How many miles do you change your oil?

[Geoarch]

10k is max.
5 is too frequent unless you operate in dirty or high heat conditions.
Oils break down with high heat.
About 8 will be ok for me unless i tow, then I might do a bit sooner. Don't go over a year due to environmental conditions, though. That's been my way for since I owned my first car at 14.
I base my choices on experience and training.

About the same for me. More often in summers since I’m in NM.

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[cuellar13]

I was a manager at On With Life, wore many hats. The boss suggested I have some "lunch and learn" safety meetings for staff. I called the local fire department, they did their thing, and some other people and organizations - among them, Iowa Highway Patrol. The trooper talked about highway safety, what to do if stranded with a deaf vehicle along the road and such. He relayed some of his personal experiences while on the job.
He came upon a car on the shoulder, hood up, driver sitting in the seat.
The trooper pulled up and got out and asked the guy what was wrong. He said it was losing power and just suddenly died and he can't get it to start.
So the trooper went and checked under the hood - checked for the usual signs, belts, hoses, fuel - gauge indicated plenty of fuel. He pulled the dipstick.......... wiped it, put it back and pulled it out again. Same results - dry.
Trooper goes back and looks at the odo - something like 35,000 miles.
He asked the driver when he last had his oil changed.
Oh, I don't have to do that, this is a leased car.

Obviously, he not only figured it didn't need oil changes, being a leased car, but that also means you don't need to check any fluids.

That would make a nice addition to Honest John's Used Cars.

Wow, that's a good one!

 

[montechie]

A crazy side note- my grandfather (he's 82) is a mechanic by trade, has turned wrenches for decades, and still does to this day. He's never bought ANYTHING new, especially cars. When I was a teenager with my first car, I could call him over the phone and he could damn near pin point my problem from states away. Obviously knows his stuff. He and I were talking recently and he told me that he hasn't done an oil change on any of his vehicles in decades, and has never once had an issue. I was shocked. He runs his cars and trucks 300K+ miles, and says oil changes are the biggest scam in the auto industry, once a motor is broken in, lol. I'm not adopting his ways, and he sure as hell ain't changing them at 82.

Not that crazy, I have some petroleum engineer friends who have the capability to test their own oil, none of them do <50K mile oil changes in a variety of vehicles! Including turbos, regular v8s, v6s, etc. (no diesels though). They were only seeing a 20% breakdown and low particulate. A couple of those vehicles, including work trucks are around 200K with no issues. Modern refining alone makes even conventional oils way higher quality than stuff in the 80s and earlier, then you account for other additives and you get very little breakdown.

The other factor with the usual old-timer mentality might be the typical modern oil weight as gotten really light compared to a few decades back. In Montana we used to change the weight of oil used based on the season, using lighter weight in the winter. So at minimum there would be 2 oil changes a year. Even my '05 Wrangler uses lighter weight oil than my '88 XJ did. My '05 gets an oil change at least 1/year or 7K.

That being said, the new JTR will be whatever it tells me to since it's under a warranty and extended warranty that require "recommended" oil changes to keep the warranties valid.

 

[cuellar13]

Not that crazy, I have some petroleum engineer friends who have the capability to test their own oil, none of them do <50K mile oil changes in a variety of vehicles! Including turbos, regular v8s, v6s, etc. (no diesels though). They were only seeing a 20% breakdown and low particulate. A couple of those vehicles, including work trucks are around 200K with no issues. Modern refining alone makes even conventional oils way higher quality than stuff in the 80s and earlier, then you account for other additives and you get very little breakdown.

The other factor with the usual old-timer mentality might be the typical modern oil weight as gotten really light compared to a few decades back. In Montana we used to change the weight of oil used based on the season, using lighter weight in the winter. So at minimum there would be 2 oil changes a year. Even my '05 Wrangler uses lighter weight oil than my '88 XJ did. My '05 gets an oil change at least 1/year or 7K.

