The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop when to change oil

i asome i have 200000 miles on a old 292 RV runs ok.i change the oil evrey year last year i only went less than 500 miles last year and will only go 600 miles this year. oil looks verry clean should i change the oil . i use phillips66 10w30 thanks

Sitting is harder on oil than driving. Oil collects moisture when it sits. Change it, cheap insurance.

Make sure that it's fully warm (hot?) when you use it. After that, I would change it twice a year. That's what I do for my '48 with its 1500-2000 miles per year.

It's a seasonal thing for me. In the Fall and in the Spring.

It also lets you get under your truck, look around and smile. It's such a peaceful experience for me, I could take a nap under my 3/4-ton....laying curled up on my side!

Oldchevyguy, this is one of those topics, like "Unsticking" rust-seized engines that generates a range of "opinions".

It would be very interesting to know what the qualifications are of the people expressing the opinions. Lubrication engineer? Metalurgist? Chemical engineer? Auto museum curator? Reader of Popular Mechanics?, heard the answer from Skeeter and Bubba?, other?

If I were seeking an answer to this question I would call the technical department of one of the major oil companies. They have been very helpful to me on other items like guiding me to the correct lubricants for the Vega steering box in my roadster street rod and the U-joints in my daily drivers.

Lets see, I have 30 years industry experience and 3 degrees including a MS in Engineering... good nuf?

Tiny and Wally know what they are talking about as do most of the owners on this forum. If there is one thing I've learned from working with people..value the opinion of the guy with grease under his nails

I'll agree with that. I also agree with changing the oil at least twice a season, once before it goes into use for the season, and again before going into storage.
For the record, I'm a certified Master Mechanic.

Even with such low mileage per year, I'd change the oil at least once a year: if you put the vehicle into winter hibernation, change the oil before hibernation, running the engine to a steady temperature after the oil change.

If you do a lot of short-distance driving, change oil twice a year/driving-season.

In case it matters, my good friends call me Bubba and my really good friends call me screwball. Yet, they find it impressive that I have a 1954 truck with a strong engine in it that was rebuilt (by me - my second rebuild) in 1972.

Call the technical department of an oil company (as a person, not a professional) and, if you get through to a human being, they will most likely have an inexperienced person read to you from a technical manual (hope they are reading the entry in the manual that relates to your situation).

I dont get it, do I change my oil in the spring , to run all summer on new oil, maybe 1000 miles, then change it in the fall, to store it, then change it again in spring without even drivin it?
doy hoy schnoy?

The logic for the fall change is to have clean oil with minimum water/acid resting against bearings all winter.

I see no reason to again change the clean/fresh oil in the Spring (after winter-hibernation). However, if the vehicle does a lot of short-distance driving (not allowing the "burn off" of water/condensation in the engine), a change of oil mid-summer might be helpful (even if the mileage is small).

I agree with Wally it is so peaceful under there! This was some good stuff as I am finally driving mine and would anticipate the 1000-2000 miles per year useage. I respect the opinions offered because to be honest our useage pattern is a bit unique from the average oil change frequencies a manufacturer would be designing products for.

Since I drive my '38 most all year I only change oil in the spring. I put about 2K per year on the car and the only time it sits for a length of time is when there's crud on the road (ice/snow/rain) or the temp falls much below 30f. I've had her out at 20 before but not often, it takes the cold oil too long to get to where it needs to go.

"Call the technical department of an oil company (as a person, not a professional) and, if you get through to a human being, they will most likely have an inexperienced person read to you from a technical manual (hope they are reading the entry in the manual that relates to your situation)."

Tim, here are a couple of examples of my contacts with the technical departments of oil companies:

1. I have a 1971 Dodge van that I bought new. In about 1980 I began towing a small travel trailer with it a couple of times a month to off road motorcycle races on the Mojave desert of California. This extra load caused frequent U-joint wear out. I contacted the technical department at Quaker State. A lubrication engineer there recommended that I try synthetic grease. Then he explained that synthetic grease is not readily available at retail stores because its increased cost made it unattractive to retail buyers who make decisions based on price alone. To solve that problem, he transferred my call to a salesman who sent me a case of the stuff as a "sample" at no cost. I have not worn out a U-joint since then and the van now has over 340,000 miles on it.

2. My street rod has a Chevrolet Vega steering box. The last container of GM steering box grease was sold out of dealer inventories in 2006. I called the technical department at Shell Oil and spoke with a lubrication engineer there. He asked me for the GM specification of the GM grease (GM 4673M) and cross referenced it to a currently available Shell Oil product (Shell Alvania EP1 Grease MC 2041SIPA). Because that product is only sold in cases and 55 gallon drums and I'm only working on one steering box, I again benefitted from a no cost "sample". The sample exactly matched the mustard like viscosity of the original grease rather than the peanut butter like viscosity of chassis grease that professional mechanics sugested that I use in the Vega steering box.

So, as you can see my expreiences with people on the science side of automotive issues (as opposed to people on the maintenance and repair side who are often applying decades old information) has been very positive.

Those of us in highly technical professions (I'm an engineering geologist) realize that although we may have mastered one tiny subject, there is a huge body of ever changing knowledge in this world and nobody can possibly stay current on everything. I find it challenging to even stay curernt on developments in my own profession!

Other people's reliance on "folk remedies" is interesting to me but I have more confidence in information that is based on peer-reviewed science. These differences of opinion make this forum, and life in general, more interesting.

I have been interested in this topic for a while. But what about the oil filter? Is the answer the same for the filter as it is for the oil?

Yes, you should change the filter whem you change the oil.

Thanks, I was just wondering if time, etc, affects filters the way it does the oil. I appreciate the insight.

I was at O'Reilly's yesterday and after reading this thread I think there needs to be a new version of it called "When to Buy Oil". I hadn't bought any oil for a spell and was only looking for some lawn mower lube for a used mower. I was shocked that Valvolene is $4.79 qt. Holy Moly!

Obviously I had better start reading those sales flyers instead of using them for bird cage carpet. With oil at $102 bbl I should not have not been surprised of course but that price for a quart of oil really hit me between the eyes. (I'm starting to sound more and more like my Depression Era parents. Egad!)

Your thoughts?

Gee, who's driving the luxury model trucks? I never change my filter, since I never have found it!

5 qt jugs at Wally world are under $20. It's not a lot cheaper but every little bit helps.

Got the same sticker shock here, too.
I thought, $4.79... are you out of your mind!

Tractor Supply had a sale on all quarts,
Castrol GTX, including straight 30W, any at $2.99.
Got their last 6 quarts of 30W.

Needed more, so I took my receipt to Wally World
and they matched the $2.99 price.

That's how buy it, when i see a good prce, I stock up. Just stocked up a couple of weeks ago, K-Mart had Valvoline for $2.98 a quart. Picked up 15 qts (3 oil changes worth) for my Blazer. Might go back and get some more. Too bad they don't carry 30 wt, that's what I run in the '55.