Quote:
Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate
Yes.
Many fluid changes are based on mileage or a certain period of time, whichever occurs first.
In the case of oil, change it when you hit the applicable mileage or 1 year from the date of the last oil change, if you don't hit the mileage number by the time that the 1-year anniversary rolls around.
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To add to this, the reason the time limit is set on oil changes in addition to the KM's is that contaminants in the oil (moisture and fuel fumes especially) can cause significant corrosion inside the engine. Changing the oil twice a year limits the amount of time that crap spends in your engine. This can be even more profound a problem in a low use vehicle because the contaminants sit on the bearings for extended periods of time without circulation through the system.
It's the same reason that people with high performance or collector vehicles have been changing the oil
prior to winter storage for the longest time now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hulkrogan
The only way to actually know is to get an analysis done. There are way too many variables to be able to peg a mileage or a time. A good synthetic can probably go longer than you think. For those of us too lazy, just pick a short-ish interval and you're fine. We short trip our cars a lot which is tough on the oil. I change it every 6 months which is usually about 5-6000km, and I'm sure plenty premature.
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As I said above, it has far less to do with the oil itself (most synthetic oil doesn't even begin to break down until well over 5000KM) and far more to do with contamination in the oil. People that drive 2-5000KM a year and change the oil every 2-3 years because "synthetic oil is build to last that long" cause far more wear to their engine than they realize. It's good that you do it every 6 months, but it's hardly premature.
