How often to change oil?

I checked my manual and it doesn't say anything. I checked my Haynes repair manual and it says 3000 miles, is this correct? I was assuming 5000 miles. This is for a 2006 3.0L

3000 miles used to be the norm. Most owners manuals recommend 5000 miles.
I use a full synthetic oil in an 89 B2, and a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan and change them at about 7,500 miles. My Miata gets changed annually, because I only drive it about 3000 miles a year. Amsoil claims to be a 25,000 mile synthetic!

I change the oil in my 2004 3.0 at 5000 miles. I use synthetic and have been contemplating going to 7500. I know you shouldn't go strictly by looks but the oil still looks good at 5000 miles. The manual for our Mercedes says 10000 miles for oil changes!

A couple factors need to be considered. The big ones that I would look at are oil, filter, and drive style.

Obviously a higher quality filter is going to do a better job longer. Same with the oil. For conventional 3000 miles is appropriate, for blend 5000 is good, and for full synth 7500 can be gotten away with.

Also, if you tend to do longer drives that get the engine fully to temp the oil will stay cleaner longer. Short drives get it dirty quickly.


Generally 5000 should be just fine.

adsm08 said:

A couple factors need to be considered. The big ones that I would look at are oil, filter, and drive style.

Obviously a higher quality filter is going to do a better job longer. Same with the oil. For conventional 3000 miles is appropriate, for blend 5000 is good, and for full synth 7500 can be gotten away with.

Also, if you tend to do longer drives that get the engine fully to temp the oil will stay cleaner longer. Short drives get it dirty quickly.


Generally 5000 should be just fine.

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i am with him. and will add this..

if you drive mostly hiway and run a quality full synthetic you can go pretty far though with a good running engine. swapping filters at 3 to 6 k with associated top up you can run 15-20 thousand miles if you have the oil tested every 5 k after it starts to color a bit. possibly farther.

i know expediters with over a 1/2 million miles on duramax engines and some 5.4 fords that ran over 30 k changes. with the duramax its not surprising...with those trainwreck 600 miles of timing chain abortion triton motors i was real real surprised. but those engines were equipped with bypass filtration as well...with that expense in the scenario you need to run 50 k oil change.

I change my oil ever 3000 KMs hahaha. over kill. how many miles is that anyways. 1800?
oils cheap, and its what i do for a living so eh why not. plus i think my 360,000 engine thanks me for it.

i think 3000-4000 miles is safe. my oil doesnt even change color (not that thats a good indicator of anything) till about 2000 KMs

but im a canadian so what do i know about miles

If you aren't beating the crap out of it, constant city stop and go traffic or towing with it, 5k should be fine.

Just get a good quality filter and oil.

AJ

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I just avoid fram. I did alot of research and fram had terrible reviews.

The owner's manual for my 2008 says 7,500 miles for my 2.3L. I usually change mine between 5,000 and 7,500 miles.

On most Rangers (most other Fords too) I've been around 5000 miles was the basic recommended service interval. Of course it also recommended more frequent changes depending on driving conditions. I change mine every 5K and don't have a problem. These days I'll usually buy what ever is on sale with the oil change special. I've used mostly FRAM filters for the last 15 years with no problem, and will continue to use them without a concern.

Oil change was something that shocked me when I bought my little Kia. Reading the service manual I see it recommends a 7500 miles oil change interval on conventional oil. Yeah, I still change it at 5000 miles, but if I ever make the switch to synthetic I'll be extending the intervals.

I used to do every 5,000 Km...which is only about 3,106.8559611 Miles...well, it's exactly that...

and 5,000 Miles is roughly 8,046.72 Km...

So...I was doing my oil over twice as often as I should have...

No wonder my engines always last so long...400,000 on my Tempo (body rusted out), 440,000 on my Ranger (cracked the head two or three times)...changing oil is good!

Mark_88 said:

No wonder my engines always last so long...400,000 on my Tempo (body rusted out), 440,000 on my Ranger (cracked the head two or three times)...changing oil is good!

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My bet is that those engines don't get many short or stop and go trips either.

For years I have wondered WHY guys use the synthetic oil. If it was better than regular oil the manufacturer would write it on the cans! It is truly space age oil. But it doesn't do one damn thing for a vehicle engine!
If we would watch the commercials on the TV we would notice that they do NOT say the damn oil is going to do ANYTHING for our engines.
It is all hype and nothing else. I have never used it and I change oil regularly when the light comes on in my modern vehicles. Most times about 9,000 miles. I always have the changer guy put whatever is on sale in my rides and they do just fine.
If the sale oil was deficient in ANY WAY the changer guy would be liable! In my opinion all motor oil will do just fine.
Big Jim

JoshT said:

On most Rangers (most other Fords too) I've been around 5000 miles was the basic recommended service interval. Of course it also recommended more frequent changes depending on driving conditions. I change mine every 5K and don't have a problem. These days I'll usually buy what ever is on sale with the oil change special. I've used mostly FRAM filters for the last 15 years with no problem, and will continue to use them for the next 20K miles. Store closing sale and I bought all of them they had for about a buck a piece.