That being said, the new JTR will be whatever it tells me to since it's under a warranty and extended warranty that require "recommended" oil changes to keep the warranties valid.

Wow- that's pretty crazy. I'm in the same boat as you- change it around the time the JT tells me, to keep the warranty police away...

 

[VTGladiatorLover]

I did my first one a month ago, when the dashboard "oil life %" was at 30%. Mileage was a little over 5,000. In the manual it stated that no break-in period was necessary because Jeep had put a special type of oil in during production that didn't require a break-in period, so I decided to go by that life % amount. 2021 Overland edition.

 

[Boston Bill]

I did word that rather oddly

And I understood it

 

[jac04]

In the manual it stated that no break-in period was necessary because Jeep had put a special type of oil in during production that didn't require a break-in period, ...

My 2021 manual doesn't state anything about no break-in, just that "A long break-in period is not required". Also, nothing about the factory-fill oil being special, just that is it a high quality oil.

 

[Rahkmalla]

changing your oil early and often is the best and cheapest insurance you can get your hands on for an engine you intend to keep a long time.

If you're leasing your gladiator, or have other reasons to believe it will be in someone else's hands within 5 years, do whatever your mood ring tells you. But if you want to get 10+ years and/or 200k miles out of it, 5k synthetic oil changes are fucking dirt cheap.

mobil one 0w20 runs 26.47 for 5 quarts. oil filter is $10. With sales tax lets call it $40 per change. 10k changes cost you 4/10ths of a penny per mile. 5k oil changes cost you 8/10ths of a penny per mile. 200k miles at that price means 10k changes will run you $800 total, and 5k changes will cost you $1600 total. So total expected cost over what's required is $800 over 200k miles? That's 1-2 car payments.

You think you might be willing to keep your gladiator an extra two months knowing it's well maintained?

Now lets say you have a 6 year note and do 17k miles per year. Your original plan is trade it in once it's paid off. 5k oil changes will cost you $800 ($400 over 10k changes). You think you might be willing to keep your Jeep around at least a month more knowing it's well taken care of? Your oil change fastidiousness just paid for itself. And now even if you do get rid of it, you have a vehicle you'd proudly sell to a friend instead of having to trade in to a dealer.

Let's face it, half of us here are tossing away perfectly good factory tires to slap monster meats on new rims and dumping a couple grand into lifts. You really think $400/100k miles is too much to spend? Even if it's a little overkill: you're driving a Jeep, you can afford it.

 

[Boston Bill]

I work with a guy that changes his oil at 3k period. Even tho he is getting the extended life type engine oil. He drives pre 2010 cars that were designed for the old style oil. He thinks anyone that doesn't do it that way is a fool. I just keep my mouth shut and l laugh internally.

 

[Orange01z28]

Wow- that's pretty crazy. I'm in the same boat as you- change it around the time the JT tells me, to keep the warranty police away...

Same

I trust teh sensors at this point

 

[soupbill]

I change mine when it gets a darker color (amber not black) that's around 5k with my driving.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Can't go by oil color - go by miles and type of driving/use. Color can be meaningless and varies with the chemistry of the oil.

 

[soupbill]

I change it when it gets a darker color (amber not black) that's usually around 5k my 87 year old mother(still driving) has me change hers every 15K & tells me to change her filter every other time, point being she
's been driving 71 years & never had an engine oil failure. oh by the way I change the filter every time

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I change it when it gets a darker color (amber not black) that's usually around 5k my 87 year old mother(still driving) has me change hers every 15K & tells me to change her filter every other time, point being she
's been driving 71 years & never had an engine oil failure. oh by the way I change the filter every time

HAHAHAHA - you've proved nothing. 1 person without an engine failure -great test, and you have known her since she first started driving, sure.
I guess you'll not get it.
Do whatever you want - I'll just be sure to never buy any of your used vehicles

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Generally, when the computer tells me to but that’s typically between 6k-7k mile intervals

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