5k mile oil changes in spite of oil life indicator still showing plenty left

[Lost1wing]

I changed my oil at 500,1000,3000,5000 then every 4-5,000 or of the life reads 50% or lower(whichever happens first). Oil life indicator has never seen below 40% in the 20k miles I’ve owned it.

cheap insurance to be sure. It also helps my dealer often runs specials where you get several oil changes, rotations and an inspection for around 200$
Currently they have a buy 3 get one for 1$ tire sale, any tire!

That's a lot of oil changes.

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[Jrgunn5150]

It can't hurt. And for every one of your examples there are examples after tear downs where the mechanics note lack of maintenance including oil changes...even in newer engines... Those electronic things aren't God's either. Good engine preventive maintenance is shown to improve performance and longevity of engines if only by the examples of poor maintenance and failure as a generalization.


I do this but it works out for me since I'm there anyway for tire rotation to do it.

Again, all I'm saying here, is this is not science.

You're making decisions based on feelings. Which is fine. But let's be honest, it's not data driven. It's because it makes you feel good.

 

[BaneKotaKeena]

every 5k along w/tire rotation.

 

[BaneKotaKeena]

Idk, whenever I see someone whining about their cam failing out of warranty, it's always, I changed the oil, every hour with only the finest synthetic unicorn horn infused lubes.

My Ram went 445,000 miles with 10k oil changes and year fuel filters, no other maintenance.

My Grand Cherokee went 285k with 10 oil changes, no other maintenance, and was running fine when I sold it.

My Silverado, 270,000 miles, 10k oil changes, no other maintenance, running fine when I sold it.

My Fj Cruiser, 210,000 miles, 10k oil changes, no other maintenance, running fine when I sold it, although I had to block the guy who bought it from the dealer I traded it at, because he was an anxious wiener.

There's absolutely no evidence that changing oil early for funsies, prevents any problems.

Dude, are U circling the globe?

 

[starrskream]

That's a lot of oil changes.

break in period changes,. then normal intervals of about 4-5k
even though/ if the engines are broken in from factory. they haven't been driven. those inital drives ...parts will mate and possibly shed some metal. maybe metal dust maybe more. its cheap insurance on a brand new engine. besides...the first 5 were free. 3 from jeep and 2 from dealer. it cost me nothing to do all those. I normally buy a package deal from dealer when they offer it as well. im at 22k on the truck and have paid for 1 oil change so far. thanks to a veterans day free change. lol

 

[Lost1wing]

break in period changes,. then normal intervals of about 4-5k
even though/ if the engines are broken in from factory. they haven't been driven. those inital drives ...parts will mate and possibly shed some metal. maybe metal dust maybe more. its cheap insurance on a brand new engine. besides...the first 5 were free. 3 from jeep and 2 from dealer. it cost me nothing to do all those. I normally buy a package deal from dealer when they offer it as well. im at 22k on the truck and have paid for 1 oil change so far. thanks to a veterans day free change. lol

Never used my free ones. I do them all myself at 10k. Every body in my family gets one every 10k. Everybody gets a quick look underneath at their oil change. Even my neighbor comes over for an oil change. He brings his own oil because he was feeling guilty. All of my other equipment gets a once a year oil changes. Even at 10k oil changes I go through 55 gallon per year.

Never seen surprises in the drain pan.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I just can't bring myself to run the oil much over 5k. I just changed it again, with 5,200+/- on it while the oil life indicator was at 41%. Anybody else stuck in this mindset? The whole "it's cheap insurance" thing is something I've subscribed to with all of my vehicles. But in this era of rampant inflation, I"m considering extending service intervals on everything but I seem to have a mental block on this, especially with this particular Jeep.

I have zero issues going 7,000 if I have not hit "extreme service" like heavy hot towing, that sort of thing.
There are people that do go the 10,000 miles - and don't have any problems at all.

