Amazing! You don't ever have to change your oil!

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

The Truth About Cars website/blog--an interesting site--has an editorial posted earlier today by a guy who claims that oil-change intervals are wildly exaggerated so various entities can sell more oil, and that really, you _never_ have to change your oil, since modern oils and engines are so good. After all, he asks, have you ever heard of an engine failing because the oil "went bad"?

There's a certain amount of truth to the fact that you probably don't have to change your oil every 3,000 miles in your Malibu and that 15,000 miles might be fine, but there's a lot of dangerous information in this piece...

Take a look, post your comments there...

[HarryD]

Stephan,

Interesting and has some grains of truth. Unfortunatley, it sounds like a guy on a soapbox who speaks loudly but brings no documented facts to support his position. As he notes, I am sure there are cars out there that are running, which get their oil changed every 100,000 miles wherether it needs it or not.

I found it interesting to see that his position is to follow the manufacturers recommendations as long as you are in warranty and then extendthe interval. Also, his comment on a lease cars was interesting as well. In both cases, he seems to say that if you are not going to hold on to your car for more than 3-5 years, why bother with this expense. After all, no harm will befall you.

[ZOA NOM]

Anybody that's ever cracked open a high mileage motor would attest to the value of oil changes, just to remove sediment. The oil may be fine, it's the stuff floating around in it that hurts the shiny parts.

[sagacis]

This reminds me of my brother-in-law. One of my sisters (not his wife) mentioned to us that her oil light has been on for a while. I asked when she last got an oil change. She said she didn't know. I told her to take it to the shop and get it checked out because something is wrong.

My brother-in-law said oil change intervals are a myth the oil companies propogate to sell more oil. He used his 'program car' (purchased from a Enterprise at 100K miles) as an example. "I haven't changed my oil in over 40,000 miles, and I've never had a problem!" he exclaimed.

I drove my sister to the shop anyway.

One week later, my brother-in-law stormed into my parents' house shouting, "That piece of ***** Ford completely seized up on the highway! It's totalled and I still owe almost all of the loan! I'll never buy a Ford again!"

I asked him if the oil light had come on before the engine quit. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything."

I told his wife (my other sister) to take over auto maintenance.

[oldE]

I saw a 30,000 km engine, or the pieces of it, last fall, at the place that services my VW.
The guy who runs the place bought the car for parts. As near as they could find out, the car, a 2 liter VW, had been leased, driven for two years and never had an oil change.

Mechanics I know have also told me tales of cars they had dropped the oil pans because no oil came out of the drain plug, to see varnish and sludge deposits filling the pan. Oil changed? No, just kept it up to the stick for as long as I've owned it.

For a throw-away mentality, with the egocentric attitude of 'I'll do what I want', I suppose it seems logical. I'll stick with changes every 6 months or 12,000 km, whichever comes first. After all, the VW has just gotten over the 400,000 km mark. I can gaurantee it wouldn't be there today if I never changed the oil.

Les

[Jim Smolka]

Saw a Volvo that was in at a local shop. Unkown last oil change, but the motor was full of oil sludge.

Also some Audi TT's have been having trouble with the oil 'cooking', FWIW.

[madkow]

I've heard about this one guy. He invented a toilet paper oil filter cannister and filled his engine up with this stuff called Synlube! He never had to change his oil! All he ever had to change was the toilet paper roll!

Here's a history link on SYNLUBE!


http://www.synlube.com/history.htm

[bbaer6676]

i think the audi oil cooking problem was not just on tt's but other audi turbos as well (most use a variation of the same engine). I think it was on some of the older cars, late 90's early 2000's.

[Shawn 357]

Check out how many Dodge Intrepid 2.7 liters failed because the oil got sludged causing the hydraulic timing chain tensioners to stop working causing an interference engine to jump time. My theory on the intrepid 2.7 was because how close the cat is to the oil pan the oil would get cooked (just my guess).

