Another oil question.

[K4fxd]

This oil was in the engine for 5 years. Still good.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

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[Optimum Performance]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Data says otherwise?

 

[K4fxd]

Data says otherwise?

Blackstone says I can run Liqu-Moly 10-60, 12,000 miles in my Harley. No way will I ever do that. I did switch from 3K changes to 6K.

To me it's cheap insurance and if you have a warranty all they care about is oil change receipts, not some analysis.

 

[robvas]

Blackstone says I can run Liqu-Moly 10-60, 12,000 miles in my Harley. No way will I ever do that. I did switch from 3K changes to 6K.

To me it's cheap insurance and if you have a warranty all they care about is oil change receipts, not some analysis.

There's a lot of people here saying to follow the OLM on their Mustang as well

 

[Robottrainer]

I have a 2021 mustang gt convertble, it has 5800 miles I have changed the oil every year 4 times so far , last season i drove about 800 miles! I live in Michigan so she snuggle under her car cover last spring when I went to the dealer they said that I really didn’t need to change oil so frequently. I do run the car once a month to keep fluid moving ,I run it for at least for 30 minutes the oil life says that I have 38 percent of oil life left , do I need to change it in the spring? I believe in good maintenance , and having the dealer do it for my records am ,I wasting my money ? Thank you for your time and help in advance!.

FWIW, I live in Ontario. I use Amsoil signature series and a Ford racing filter. I put about 5000 to 6000km on it a year. I store in an unhealed attached garage in November. I change the oil then and it doesn't run again until March. November is the the only time I change the oil. Once a year. If you start it once a month AND use a top of line synthetic, then twice a year should be fine depending on the mileage.

 

[S550HPP]

Just change with full synthetic every 3-5K miles if you do mainly short trips or in very high temps. Otherwise 7K is fine.

I do Pennzoil Euro.Synthetic 5W-40 every 3,000 only because I have turbo and do a lot of short trips.

 

[CrazyHippie]

Every 5k, whether it needs it or not. Pretty simple.

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

OEM requirements for oil changes based on time are more for grannies driving their mustang to church a mile away one day a week contaminating the oil with water vapor etc, not for the car just sitting there doing nothing. No need to change it based on time alone.

That being said, your car is still under powertrain warranty so i would be changing it like Ford wants in case you have issues down the road.

 

[sk47]

Hello; Oil change intervals are often an it depends sort of thing. Run a vehicle every day on the freeway for 50 to 100 miles for a commute then a long mileage interval is just fine. Make two to five 2 miles to ten-mile trips in a day then time becomes the key factor. Driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic only is a different sort of stress. All that aside the thread is about semi-garage queen Mustangs which have few miles a year and sit a lot.
Oil does three things for an engine. I lump lubrication and oil pressure together as one. Another is cooling.
The last is acting like a sponge with additives which traps combustion byproducts and holds them. Not all combustion byproducts to be sure. Some are volatile and can be driven off with enough heat. Like a sponge eventually oil gets saturated and cannot entrap/hold more. This, to me, is the why behind a minimum of one year or 3000 mile oil change intervals.

Back in the 1960's we did not have great oils nor were the engines built to modern specs. A 3000 miles interval was reasonable. Modern synthetic oil bases do not shear so quickly and can last in terms of breaking down a long time or lots of miles. Lubrication & cooling I can see lasting for the very long change intervals currently advertised.
Where I need to be convinced is with the other functions of an oil. Even the best engines do not seal the rings perfectly. Some combustion blowby happens. I am now retired and no longer making long commutes. I rarely put 3000 miles on my car and not for many years on my truck. I try to drive each 15 to 20 miles two or three times a week and at least 50 to 100 miles each month. I could likely go two or more years on an oil change on the truck and not go 5000 miles.
I change the oil at 3000 miles or one year.

If I were to park a Mustang for three or more months I would do an oil change just before parking it to avoid problems from sitting. I would not start it up and let it idle for 20-30 minutes. But this is just me. We each get to run out vehicles any way we wish.

 

[robvas]

What's the problem letting the car sit for a few months?

