I guilt tripped myself into an oil change.

[blackthorn]

So, I am curious about what effect (if any) the "age" of the oil has on the well being of the engine. From reading this thread it appears some folks change the oil in their machine(s), say fall and spring, regardless of how many miles/kilometers traveled. Why?? Unless the machine is driven only short distances that do not allow it to become fully up to operational temperatures, I fail to see a difference between that and driving the recommended distances between oil changes. Comments??

[Bmi48219]

…..Unless the machine is driven only short distances that do not allow it to become fully up to operational temperatures, I fail to see a difference between that and driving the recommended distances between oil changes.

Saw a clip about preserving the motor on WW2 Jeeps. The commentator was adamant that just warming’s up until the temp gauge started to rise was not sufficient to avoid damage. He recommended a minimum of 5 minutes warm up before driving.
Most of the vehicles we had (with H2O temperature gauges) over the past twenty years warm up, per the gauge, really fast.

In the 80’s I went to a quick change lube joint that left the old filter gasket stuck on the pump housing. Five minutes after driving away my idiot light came on.

[blackthorn]

I became aware of the "short run" problems years ago when the guy next door went to change the oil in his truck and it was "milky" looking. On reflection, we decided a recent job change had allowed him to drive less that 2 miles to work and the truck was not getting warm enough which caused condensation to collect in the oil. Thereafter he warmed the truck fully before driving to work and the problem was solved.

[jonp]

So, I am curious about what effect (if any) the "age" of the oil has on the well being of the engine. From reading this thread it appears some folks change the oil in their machine(s), say fall and spring, regardless of how many miles/kilometers traveled. Why?? Unless the machine is driven only short distances that do not allow it to become fully up to operational temperatures, I fail to see a difference between that and driving the recommended distances between oil changes. Comments??

Why? Because I like to get under the car and look around. On my F150 it gives me a chance to grease the tie rods, ball joints and u joints. On the others I just like to do it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

So, I am curious about what effect (if any) the "age" of the oil has on the well being of the engine. From reading this thread it appears some folks change the oil in their machine(s), say fall and spring, regardless of how many miles/kilometers traveled. Why?? Unless the machine is driven only short distances that do not allow it to become fully up to operational temperatures, I fail to see a difference between that and driving the recommended distances between oil changes. Comments??

As stated, my one vehicle that is only driven 500 to 1500 miles a year and I change oil annually as it gets lots of short trips.
Now, my ATV oil only gets changed about once in four years...that oil is more expensive, it's a 2004 Honda with 700 miles on it...no trail/mud riding, these days, it only gets used for plowing snow and pulling a firewood trailer.

[waksupi]

I became aware of the "short run" problems years ago when the guy next door went to change the oil in his truck and it was "milky" looking. On reflection, we decided a recent job change had allowed him to drive less that 2 miles to work and the truck was not getting warm enough which caused condensation to collect in the oil. Thereafter he warmed the truck fully before driving to work and the problem was solved.

If I saw milky looking oil, I would strongly suspect a blown head gasket, allowing water into the oil.

[farmbif]

I came across interesting oil check situation recently. my nephew just got a 2018 ram promaster van with 50k miles . the price was very good but after having it a week problems arose. it stalls when coming to a stop. I thought let's check under the hood for the basics, loose connections, fluid level checks, ect. well I thought maybe we check the trans fluid level. turns out its not meant to be checked. owners manual says there is no need to check or change the trans fluid. I guess it's like a maintain free battery or the new briggs and Stratton engines that never need to have to oil changed and dont even have a drain plug. this is just more planned obsolescence in the throw away society we now have, what has the world come to?

[MaryB]

If I saw milky looking oil, I would strongly suspect a blown head gasket, allowing water into the oil.

I have seen it from condensation. Friend used to start his car, take off to drive 3/4 mile to work. Same coming home... engine never got warm enough to boil it off...

[blackthorn]

If I saw milky looking oil, I would strongly suspect a blown head gasket, allowing water into the oil.

After he modified his routine, he was able to drive that truck for several years without a reoccurrence of the off-colored oil so, I think the determination that it was the short (non warmup) trips was correct.

[Winger Ed.]

I change the 'lifetime' oil in my B&S engine every year.
I suck it out with one of those little pumps like you get your catsup from at the fast food place.
My neighbor never did on his,,,,, since it was supposed to last for the life of the engine.

When it broke and threw the connecting rod outside the block, he now questions that concept.
I've seen old oil before, but the stuff that came out of that engine takes bad oil to a whole 'nother level.

[MaryB]

We pulled an intake off an engine we were hoping had good heads, previous owner said he fed it Penzoil only... key word fed it... got the intake off and waited for dad to get back from lunch. He walks in... "Dang it, I told you to strip the intake off so we could get the heads off when I got back..."