It's YOUR call, of course, but I also look at it this way - my owners manual collection dates back into the 1940s and those in the 1970s were recommending 7500 miles with that old school oil, carbureted engines with crappy chokes, rich idle mixtures and so on - if a 1973 V8 with the oil from back then with an engine that wasn't nearly as well engineered and as clean running as these are can do that, why can't these on modern oil with extremely well-controlled fuel mixtures, no running on a choke making gas run into and collect in the intake manifold....

These run extremely well controlled mixtures, there's very little fuel contamination in the crankcase, they run them warm enough to burn out condensation and the moisture of combustion that does get by the rings. My oil test results prove I'm doing just fine - 7,158 miles on that change. The oil life indicator, which is extremely accurate in collecting the information as far as idle times, hot running, towing and so on, said I was about 20% left. The results in this snippet also suggest as much.

It really and truly IS science.

 

[cb4017]

I'm in the same club. For years I've done 5K oil changes along with tire rotation. Especially since my rigs roam the NV desert and sometimes tow a small travel trailer.

On my last Gladiator and on the Colorado ZR2 I also have Blackstone UOAs done.

I think 5k may even be pushing it on my ZR2 turbo, direct injection engine.

 

[Sandevino]

3-5k intervals on my vehicles.

 

[40x40]

Back in '86, I bought a new Silverado with the 305 4bbl. engine. I traded a '77 PowerWagon with a 440 in on it, so there was a huge difference in power. When I realized how weak the 305 was, I came up with a solution: kill the 305, then have my friend at the dealership swap in a 400. I drove the break in oil over 10K miles, occasionally running the truck at full throttle in first for a couple of miles. With the high gears, that was over 60 mph. I TRIED to kill it, neglecting the oil changes for over 10k miles, beating it like a red headed step child. It wasn't strong enough to break itself, and it refused to have a lubrication related failure. If I had wanted it to never fail, it would have died the first time I missed that 3,000 mile oil change.

the only thing weaker than the 305 was the 307.

 

[Blade1668]

My 4.0 Wrangler Unlimited has been running synthetic oil since I bought it in 05 and I have regularly went to 5k and a lot higher a few times. I do almost all of my own oil changes. According to the Blackstone oil analysis it's been still good for many more miles. Same with my Gladiator I just change it before the oil monitor is at 0% but in mine that is before or around 8k in miles. That's likely due to pulling a trailer often and many miles of it. Enough that in last 2 years I hardly see 20 mpgs. Worn out a few sets tires on trailers in a year. My Wrangler's now needs oil change due to time than miles.... Damn I need to do that now. My Gladiator is at 41% now too. Two oil filters on a shelf and 12 qt of oil in shed for it. I guess I should drive the Wrangler and change the oil and filter today.

 

[Scott0700]

Have a friend that has always kept his power stroke F350s for two years. Usually around 60k miles on them. Go back to the dealer with the same oil and filter they came with. One of many reasons I won’t buy a used car.

 

[ScottBeach]

60k on a diesel. That is brutal

 

[ShadowsPapa]

From a book for a 1973 car - and people today freak out at over 5,000 miles with modern oils, better formulations and injected engines that don't flood with sticky chokes and poorly adjusted metering rods -

Here's for 1977 - a carbureted engine, poor technology, prone to flooding and rich mixtures, fuel contamination of the oil and so on -

So if we could go 7500 miles on the oil your parents or grand parents used, antiquated chemistry and poor engine controls subject to flooding or running lean, or poor timing control - why can't we go at least that far today with superior oils and superior engine controls?

 

[WILDHOBO]

The oil indicator varies its percentage life left based on how it was driven. I use it for my indicator, but never let it go below 20% life. Mileage varies based on type of driving. With lots of towing and wheeling, the mileage to percentage decreases a lot. I’ve changed at 6,000 and as low as 3,000. I too only use mopar filters. I used the Valvoline 0w20 platinum until the warranty was up. Now I’m using royal purple 0w20. I’m not going anywhere near amsoil with all the stories. I’ve done my gear line at least 5 times in 75k miles. Always 75x140 with friction modifier. I’ve done the transfer case once so far. I haven’t done the transmission yet, but will soon.

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