Oil Change intervals?

[Dman1981]

Two oil changes in twenty years
Techron fuel additive always starts no issues at all little over four hundred hours

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I hate to go much over a year on things. I have a low use car and went quite a bit over a year once, car probably had 3000 miles between changes and it looked pretty black. If in doubt you can send in a sample for analysis but unless your tractor hold a lot of oil it’s probably more cost effective to change it.

Recently had the oil from two of our "oil must be changed every six month" cars analyzed. Not by Blackstone, but a lab that tests for more. Then had an expert on the subject analyze the analysis for me.

One of them is at just over 5,000 miles, the other at 6,000 and change, both had only been driven a bit under 600 miles in two years, when they had their last oil changes.

Well, so much for having to change the oil every six months. Both samples were very close (basically identical cars, one with an extra 90 hp), and the oil was apparently good to go for at least another 3,000 miles. No time limit mentioned.

Worth pointing out, like any vehicle here, when something gets started it gets driven until the oil is at temp, if at all possible. Normally, with the cars 70 miles one way is the minimum they get driven.

 

[FERLING]

My L4701 just went over 200 hrs. Did the initial 50 hr. oil and filter change. I used premium oil and Kubota filter. The owner's manual says to change oil every 400 hrs. It has been 15 months since the original 50 hr. oil change. Oil still looks okay, darker, but not coal black from soot. Note to those engineer/techno types - Not going to send it out to get it analyzed, cheaper and easier to just change it. My question to folks is, at current usage rate it will be 3+ years on an oil change. Seems like a long time, maybe too long. Tractor sits a lot lately, due to ongoing health issues. (Getting old sucks!) Just wondering what others are doing in similar situations. I'm leaning towards changing it sooner rather than later. Don't figure it would hurt anything. Oil and filter are not cheap, but when compared to cost of tractor or engine re-build, dirt cheap!!

I am in the same boat as you. I change mine by hours or every two years (which ever comes first - hours of time). I use Mobile 1 synthetic 5w40 oil in 2015 Workmaster 50 tractor. Never seen a 'use by' date on any oil I have used.
I found my tractor will set under the shed with old oil just as good as with new oil in it.

 

[ultrarunner]

It all depends on your driving. If you start your car and get on the highway, drive for a 1/2 hour or more is a lot easier on your oil, engine and transmission than the person who gets in their car, drives to the grocery store, shops, then drives to the hardware store, then maybe the donut shop, then heads home. Never fully heating up the engine and other components. For cars and trucks, I usually recommend an oil & filter change twice a year, regardless of milage. The first driver in my example may end up with 10,000 mile oil change interval with no degradation of the engine components. The second driver might only have 1000 mile oil change interval, but already used up their oil's life.
Same with a tractor. If you get on it and work it all day long, you can safely use the 400 hour interval. But if you get on it and only use it for a short while each day, you would want to change oil more often, especially in the winter!
Modern engines have much more efficient crankcase ventilation than the older engines (pre PCV days). Remember the old road draft tubes with an open filler cap for adding oil!

Sounds like most of the fleet except for really old stuff.

My early cars are 500 mile oil change intervals.

My oldest has no oil change as there is no crankcase… oil just drips on the rods and crank.

 

[saxtonhill]

I have a L4600 that I bought new in 2013 and it has 1300 hours. I change the oil in Fall every year, so about every 100 hours. I have done this for my tractors for the last 30 years and have never had an issue. It's a lot cheaper to change the oil than to have repairs needed.

 

[Rob REECE]

My L4701 just went over 200 hrs. Did the initial 50 hr. oil and filter change. I used premium oil and Kubota filter. The owner's manual says to change oil every 400 hrs. It has been 15 months since the original 50 hr. oil change. Oil still looks okay, darker, but not coal black from soot. Note to those engineer/techno types - Not going to send it out to get it analyzed, cheaper and easier to just change it. My question to folks is, at current usage rate it will be 3+ years on an oil change. Seems like a long time, maybe too long. Tractor sits a lot lately, due to ongoing health issues. (Getting old sucks!) Just wondering what others are doing in similar situations. I'm leaning towards changing it sooner rather than later. Don't figure it would hurt anything. Oil and filter are not cheap, but when compared to cost of tractor or engine re-build, dirt cheap!!

I change mine once a year nomatter how many hours I put on it. I have a 2009 John Deere 4320.

 

[5030]

The reason why I do an oil analysis on my units and my vehicles is I can track impending issues that have not become major issues yet. Items like fouled injectors, leaking seals, compromised head gaskets or failing water pumps will all show up with an oil analysis which is why I do it. Not so much for the condition of the oil as I only run premium synthetic oil anyway and it gets changed with new OEM filters at least yearly.

Why commercial trucking outfits do it as well. They want to have insight as to issues that may arise down the road. For 25 bucks, for me, it's a cheap date.

 

[repete]

The reason why I do an oil analysis on my units and my vehicles is I can track impending issues that have not become major issues yet. Items like fouled injectors, leaking seals, compromised head gaskets or failing water pumps will all show up with an oil analysis which is why I do it. Not so much for the condition of the oil as I only run premium synthetic oil anyway and it gets changed with new OEM filters at least yearly.

Why commercial trucking outfits do it as well. They want to have insight as to issues that may arise down the road. For 25 bucks, for me, it's a cheap date.

$25 is cheap to find out that an injector is leaking down and the reason you appear to use no oil is because it is contaminated with diesel fuel.
What lab do you use?

 

[5030]

$25 is cheap to find out that an injector is leaking down and the reason you appear to use no oil is because it is contaminated with diesel fuel.
What lab do you use?

It's not contaminated at all. The oil analysis would tell me that right away, anyway. I use Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne, Indiana and have for years. If you go on their website and request an analysis kit, they will send you one no charge. You only pay when you return a sample to them and they also have a pre-paid deal where you can pre-pay for multiple analysis ahead of time at a discount rate.

 

[repete]

It's not contaminated at all. The oil analysis would tell me that right away, anyway. I use Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne, Indiana and have for years. If you go on their website and request an analysis kit, they will send you one no charge. You only pay when you return a sample to them and they also have a pre-paid deal where you can pre-pay for multiple analysis ahead of time at a discount rate.

I was not implying you had a problem. Rather, that an analysis would find it before it caused damage.