 

[K4fxd]

What's the problem letting the car sit for a few months?

It attracts moisture and some of the additives evaporate. Modern oils are better so pick your poison. I err on the side of changing it. Lots cheaper than an engine

 

[ray=out]

I agree that oil is cheap compared to a $10k engine, but changing oil in the fall vs the spring vs both isn't going to be the decider on if that thing lives to 100k or dies at 10. And if it is, we all have bigger problems than we know.

 

[sk47]

What's the problem letting the car sit for a few months?

Hello; Outside of the oil are potential problems. With only oil considered much depends on what condition the oil is in when the car is parked. That many do let cars sit for months and get away with it is a known fact.
I watch a TV show titled Roadworthy Rescues lately. The main characters stick is to find cars which have sat around for decades and get them running. He does the minimum to prepare the old vehicles before trying to start them. He does not change 20,30 or even 40-year-old oil before starting them up. It works in nearly every episode I have seen. Guess an argument could be made this is a proof that old oil is not a problem in a vehicle.
Guess we need a show something like Engine Masters but for other aspects of vehicles. A show where some cars are to be parked for four months with each car prepared is a different way. Maybe have to at least remove valve covers and take pictures of the cylinder linings before parked. Then park one car by driving it 5000 miles then parking it and shutting it off. Another car gets an oil change immediately before being parked. Maybe other methods of parking long term could be used.
Then four months later start them up and run them for a 100 miles. Then open them up to examine the guts to see if any method shows a difference. Maybe a pre park oil analysis and a post park oil analysis? ( note- I know this is absurd for a private owner. Trying to make a point)

Point being this will wind up being an opinion question without some similar exhaustive testing. So absent of some such testing we have logic and perhaps some personal experience. I have been a pretty good shade tree mechanic since 1965. Did my first engine overhaul back then. Have seen the insides of well cared for engines and also poorly kept engines.
Had a customer who would buy nice cars. Drive them a few weeks and then on several occasions just pull them into a garage, turn the key off and let them sit for years. I think six years was to longest one I ever got running again. Anyway i have had reason to ponder this question.

Maybe if this thread continues, I will outline my startup procedure.

 

[Skye]

Maybe I got one of the "good" engines , but...

- Once in storage, Skye's engine is not spun until I intend to drive the car again
- I do not pre-oil my engine when coming out of storage; I just start it
- Depending on the schedule, I can run oil which has sat in the pan for months without use
- Using the OLM as a reference as to when I change my oil, I do not pre-fill the filter

Each aspect of oil analysis, from shed materials to additives which are part of the oil's profile to measurements such as fuel, water and viscosity, all reflect a healthy engine operating under normal conditions. Blackstone is not detecting anything of concern.

We can quantifiably measure any number of things related to these topics. I feel if there was anything statistically significant, we'd see it? It would trend out and we'd all be doing it?

 

[sk47]

Hello; Some interesting points of view. For decades I did not prefill my oil filters. Did not take extra precautions if parking a vehicle for a long time. Did not know of the full throttle = no start to build up oil pressure. So, I get the large majority of ICE engines get run hard and put up wet and do live.

I have slowly changed my service practices over the decades. I now flush brake and hydraulic clutch fluid every two or three years. One of my relatives refuses to even consider this. Not sure if regular flushes would have prevented a $1,300 brake repair just months ago. The majority of folks do not do brake flushes.

Of the several things listed here, it is the not filling the oil filter prior to instillation which is the greater puzzle.

- Once in storage, Skye's engine is not spun until I intend to drive the car again
- I do not pre-oil my engine when coming out of storage; I just start it
- Depending on the schedule, I can run oil which has sat in the pan for months without use
- Using the OLM as a reference as to when I change my oil, I do not pre-fill the filter

As already stated, i spent more decades not prefilling my oil filters than prefilling them. Just never thought of it. Once the idea crossed my mind and i tried it I have not looked back. The slight noise at startup after an oil change is very much briefer with a prefilled oil filter. I grasp that the practice may not yield much, if anything at all, in terms of engine longevity. The idea appeals so I now do it.

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