when do you change your oil ?

[blazer2007]

Do you change your oil by time or mileage. My Blazer only saw only maybe 200 miles last year and I,m using High zinc hot rod oil. Should I change it anyway from sitting too long and maybe collecting condensation. I live here in B.C. Can. where I get 4 seasons from real hot to cold.

[mongocanfly]

with the old smallblocks and straight 30w, i always did it every 3000 miles,
with the new LS, i run synthetic, and wait on the oil change light to come. i think it comes on around 5-6000 miles
My C30 LS swap gets changed every 5000

if your oil looks clean, i wouldnt sweat it.. as long as you dont get milky oil from condensation

[mr.mud1]

Originally Posted by blazer2007

Do you change your oil by time or mileage. My Blazer only saw only maybe 200 miles last year and I,m using High zinc hot rod oil. Should I change it anyway from sitting too long and maybe collecting condensation. I live here in B.C. Can. where I get 4 seasons from real hot to cold.

well i do both,i change oil by miles on the vehicles that get used often and by time on the ones that don't.i use that hi-zinc oil from Lucas in my old cars and trucks,i know i don't like changing it with not many miles but oil is still cheaper than steel.in my opinion,the deciding factor would be storage.if your truck is in where it's warm,when it's cold outside,condensation shouldn't be a concern.if you can start them from time to time when they're stored but let them run til operating temp,that will burn up any condensation that might be there,your choice but still,a $50.00 jug oil oil once a year,regardless of the miles,is probably still smart.take care.Greg

[shifty]

When I change my oil and what type of oil I use depends on what type of driving the vehicle does.

For our road warriors, long-trip vehicles where 50%+ of driving is above 2K RPM and they virtually always exceed 6-7k miles per year, full synthetic and change based on miles.

For the local putt-around short-trip vehicles where the oil is constantly heating/cooling, condensate may not have a chance to burn off, and there's high risk of varnish, I'm going with old-school higher-detergent dino oil, and change it based on time (at least 1x/year).

I can show you pics of what short-trip vehicles look like if you go based on mileage vs. time. I'm actually driving one now, where the main PO was a short-trip driver, used standard dino oil, and clearly changed based on mileage. It looks like someone stained and varnished the valvetrain. I've been working on clearing it out gradually.

[FleetsidePaul]

I put very few miles on any of my cars and I have a lot of cars. So it's time not mileage for me. And I have to admit that I slack a bit about getting around to it. Kind of like everything else.

I am not a chemist or a mechanic. I don't know jack about oil. I just run synthetic and call it good. Nothings blown up yet.

[special-K]

When do I change my oil? Last week. I go by miles. If it took me 10 years to put 3,000 miles on something I'd probably change the oil every 5 years or so.

[Tom]

Changing oil by age is absurd to me.
There is no expiration date on oil bottles for a reason.

[Palf70Step]

I do the 70 every 3000 miles or 6 months, which ever comes first.

[truckdude239]

6k for synthetic 3k for normal oil

[Ironhorse]

For my old daily driver ex-work/retirement ride, I still change every 3,000 miles with Quaker State 10W30. The wife's 05 Tahoe, I change by oil life percentage, use Quaker State full synthetic, 5W30. For my "toys". '57 Chevy, '71 Chevelle and the '71 4x4 I use Quaker State 10W30 and change oil and filter every two years. Probably don't get maybe 1,000 - 1,500 miles on each one during the year. Use WIX filters on all five, if can't get WIX will switch to NAPA filters.

[LONGHAIR]

I don't have anything "old" right now, so I go by the oil life percentage in the vehicle menu. Synthetic in the Camaro and synthetic blend in the truck. Seems like it's about 6000 miles or so?

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by Tom

Changing oil by age is absurd to me.
There is no expiration date on oil bottles for a reason.

It’s not that it expires . It’s the acids that build up specially on motors that aren’t run enough.

The old 3k thing is from when cars didn’t have filters and oil additives were mediocre. I change every 5k or so but I definitely change before storage because of the acids .

[Steeveedee]

My two econoboxes get the oil changed at the dealership at 6 month intervals due to the minimal driving we do. The wife's was changed more frequently because she was driving to work. $40 every 6 months for an oil change and a once-over by the tech is a no-brainer. Plus, any warranty work (if any) gets handled at that time. I do change the oil in my '70 truck, and it's due.

[joedoh]

i work on a lot of s10s and always pull off the oil cooler stuff which after 20 years is just a big leaky snake. oil tech is so light years beyond what it was even 20 years ago and as anyone knows if you put synthetic in a motor that leaks just a little it will leak just a lot very soon. the oil cooler is unneeded now

so changing the oil I have adopted the trans fluid check, look at the stick, light brown gets a pass, dark brown gets changed. sometimes if its a while and still light brown I change the filter only. my jeep changed its own oil every 5 months, fixed the valve cover gasket and that stopped. there was $50 worth of sludge on the side of the motor though