Oil Change intervals?

[crazyjake8493]

I change the oil in my tractor, riding mower, car, and truck all once per year - regardless of hours or mileage. Probably overkill, but it's cheap insurance and I've never once had an engine issue in any equipment I've owned. Both my vehicles are driven less than 3000 miles per year, I don't think they've ever seen 5000 between an oil change.

I do all the changes in one weekend every fall and it makes for easy, one-time disposal.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Recently had the oil analyzed in two cars. Low miles but two years since the prior oil change.

These are ones that supposedly must have the oil changed every six months. Well, the analysis proved they were both good for another year or so.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Again, gone are the days where anything about an oil change is ”cheap”. Oil change on my 20 YO Kubota is about $40 and 20 minutes. My tier 4 CNH is about $400-$600 (on-line vs dealer part costs) and 6-8 hours if you are good at it.

 

[newbury]

My cars have oil interval notifications and that's what I go by. When the vehicle/engineers that designed the vehicle tell me to do maintenance, that's when I do it. So far so good.

Except it seems some car companies set fluid interval change beyond the warranty period.
I recently tried to buy some tranny fluid for my 2019 Ford Escape 2.0 (only 30K miles).
Of course Ford recommends Motorcraft. So I called the local dealer, they were out, and the guy argued with me, telling me I don't have to change until 150,000 miles.
General consensus on the web seems to be 30 to 50K max.

 

[5030]

General consensus on the web seems to be 30 to 50K max.

It all depends on what your owners manual states in reality. I know with my wife's Suburban, the recommended change interval is 80K miles, states that right in the owners manual. Having said that however, I'd never get any trans 'flushed' because all that does is redistribute the contaminants in the trans and I'd be changing the filter as well. My wife is coming up on the recommended service btw. ATF for new cars is expensive as well.

Far as engine oil is concerned, my buggy as well as my wife's buggy both have the 'change the oil' thing that I totally ignore. Far as I'm concerned the 10K mile change is way too long. Both of our buggies get the oil and filters changed every 5K miles. Wife has the dealer do hers and I do my own in the driveway. Motor oil is cheap compared to a lunched motor far as I'm concerned. I(t's well documented that extending the change intervals on the Ford eco boost engines will eventually result in big repair bills.

I practice the same with my farm tractors, they get oil changes and filters every spring, I don't take running hours into account at all.

I use the same oil in everything from my pressure washer to the tractors to my buggy, Shell Rotella T6, 5-40 Been doing that for years now with no issues. No cheap oil filters either. The tractors get genuine Kubota filters and my buggy gets Motocraft. My wife's buggy gets a GM filter at the dealer and GM approved motor oil as well.

I don't mind having used oil around either. I burn it in my waste oil furnace in the shop and I never seem to have enough.

If you ever want to see what the inside of an extended oil change interval motor looks like inside, I suggest you watch 'I do cars' on YT. The guy tears them apart every week and most of them look bad inside and most have oil related failures due to extended the oil change intervals.

 

[ultrarunner]

Wish you were closer… a evicted renter left me teo 55 gallon drums partially filled…

One about half full of oil filters and the other engine and transmission oil/fluids

I can get rid of small quantities of used oil each week but this will take months.

 

[5030]

Most of the discount auto parts stores as well as TSC will take 5 gallons per week if you don't know and I snitch from TSC mid winter when I run low and they let me, no issue. I can burn everything but antifreeze and water and my Kleen Burn has a built in separator.

I know all about lousy renters, I have 3 rental properties. Wish I didn't, but I do. Shouldn't say lousy but you know what I mean. If they don't have skin in the game...well, you already know.

 

[ultrarunner]

Guessing I will need either a dipper or a pump to extract and transfer the oil.

Not sure what to do with steel drum coated with oily residue when the oil is removed?

I will talk to a repair shop I know... I remember seeing him use a filter crusher to flatten like a pancake and squeeze our more oil.

 

[Rob REECE]

Except it seems some car companies set fluid interval change beyond the warranty period.
I recently tried to buy some tranny fluid for my 2019 Ford Escape 2.0 (only 30K miles).
Of course Ford recommends Motorcraft. So I called the local dealer, they were out, and the guy argued with me, telling me I don't have to change until 150,000 miles.
General consensus on the web seems to be 30 to 50K max.

My Toyota dealer told me not to change my tranny fluid until 100,000 miles. I made them change it at 50,000.

 

[gengine]

I honestly skimmed over 10 pages. I do everything at least once a year. In my opinion, all those additives as well a the oil itself breaks down over time and usage. I did my old Allis 175 which had 4 hours on it this year, 250 hrs being recommended. I also did my Case 75c at 453hrs, recommended 500 hrs. Oils have advanced in the 40 years difference between the two.
The old Allis sits a lot nowadays, I should sell it, but I love the tractor. The Case is my everyday runner, choreing and loading/stacking hay. Over 500 hours on her this year, so the oil was changed twice this year. Oil looked fine to the eye, but how far was the oil broken down? I did the oil sample thing for 13 years at work, and it only saved one engine...I did the math, of all the equipment sampled at 250hr oil changes, we spent $74,880 having samples tested, with one coming back bad, resulting in an inframe rebuild. A new engine in the truck should have been around $11,000 at the time. This all being said, we tested the oil when we changed the oil, not analyzing the sample to decide if we should change the oil or keep running it.