Oil Change intervals?

[Hay Dude]

Took my International dump truck in for state inspection and asked about changing oil in the allison transmission at 91,000 miles. He pulled the dipstick and smelled the fluid (just like I do) and said “I wouldn’t”. He told me he has a customer with an Allison transmission with 800,000 miles on the original oil.
I wouldn’t condone waiting that long, but it goes to show you that there’s a balance between oil-change paranoia and waiting too long. I know a few of my buddies that never changed oil on cars and trucks and never had an engine failure. Again, something I do NOT suggest, but you need to be the judge of your situation.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Took my International dump truck in for state inspection and asked about changing oil in the allison transmission at 91,000 miles. He pulled the dipstick and smelled he fluid (just like I do) and said “I wouldn’t”. He told me he has a customer with an Allison transmission with 800,000 miles on the original oil.
I wouldn’t condone waiting that long, but it goes to show you that there’s a balance between oil-change paranoia and waiting too long. I know a few of my buddies that never changed oil on cars and trucks and never had an engine failure. Again, something I do NOT suggest, but you need to be the judge of your situation.

Was one of them started a thread about that not too long ago ... like yesterday .... because he certainly convinced me ...

Sorry I had to... it was such of a low hanging fruit.

 

[big bubba]

problem is that all of this is opinionated & anecdotal, & to me, it's pointless to advise one's own personal oil change interval for others
oil analysis is the only way to determine an oil's condition & need for change.
otherwise we just impose our own oil regimen on others with our empirical experience. almost meaningless

 

[DarkBlack]

Oil life hours in NON-ICE applications can be magnitudes greater, such as transmissions, shaft housings, etc, because those applications don’t have the fuel-air combustion byproducts getting into the oil like an engine does.
Engine oil is constantly polluted by the fuel and air constantly exchanging in the interior, which contacts the oil on cylinder walls, valve stems, and ring blow by.
It’s a totally different oil longevity situation

 

[BnRidge]

I know a few of my buddies that never changed oil on cars and trucks and never had an engine failure.

Yah, and I had a car that dripped and burned a quart every 70mi, basically got a complete oil change every 300mi or 10 days which ever came first, and the engine hadn't failed yet, started every time, even at -25f. When I sold it I didn't let the guy see all of the tow straps, tool box, cases of spark plugs, oil, and a torch to dry out the inside of the distributor cap. Pop the hood at night and the spark plug wires were a light show. I don't recommend any of this, but thought I'd share that miserable time of my life anyway.

 

[WinterDeere]

Oil life hours in NON-ICE applications can be magnitudes greater, such as transmissions, shaft housings, etc, because those applications don’t have the fuel-air combustion byproducts getting into the oil like an engine does.
Engine oil is constantly polluted by the fuel and air constantly exchanging in the interior, which contacts the oil on cylinder walls, valve stems, and ring blow by.
It’s a totally different oil longevity situation

I was about to say the same. I only change the oil in my compressor once every 10 years, and because it only takes ounces while that product is only sold in gallons, the oil I'm putting in has been sitting in an opened but capped jug for maybe 20 - 30 years. No issues, because no combustion byproducts, and the compressor isn't out being driven around in bad weather picking up moisture and condensation.

I change all of my ICE's once per year, unless mileage dictates sooner, or unless they haven't been run since the prior oil change.

 

[TxSteveS]

I was perusing the "today's posts", saw this thread and thought: Here we go!!

I was not disappointed.

"Oil is cheap - I change it before every use!!" (Slight exaggeration)

"I go 10 years between changes!!" (again - slight exaggeration)

and everything in between.

Haha - I go by the book. My 5240 says every 200 hours - that's what I do.

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.

Tractor is ~15 years old and going strong.

Cars have anywhere from 75,000-170,000 miles on them and they are going strong.

Oil is cheap, but it's not free.

 

[scootr]

I had a Ford gas V8 truck. Pulled a gooseneck horse trailer 2-3 times a week and worked construction usually putting 100 miles on it every day. I racked up some miles to say the least. Manufacturer recommended 3500 mile oil changes. I ran full synthetic oil and religiously changed it every 10-15k miles. At 170k miles I sold it to a friend who hauled show cars. It's still going on the original motor/trans 20 yrs from the purchase date. Ford tough.

48 recommended oil changes
12 performed

 

[DarkBlack]

Many newer,.. and all older ..tractors, cars, and trucks, specified oil change intervals in their original owners manuals, based on conventional oil being used , and of the oil quality being produced at the time.
Using today’s synthetic, and conventional/synthetic blends, could certainly allow longer intervals

 

[WinterDeere]

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.

Cars have anywhere from 75,000-170,000 miles on them and they are going strong.

Hold on. If your cars have 75k - 170k miles on them, they're almost certainly of an age where the oil life indicator is not tied to a real time clock. If you read your owner's manuals, you will almost certainly find instruction to change the oil at 12 months, whether the oil life indicator has run out or not.

Even my 2016 works this way, I believe our 2020 is the first car we've owned where the oil life indicator is also tied to a real time clock, in addition to engine hours x load.