How important is it to change the oil in a car every 3000 miles? I've heard very different stories about changing the oil every 3000 miles. What do you guys think?

 

It would be best to change it every 3000, depends on your driving style, if your agressive id say every 3000, but if you arent really into racing id say about 4 to 5000. i tend to change mine every 4500

 

It is important to the life on the motor. Going a little bit longer shouldn't effect anything just as long as the additives are still doing their part cause oil doesnt go bad the additives do. I would run synthetic oil if you are going to longer than 3k miles. I have over 335,000 miles on my truck and it still runs good but the oil has always been changed every 3k miles

 

How much oil is in your engine also effects the equation since the main reason you replace your engine oil is due to the fact it gets dirty from the blow by gasses.

The more oil you have the longer it takes to get it dirty.

Since my car holds 15 quarts the recommended oil changes are over 7,500 miles.

I never go longer than 5,000 miles without changing my oil though.

 

I use Amsoil now in both of my cars (88 Mazda and 91 Tempo). Amsoil's 10w30 is claimed to go 25,000 miles on a non-turbo car, 12,500 on a turbo car. I probably won't even drive the Tempo that far before it should be changed due to time.

I still believe synthetic is superior to regular oil. And with extended drain intervals...it's cheaper.

 

Milage is not the key factor,you have a time period also,You dont want to drive a car with 2 yr old oil but only has 1k miles.

 

Probably not, but the Tempo is probably screwed in many ways, having probably not getting an oil change at least yearly, as that would be 1,000 miles per year since '91.

Checked the radiator fluid yesterday when I did the oil. It's GRAY. Not green, not clear, GRAY. The PS fluid is brown. Is there a brown PS fluid? Ick. That's 2 more to change soon.

 

Is there any disadvantage in changing your oil to often?

 

it can be costly, but fuckit, I change my oil every 2,000 on the buttom, and use synthetic blend, you guys can say what you want bout how it's a waste of money and what not but this is the way I care for my car.

 

why are you using a synthetic blend...go full synthetic. And no, I don't care how you waste your money. 2,000 miles is a bit much though.

Only disadvantage is more chance for oil spots I guess, and time wasted. I have 2 cars, maintainance time on both adds up, especially with them being older cars.

I suctioned some of the PS fluid out of the Tempo today. It came out looking like cola. I put in about 1/3 bottle of the Lucas PS fluid stuff, and the rest was fluid from Wal-Mart. I don't think it was ever changed.