civic-Sedan#mid^ES2573MW

*There are a few exceptions (like the S2000 which has a 7,500 mile OCI), but in general Honda recommends 10k intervals for standard driving and 5k intervals for severe driving. Again, these intervals do not require fully synthetic oil.

 

[The Stigenator]

You can run 5000 on regular oil, 7500 for synth easy. My previous ford focus (2000) ran 5K between with regular oil. My TSX that is on a blend (whatever acura dealer uses) runs about 7500 between changes. My miata that I drive hard at times, gets 5K on synthetic but I can run 7500 if need be. My CX5 runs 7500 miles between changes.

Thing is to optimize on how you drive. If you drive like a grandma, then you can easily do 5K. Though the point is pull that dipstick and see teh color and smell of the oil. Engines run clean enough that you can go 3K and its still goldenish..

 

[olds]

OP, do you drive on dirt roads?

 

[ThatsABigOne]

996GT has correct info. Many of new cars have oil meters in them that monitor several parameters such as how many cold starts there were, how miles driven, revs at certain points in the drive, etc. Thus there is no need to fixate yourself to some mileage interval.

As a 2013 Honda Accord owner, I change my oil when meter reaches 15% of oil life which leads to about 10k miles. Some people on DriveAccord forums had no issues replacing their oil up to 12k-13k miles. Their oil was sent for analysis and everything came clean.

 

[mztykal]

I change mine when it reaches 15% on the life meter in my Acura. On my Toyota I change it when the light comes on.

 

[michal1980]

what does the owners manual say?

Do that when under warranty.

 

[bruceb]

That mileage for a top quality synthetic oil with a good brand oil filter is very reasonable. Of course a lot depends on how you drive. A lot of short trips, are worse the a few long mileage trips. Same for road conditions. Very dusty areas would need it changed earlier. And of course, be sure to check and adjust the oil level, say every 1,000 miles or once a month or every two weeks, depending on how many miles you put on the car.

 

[HeXen]

The rest of your car will break down before the engine wears that much due to choice of oil or not changing it at that super exact mileage. You guys kill me.
I had an all original 400 chevy small block that survived 3 different cars, one of which the frame was rusted so bad I'm surprised it didn't break in half.

 

[Meghan54]

I've been living with the "Change your oil every 3k miles" mantra for the last 50 years. It's almost as if no advancements have been made at all in the metallurgy, design and building of engines, or nothing's changed in oil quality and durability, or that oil filters haven't gotten vastly better at filtering impurities out over the last 5 decades.

Of course, 50 years ago, there were cars produced that had oil filters as an optional feature....an old Studebaker we owned comes to mind. Oil bath air filter and no oil filter. Absolutely could NOT run detergent oil in it and absolutely had to change it at least every 3k miles.

These days, it's just a myth to change every 3k miles unless you're driving continuously in very dusty conditions, tow a LOT, or all your driving is of short duration. That or a way to fleece unknowing consumers of $$.

 

[phucheneh]

I've been living with the "Change your oil every 3k miles" mantra for the last 50 years. It's almost as if no advancements have been made at all in the metallurgy, design and building of engines, or nothing's changed in oil quality and durability, or that oil filters haven't gotten vastly better at filtering impurities out over the last 5 decades.

Of course, 50 years ago, there were cars produced that had oil filters as an optional feature....an old Studebaker we owned comes to mind. Oil bath air filter and no oil filter. Absolutely could NOT run detergent oil in it and absolutely had to change it at least every 3k miles.

These days, it's just a myth to change every 3k miles unless you're driving continuously in very dusty conditions, tow a LOT, or all your driving is of short duration. That or a way to fleece unknowing consumers of $$.

Read some oil analysis stuff. The cheap, recycled bulk crap that you get in a $20-30 oil change is indeed breaking down by like 2000 miles.

edit:

Though the point is pull that dipstick and see teh color and smell of the oil. Engines run clean enough that you can go 3K and its still goldenish..

No. Just no. Using color to evaluate the condition of your oil is dumb as shit.

 

[microAmp]

I use Mobile 1 15,000 oil, had it on a F-150, now on my Dodge Avenger, and girlfriends Honda CRV.

I did oil analysis on the F-150 when it got to 10k miles, they said, Blackstone Labs, try 12k. On the CRV, when it ran 15k miles, they said 17k but I won't do that, just keep it at 15k. I'll be doing the ananlysis on the Avenger come this Summer, about 2k miles more for 15k.

On the F-150 and CRV, the oil filter only got changed when the oil got changed. On my Avenger, since it's 1,000 times easier to get to, I did it mid way, about 7,500 miles.