I am going to keep wasting my money on oil : )

[livi]

I will stick out my ignorant neck and propose that driving stile such as hard revving a cold engine and driving habits like mostly short trips - are more harmful to an engine than oil change interval (within reasonable limits).

[86911c2]

For what its worth, I have tried to change the oil on any car I have owned every 3K miles. I say tried every 3K, but never went greater than 6K. For the cars I have bought new, I have never had any leaks or any engine mechanical problems.

I had a 97 Chevy Tahoe that I bought new. I drove it for 130K, no oil leaks, no lifter noise. Sold it to my brother-in-law 2 years ago. He has kept with changing the oil every 3K. It now has 150K miles - no leaks, no lifter noise. Now for a 10 year old small block Chevy ..... that is good. Anyone who has ever owned a small block Checy knows about the leaking and lifter noise. Owe and another fact, it still get 15mi/gal around town and 19mi/gal hwy - sames as it did when it was newly broken in.

So, can you attribute this to the oil changing? Who knows, I could have gotton lucky - Weds vehicle perhaps. But, the cost of doing the oil change myself over the life of the vehicle is ~ 150000/3000 * $1.25/qt * 5 = $313. I figure this is a small investment for a potentially great return .... Just my 2 cents.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

this is right up there with the 100 mpg carburetor.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Oil sludge has nothing to do with turbos. It has to do with poor design of the breather venting, all of which today is internal. The sludge forms in these channels, falls into the pan and often totally blocks the oil pickup, which is what ultimately causes the engine failures from sludge.

[cygtoad]

Originally posted by bbaer6676
i think the audi oil cooking problem was not just on tt's but other audi turbos as well (most use a variation of the same engine). I think it was on some of the older cars, late 90's early 2000's.

I have a 2005 VW Passat with a 1.8L Turbo.   I read about the horror stories assocated with oil cooking.   On the Passat what VW did was change their recomendation to synthetic and then they increased the size (depth) of the oil filter.  

I am religious about chaning the oil and only use synthetic which resists cooking.   No issues to date, knock on wood.

I would use synthectic in the 911 if I didn't think I would end up with a bunch of leaks.

Those that say "You don't have to change your oil" are the same people that say "You don't have to pay your taxes".   Morons.

[kepperly]

The proper term is " OIL COKING" as the oil is burnt to a coke
as in preburned coal like consistency. Thats what happens to the oil in a turbo's center bearing when you shut it off right after having it on full boost . The oil in the bearing cokes and shuts off the oil supply little by little until the bearing runs dry and the turbo seizes.

Keith Epperly
87 slant nose turbo look carrera cabriolet

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

We're talking about two different problems/situations here. You're right, it's oil coking and not oil cooking, but in any case what I was talking about is oil sludge, which has nothing to do with the presence or absence of a turbocharger.

[Emission]

You have many problems with leaving oil in "forever."

First, you have the contaminents. The dirt/debris can theoretically be removed by high quality filtration. But, how small of a particulate can you really get?

Second, the by-products of combustion chemicals (acids, water, etc...) cannot. While the water can be "cooked" out, those acids will continue to corrode parts. Long term damage.

Third, the viscosity eventually breaks down. I have heard of products to "renew" viscosity, but you still have the other two issues to deal with.

On a personal note, I saw a mechanic take the valve cover off a '91 Acura Legend that hadn't had an oil change in years. The sludge was amazing (and the engine had died). Take a flashlight into the oil cap on my cars (synthetic every 7,500 miles) and they look factory-new.

[cygtoad]

Yes, it is sludge, not coke, which is the issue which plagues the VW / Audi's.   It's main cause is higher engine operating temps which have been increased by the manufacturer in an effort to better meet emissions standards.   Regular engine oil gets cooked into a sludge.

Here is a great article for more about this...

http://www.schleeter.com/oil-sludge.htm

[cashflyer]

I have not changed my oil since 7/05.

[Emission]

Originally posted by cashflyer
I have not changed my oil since 7/05.

...and you have 2,879 miles on it. Right?