Oil Service Intervals
A recurring question we get…how often do I need to change my oil?
It’s a good question too, not all vehicles run on the same oil specs thus mileage intervals can change.
The most common rules are:
- Conventional Oil Change: Every 3000 miles
- Semi Synthetic Blend Oil Change: Every 3000 miles
- Full Synthetic Oil Change: Every 5000 miles
This rule applies to all vehicles, doesn’t matter how many years or miles it has. Whether it’s necessary to do an oil change every 3,000 or every 5,000 miles, then so be it. Just do it, the faster you accept that it’s an integral part of keeping your vehicle from breaking down, the faster you avoid your vehicle engine from decreased protection and decreasing in performance. An Oil Change is a very important lifeline to your vehicle’s engine.
Let’s start with saying, all motor oils breakdown…all motor oils breakdown. The difference between one oil viscosity, brand or weight is how fast will the breakdown occur. There are many factors that contribute to the breakdown of any oil, heat is one of the most important and remember not all vehicles run at the same temperature.
Depletion and decreased effectiveness of oil additives is also an important factor, this is where we state, “Not all Motor Oils are made the same”. Oils that are Petroleum based begin to break-down immediately. A high-quality made synthetic oil, on the contrary, can last for many thousands of miles.
Contamination is another reason why a proper Oil Change interval is necessary. There are three major factors that contribute to Oil contamination.
• Debris: debris usually comes into the engine through the air intake. Once any debris makes it pass the air filter, it ends up mixing in your oil. And once it’s in your oil, it can start damaging your engine.
• Metal Shavings: Metal shavings happened from within your engine. Lesser quality oil will add a higher percentage of these shavings, this is caused by less lubrication to the internal components of your engine allowing more friction thus producing more metal to metal wear during contact.
• Contamination: This contamination is from combustion by- products. Combustion by-products generally raise the acidity of your oil which can cause havoc, such as corrosion in your engine crankcase. These by-products that are left behind as the engine oil burns off will collect as deposits. To protect your engine from premature wear, the contaminants have to be removed/neutralized.
Most newer vehicles are selling with the promise that engines can run on 10,000, 15,000 or even 20,000-mile oil changes. We at Happy Wallet Quality Auto Repair beg to differ. Yes oil manufacturers are making a better high technology product but what isn’t taken into account are the different weather and driving conditions that vehicles will face and if you are in a hotter weather like Florida with a higher scale of humidity during most of the year your oil will be more susceptible to break down than in cooler drier climates.
The best maintenance for your engine’s longevity is to have your oil changed based on the type of oil you use, intervals of 3,000 or 5,000 miles.