Myth of the 3,000 mile oil change interval

Myth of the 3,000 Mile Oil Change Interval

In these economic times, when gas and oil (both are made from crude oil) are already sky high and rising fast (my supplier informed me of another increase May 1) the old addage was to change your oil before it turned to sludge. I think this maintenance tip was invented by some of the national oil change businesses. There is a point where oil will turn to sludge but it is well past the 3,000 mile mark for 90% of today’s modern oils. There was a point in time in the 50’s when refineries had not yet mastered the technique of paraffin extraction and some engine oil developed sludge at a more rapid rate.

The first thing to do is to obtain you oil specification from either you owner’s manual or your autoparts store. Then purchase the oil and change at least every 4,000 miles. Be sure to change to oil filter as well.

Some manufactures utilize different maintenance intervals some it is always good to follow their recommendations. The 4,000 mile guideline is a rule of thumb guideline that will work for 90% if the vehicles on the road that use 7 quarts of oil or less. With more oil capacity the interval can be extended even further. For example we use the 5,000 mile interval for the diesel engines with 15 quart capacity.

If you follow the 4,000 mile interval and under no circumstances allow your oil change to run over 5,000 miles you can prolong you engine life a lot further. I personally follow these rules and never have had an engine oil related failure.

Check back with our blog www.trucktechautoandrv.com for further maintenance tips to save you money and extend the life of your automobile.