Question about an oil change...

[waterinthefuel]

I used to change the oil in my little truck every 3 months, and used to use Penzoil. I now change it every 6 months using Mobil 1. I checked my logs and I put approx. 200 miles on my truck in the past 6 months, as I used my bike for almost all of my transportation needs. Do you think I still need to change it, or is it fine? It's basically 25 dollars of oil that sat in the oil sump dormant most of the time because the weather was so nice. I will be using my little truck more this winter than I did this past summer for sure, but I don't know if that's enough to call the oil due to be changed now.

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Question about an oil change...

Leave it alone or you are just wasting money. Heat and friction work to breakdown oil and only 6 months..... your are fine.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Question about an oil change...

I agree, especially using Mobil One.

 

[JB]

Re: Question about an oil change...

Don't know exactly what "little" truck you have, but my ML monitors oil condition and signals me when it (Mobil 1) needs to be changed.

It has never asked for an oil change at less than 8,000 miles and has gone as much as 15,000 before asking for a change. Default mileage is 10,000 miles.

I don't think you need a change at anything less than 5,000.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Question about an oil change...

My truck is a 97 Nissan. No oil lights or anything on it fancier than a check engine light. I'll never put 5000 on the truck. It will take years. I'll probably change it in 6 months. That would make an entire year with no oil change.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Question about an oil change...

Your fine i would probably not change it on till you got some miles on it unless you live in an area that has large temp changes on a daily bases.

Think of it this way. The dealerships may have a brand new car/truck on the lot for as long as a year to a year and a half. Trust me thay wont change the oil becouse of age.

Good to see some one that changes there oil. To many people forget about it on till thay have problems.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Question about an oil change...

I used to figure on changing oil every 3k - 4k miles. The experts at cartalk.com suggest every 5k miles as optimum balance between vehicle preservation and environmental concerns.

However, with newer vehicles having an onboard computer to determine when to change the oil, they say to trust it.

Three issues you may want to think about, however.
1) You may want to drive it an hour or so once a month to be sure oil is pumped up through the engine
2) If you're using it that little, you may want to put Stabil in the tank
3) With that amount of usage, your tires will dry rot before they wear out, so keep an eye on that -- I think guidelines is either wear bars showing or 5 years from manufacture.