Oil change was something that shocked me when I bought my little Kia. Reading the service manual I see it recommends a 7500 miles oil change interval on conventional oil. Yeah, I still change it at 5000 miles, but if I ever make the switch to synthetic I'll be extending the intervals.

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with a good running engine, and most modern units are great....you can get away with sub par filters. after all, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

but

many filters have a shelf life depending on construction and bypass type if applicable.. even oil filters with soft components do last a long long time for sure depending on the construction. much much longer then air filters.

but a bottom of the line orange fram is a pos on a perfect day. thats not opinion, take it apart and compare it post and pre use and see for yourself..

motorcraft filters are much better by comparison, far from the best but perfect for these ends...

but a ultra high efficiency filter should be the filter you seek..... those will ensure a stellar oil sump that leads to a ridiculously long engine life.

Big Jim M said:

For years I have wondered WHY guys use the synthetic oil. If it was better than regular oil the manufacturer would write it on the cans! It is truly space age oil. But it doesn't do one damn thing for a vehicle engine!
If we would watch the commercials on the TV we would notice that they do NOT say the damn oil is going to do ANYTHING for our engines.
It is all hype and nothing else. I have never used it and I change oil regularly when the light comes on in my modern vehicles. Most times about 9,000 miles. I always have the changer guy put whatever is on sale in my rides and they do just fine.
If the sale oil was deficient in ANY WAY the changer guy would be liable! In my opinion all motor oil will do just fine.
Big Jim

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well.....this is a classic continuation of misnomers.


ALL......ALL api rated motor oils are synthetic....


from the moment you crack crude it has been synthesized.

synthetic oil in the regards we make the reference is simply a higher additives and further refined package product that can take the ass whoopin of the i.c.e. environment longer and is much better then the conventional minimum spec grade products.

every engine maker understands and if they want the engine to have the best and most stress free longest life....want you to use the best oil available.


still....i run a first rate oil with a decent filter at the 3-5 k range.

and oil dont go bad or wear out.....it just gets dirty. so my oil goes right from my sumps into my fuel tank when the dirt content out runs it original additives package.....i use it all.... actually i waste it when i convert it to fuel duty in a technical aspect.... more cost effective then trying to clean and re adjust those synthetic properties it cam from valvoline with.

and, one of the most shocking things i learned, oil is filthy(this is a technical amount of filthy) right out of the bottle....usually particles larger then 15 microns abound, and it takes two or three passes thru your on board oil filter to be as clean as it can be.


so (this is key for filter quality josh t).....our oil filters are bypassed with every cold start till the oil is warm enough to flow. all the primary circuits get oil that dont go thru no filters....so its possible a fresh oil change in winter could ruin an engine depending tolerances and specs....because that brand new clean oil could have particulates in it that can cause abrasive damage... maybe no all in one shot...but over time its possible depending on whether or not you use cheap oil or "sale oil"....you know the cheap shit that is always on sale....

the oil shop that changes your oil is not responsible for that.

bobbywalter said:

after all, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

but

many filters have a shelf life depending on construction and bypass type if applicable.. even oil filters with soft components do last a long long time for sure depending on the construction.

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I know the phrase, but what does a broken clock have to do with an oil filter. You are starting to sound as bad as Mark, but I can usually understand his brand of crazy.

I completely agree with shelf life issue, and I realize now it sounds like I was saying that I've had these filters since 2000 and still have enough left for another 20k miles. That's not the case and I don't want anyone to think that it is so I'm going back to edit that post. I bought 4 filters last year on clearance for about a buck a piece. I've got one left, and once its gone I'll be back to the oil change special.

bobbywalter said:

but a bottom of the line orange fram is a pos on a perfect day. thats not opinion, take it apart and compare it post and pre use and see for yourself..

but over time its possible depending on whether or not you use cheap oil or "sale oil"....you know the cheap shit that is always on sale....

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What ever floats your boat. I'm not going to argue with you about it. I'm also not going to waste my time tearing apart an oil filter. I don't care what it looks like post use, it did its job for 5k miles and it's going in the trash to be replaced by a new one. My family has used a whole lot of Fram filters in the 30 years I've been around and we've never had a problem. That's my personal experience and it's worth more to me than anything I read on line. I'm not as big of a Fram fanboy as I used to be, but I hate seeing people put them down because of the BS rumors they've read online. Now I'll run what ever good filter is on special when it's time do do an oil change, but if Fram is one of the choices I'll pick it.

I also don't use the cheap oil. I'll usually run Mobile 1, Havoline, Valvoline, or Pennzoil. I can usually find one of these with a filter as an oil change special at one of the local chains and save a few bucks. Maybe you see those as being cheap oils though. I do know that I'm not going to blow my money on stuff like red line, royal purple, or drink the AMSOIL koolaid. It may be good koolaid, but I'm still not going to drink it.