captainbeefheart
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2022
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People speak about oil and not filter quality which is very important if you plan to go extended miles on synthetic oil.
I have always loved cars and working on them, to test my knowledge I took the ASE tests just to see how I'd do and the only one I didn't pass was the automatic transmission test but I only failed by a couple questions and I don't want to rebuild a transmission anyway but it's good to know how they work.
There are always exceptions like older designed engines in vintage cars or some exotic cars consult a professional specifically about your vehicle. With that said, your average modern OBD-II equipped passenger vehicles the average is 5,000 miles which I think is too frequent and a wast of resources and time. Get a high quality preferably synthetic element oil filter and a top quality synthetic oil and do an oil + filter change every 12 months or 10,000 miles whichever comes first. Synthetic oil still breaks down and you cold probably do two years if your cheap or 10,000 miles but from all I have read on the matter 1 year is a good time period to do the change. All cars are different and depending on how much blow by gasses you get into the crankcase and metal wear from operation are variables so to be on the safe side stick with one year. If you are the curious type and want to learn about your exact vehicle send some oil out to Blackstone labs for analysis after a year and see what they say. It's only $30 and they email the results to you in less than a week . I have had jobs with huge generators where they rushed the analysis no charge and we got results in a day of them receiving the sample.
Our 2020 G20 oil service life from the computer is between 10,000-12,000 miles depending how it's driven. They have the cartridge style filter which I like better, we typically go through the service life of the oil before 12 months is up.
As mentioned all cars consume oil, some far more than others and so although you can easily go 10,000 miles on an oil change that doesn't mean you shouldn't check it. Always check your engine oil once a month at least and top it off if needed. I do a lot of oil changes for friends and family, or if I fix a car for them most have me do an oil change while it's in for repair and the vast majority of cars are well below full. The typical 5 quart capacity passenger vehicle engine is almost always down a quart sometimes more. I have had so many cars come to me to check the MIL light due to variable valve timing codes being set from low oil, Subaru's come to mind.
Remember engine oil is not just for lubrication in modern cars, it runs the variable valve timing, timing belt/chain tension, cylinder deactivation systems etc.... so make sure you keep your oil full and clean. I've seen too many other problems besides reduced life of the engine come from poor oil maintenance, VVT solenoids clogged up is very common and sometimes you can clean the screens out. Same with the cylinder deactivation, hope it's just a clogged control solenoid because if the lifter controller in the head fails from poor oil it's going to get very expensive as the head needs to come off.
Sadly most of the people I know don't care about the maintenance of their vehicles and end up with all kinds of problems that cost them more money in the long run. I just don't get how people think all you have to do is put gas in and turn the key. As a country I truly think we need these things being taught in high school again because there are just too many adults with very poor life skills. Forget gender identity or critical race theory, that crap isn't teaching any life skills to our children, they need to learn REAL things and if they choose to educate themselves on those other matters great do so further down in paid higher education like college. High School should be more about life skills with not the intention of everyone going to college. College kids take college courses like I did in High School but I still loved shop class and other skills that have helped me through life. I also found skills and interests I didn't know I had. The education system in the USA is falling way, way behind.
I have always loved cars and working on them, to test my knowledge I took the ASE tests just to see how I'd do and the only one I didn't pass was the automatic transmission test but I only failed by a couple questions and I don't want to rebuild a transmission anyway but it's good to know how they work.
There are always exceptions like older designed engines in vintage cars or some exotic cars consult a professional specifically about your vehicle. With that said, your average modern OBD-II equipped passenger vehicles the average is 5,000 miles which I think is too frequent and a wast of resources and time. Get a high quality preferably synthetic element oil filter and a top quality synthetic oil and do an oil + filter change every 12 months or 10,000 miles whichever comes first. Synthetic oil still breaks down and you cold probably do two years if your cheap or 10,000 miles but from all I have read on the matter 1 year is a good time period to do the change. All cars are different and depending on how much blow by gasses you get into the crankcase and metal wear from operation are variables so to be on the safe side stick with one year. If you are the curious type and want to learn about your exact vehicle send some oil out to Blackstone labs for analysis after a year and see what they say. It's only $30 and they email the results to you in less than a week . I have had jobs with huge generators where they rushed the analysis no charge and we got results in a day of them receiving the sample.
Our 2020 G20 oil service life from the computer is between 10,000-12,000 miles depending how it's driven. They have the cartridge style filter which I like better, we typically go through the service life of the oil before 12 months is up.
As mentioned all cars consume oil, some far more than others and so although you can easily go 10,000 miles on an oil change that doesn't mean you shouldn't check it. Always check your engine oil once a month at least and top it off if needed. I do a lot of oil changes for friends and family, or if I fix a car for them most have me do an oil change while it's in for repair and the vast majority of cars are well below full. The typical 5 quart capacity passenger vehicle engine is almost always down a quart sometimes more. I have had so many cars come to me to check the MIL light due to variable valve timing codes being set from low oil, Subaru's come to mind.
Remember engine oil is not just for lubrication in modern cars, it runs the variable valve timing, timing belt/chain tension, cylinder deactivation systems etc.... so make sure you keep your oil full and clean. I've seen too many other problems besides reduced life of the engine come from poor oil maintenance, VVT solenoids clogged up is very common and sometimes you can clean the screens out. Same with the cylinder deactivation, hope it's just a clogged control solenoid because if the lifter controller in the head fails from poor oil it's going to get very expensive as the head needs to come off.
Sadly most of the people I know don't care about the maintenance of their vehicles and end up with all kinds of problems that cost them more money in the long run. I just don't get how people think all you have to do is put gas in and turn the key. As a country I truly think we need these things being taught in high school again because there are just too many adults with very poor life skills. Forget gender identity or critical race theory, that crap isn't teaching any life skills to our children, they need to learn REAL things and if they choose to educate themselves on those other matters great do so further down in paid higher education like college. High School should be more about life skills with not the intention of everyone going to college. College kids take college courses like I did in High School but I still loved shop class and other skills that have helped me through life. I also found skills and interests I didn't know I had. The education system in the USA is falling way, way behind.
You get out what you put in. Thats true and F that crap, thanks for the direct advice Kendall. Titanium oil, cool.