The oil had never been changed, it left an intake shaped lump of goo between the heads. Dad poked it, said scrap it and get a different one from the junkyard... this time we popped the intake off at the junkyard to make sure it wasn't a goo fest.

The one with the sludge I tore down, had it baked out and all passages rodded out, honed the cylinders, put in new oversize bearings on the crank and camshaft, put it all back together and dropped it in a junker I was driving. Got 6 years out of it before my idiot little brother ran it with no coolant despite my leaving a note on the steering wheel to NOT DRIVE IT the radiator is cracked... cost him $500 to replace it. It was the second car of mine he ruined! First I told him to not drive it, wheel bearings are bad in front. Wheel bearing seized, sucked him into the ditch where he rolled it... and he had been told to not drive it, the bearings were bad. That one I ended up eating the replacement cost, second one dad stepped in and told him to pony up. After that he was banned from driving my cars, and dad's!

[Cast10]

Having a 1951 Willys M38 jeep, warming up is paramount, for many reasons. I warm this one up during hunting season especially, for around 15 min. After about the first 5 min, I shift the transfer into neutral, drop the main transmission into 1st gear and let the gear box turn, too. Family has had this jeep since 1959.

[Jedman]

I still do all of the maintenance on my 4 vehicles. I grew up doing oil changes at 3 k and still follow that today. I know many people who have never thought of changing their trans fluid. They just drive forever on it and don’t give it a thought. My wife’s car makes it more difficult as it doesn’t even have a dip stick and to do a filter and fluid change you have to remove the pan and then there is a internal plastic plug you remove with a Allen wrench to drain the ATF and after you get it back together you have to pump the fluid into the trans thru a plug on the side. The owners manual says 10 K on oil changes and no service on the automatic trans ( VW ).
I could never follow that ! All the vehicles that I have bought new have always got their ATF changed by 40 K and there is always plenty of fine metal on the magnet in the pan and a black film from normal wear of the clutches. To me doing the maintenance is far cheaper than waiting for trouble .

Jedman

[apen]

I have a 98 Mazda b 2500 5 speed that I’ve followed a 3k interval with conventional rotella 15w40.
The transmission fluid and differential oil get changed at 30k intervals. Truck is ragged on the outside but runs great. I hate to let go of anything with a manual transmission in it.

[MaryB]

Having a 1951 Willys M38 jeep, warming up is paramount, for many reasons. I warm this one up during hunting season especially, for around 15 min. After about the first 5 min, I shift the transfer into neutral, drop the main transmission into 1st gear and let the gear box turn, too. Family has had this jeep since 1959.

Memories... I had a 59 Willy's utility wagon... 4 shift levers! The 4 speed(had a Ford 289 and matching trans), 4 wheel in/out, transfer case high low, over/under drive. 4 wheel low/underdrive top speed was 1mph. At idle it would try to climb a tree from the torque. I would put it in gear and walk behind picking up trash as it meandered down the ditch. Used it hunting, bashed it over plowed fields to pick up deer... rust bucket, bad brakes... it got there and back while hunting!

[BD]

I will change my own until I am no longer able to do so. I used to drive 4K miles per month just to work and back. Did that for 16 years. I went through a bunch of used cars and had several with bad drain plugs or stretched oil pan threads because the idiots at the lube places use power tools on the plugs. Also have personally encountered situations where the filters weren't tight or the drain plugs fell out due to being left loose.

I'm not immune from making mistakes but if it's my mistake at least I've no one to blame but myself.

I'll second this! Also I want to see the condition of the oil and any particulates in it.

[funnyjim014]

As a tech I start to think about changing the oilin my new truck at 3k. Usually I get to it just before 4k. The govt pushed manufacturers into the longer intervals . Then we started getting weird failures related to gunk and oil breakdown. Timing chains and carbon deposits come to mind . Oil cheap Engine expensive

[Winger Ed.]

Oil cheap Engine expensive

I've always felt that way.
Awhile back, I was changing the fluid in the auto. trans, on our '02 Explorer.
A neighbor ask why I bothered doing that since it was a lot of trouble, and kind of expensive.
I told him that farther down the road it'd be about $2-3,000. cheaper than having it rebuilt.

[MarkP]

Curious. What was the compression ratio of older diesels compared to recent production?

A diesel is high compression by design.

Older diesels were over 20:1 some up to 23:1. Newer diesels are in the low teens.

[MaryB]

Older diesels were over 20:1 some up to 23:1. Newer diesels are in the low teens.

Wow! My race engine was 12.5:1 compression!!!! Ran aviation gas for the extra octane... and lead... when hit with nitrous it was on the ragged edge of failure... melted a few pistons over the 7 years I drove it!