Z Oil Change: Miles or Time?

DooDooBrown

Miles. I think the whole thing about every 3 months is a sham..... Does anyone really know how long the oil was sitting in the container prior to you purchasing it, and dumping it into your engine? Oil doesn't just break down because it sits around (if it does, it is going to be so little that you will never see a difference). You already said that you drive it easy, so if it looks in good condition, just go with the miles, and don't worry about the months.

OldGuy

Very interesting analysis. I would self-impose a 12 month timit, though, of maximum between changes though, irrespective of how few miles. I'm sure you would agree.

DooDooBrown

I do agree. I would say twice a year. Only reason I know is from the fire department, where we purchase the actual 55 gal. drums of oil. Those things have been sitting around for years, and we still use them on our rigs. Keep in mind, our application is usually much more intense than the average Z driver... Start up and run them hard, and shut them off. Granted, you probably wouldn't want to treat your Z like we do to the fire trucks, but you get the point, heavy abuse, and old oil have yet to make any type of signifcant impact!

kannibul

3K / 3mo is a sham. That said, once you introduce your oil to your engine, and all that it goes through...it's not unreasonable to say that it needs to be changed at least once a year, if not 2-3 times.

I read somewhere that the time to change your oil basically goes around the winter months if you drive it a lot. Late fall, early spring, since that's when the oil will collect and retain moisture due to the colder temps not letting the oil get hot enough to burn it off.

kenchan

For me I only put on about 5K miles on my hobby cars driving in light traffic so once a year on M1 silver cap is more than plenty.

FricFrac

The oil doesn't break down it gets moisture in it. Take a jar and some oil and water and shake it up. Emulsified oil doesn't lubricate well. I think the basic point here is if you drive 2000 miles a year you still need to change your oil at least once a year but most would recomend twice.

It all depends on the conditions but the worst is on cool days and short trips where the temperature doesn't get hot enough to drive the moisture out. If its sitting in a garage out of the elements its going to have less moisture than if its taken to the grocery store to pick up some milk (unless the grocery store is in the next city). Condensation is also going to be a problem in those same conditions.

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