 

[TridenT]

Not sure where you got these numbers from, because they are wrong (unless you have a very old Honda).

Honda's recommendation for most of their recent (2003+) inline-4s is a 10,000 mile oil change interval. For severe service (lots of stop and go city driving), the recommended oil change interval is 5000 miles. Honda's factory oils are were formerly conventional oils (rebranded Mobil 5000) and are now synthetic blends from Conoco Philips, so their recommended intervals do not require the use of fully synthetic oils.

For filters, Honda recommends a filter change every 20,000 miles. Apparently their factory testing showed that the OEM filter could actually last 30,000 miles in between changes, and so they recommended 20k intervals to be conservative.

Here's the recommended service interval for an 03 Civic, for example:
http://owners.honda.com/service-maintenance/minder?year=2003&model=Civic-Sedan#mid^ES2573MW

*There are a few exceptions (like the S2000 which has a 7,500 mile OCI), but in general Honda recommends 10k intervals for standard driving and 5k intervals for severe driving. Again, these intervals do not require fully synthetic oil.

I have a 2000. So you're wrong.

Deal with it.

 

[996GT2]

I have a 2000. So you're wrong.

Deal with it.

Note I said "2003+" in my post.

Even if you have a 2000, you're still wrong. Honda's recommendation for a 2000 Civic is 7500 miles OCI under regular service and 3750 miles under severe service (all stop and go city driving, frequent trips <5 miles). Neither interval requires synthetic oil, because Honda's factory oils before ~2006 were purely conventional (Mobil Super 5000).

Certainly nothing even remotely close to what you said, which is:

Wow, that is extremely long...
Honda recommends like 3,000-5,000 for regular oil and something like 5,000-7,500 for synthetic...

So, just because you like to change your oil a lot doesn't mean it's the factory recommendation.

 

[TridenT]

Note I said "2003+" in my post.

Even if you have a 2000, you're still wrong. Honda's recommendation for a 2000 Civic is 7500 miles OCI under regular service and 3750 miles under severe service (all stop and go city driving, frequent trips <5 miles). Neither interval requires synthetic oil, because Honda's factory oils before ~2006 were purely conventional (Mobil Super 5000).

Certainly nothing even remotely close to what you said, which is:




So, just because you like to change your oil a lot doesn't mean it's the factory recommendation.

Yeah, looking at the manual online I guess I was wrong. I haven't looked at the manual in a while and was going off a vague memory.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Thing is to optimize on how you drive. If you drive like a grandma, then you can easily do 5K. Though the point is pull that dipstick and see teh color and smell of the oil. Engines run clean enough that you can go 3K and its still goldenish..

Color doesn't matter. Just send a sample off to Blackstone Labs to evaluate the TBN and wear levels every so often to evaluate your oil service interval.

 

[MongGrel]

I've been getting my oil changed at the Mazda dealership (because they owed me 2 free ones due to a jackass salesman) and they are using synthetic oil and claiming I don't have to get it changed until 7000 miles. I've always done the 3000 mile oil change and waiting so long past there makes me kind of leery. Is this correct, am I safe waiting until 7000 miles? I don't want to mess my engine up.

Is half the reason of using synthetic these days, it should be just fine at 7000.

I've been using it in my Mazda a long time now.

 

[OlafSicky]

200 000k and never change oil once, but I do change oil filters. If you change the filter you never have to change the oil.

 

[sze5003]

My Lancer has had synthetic oil since I bought it new. Every 6k miles I get it changed. I used to go to the dealer but now I just go to any place that has synthetic changes.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I run mobil 1 synthetic and filter and go until the life monitor system tells me to change the oil, which is anywhere between 10k-14k miles. My Trailblazer has 200k miles on it now, uses maybe 1/2 quart every 10k or so, and runs like a top.

It does have a 7 quart capacity so I'm sure that helps a bit with the longer intervals.

 

[996GT2]

200 000k and never change oil once, but I do change oil filters. If you change the filter you never have to change the oil.

lol wut?

If you're serious, I'd honestly be interested in seeing what the inside of that engine looks like.

People who change every 3-5k with synthetics are just wasting money, but 200K is really, really, really stretching it. The oil you had to add during the 200K miles probably worked out to the equivalent of a few oil changes anyway.

 

[jlee]

200 000k and never change oil once, but I do change oil filters. If you change the filter you never have to change the oil.

Wow, no. Just...no.

 

[WackyDan]

My 2012 F-150 has a 7 quart pan...and they say to go between 7k and 10k on the synthetic blend - less if towing, etc.

I've been doing 5k due to the amount of towing I've been doing.