I am glad that you mention about not running syn. until rings seat. How long do you think it takes for the rings to seat.

 

WOW. I would take that oil off your hands for free and run it another 10,000 miles.

 

Haha, I was thinking the same thing. I'm clearing 25k miles per oil change, with Blackstone Labs and Amsoil 15w40 here.

People could do themselves a favor and get their oil analyzed before throwing it out. If it's chemically analyzed to be stable and in good shape at 5k, 10k, and even 25k miles, there just isn't any sense to be had by throwing it out at 5k.

Proper use of oil analysis allows you to save time on all those changes, save the wear on that poor drain plug, and most importantly, get more miles out of your oil dollars. Another great benefit of oil analysis is that you'll catch problems LONG before they can do any damage. One of my oil analyses that came back one time showed some elevated parts per million of copper and antifreeze which caught a head gasket failure before any damage had been done. Can't recommend it enough. Besides, IMO it helps you to get a better feel for the actual maintenance needs of your engine.

 

I cant belive some of you guys and how long you run oil. oil is cheap i change it every 5000 and if i go over i cant stand it. my motor means more to me than saveing a little money on oil.

 

I see their point and it makes perfect sense. But Im with you. I can't go over 5K miles. I sleep better knowing it's changed every 5K.

..

 

Same here. 3 gallons of Delvac and an oil filter cost me $37 every 5,000 miles.

 

600,000 miles and counting on a 15k mile change interval, 90% towing.

Over on TDR I did a little test running the usual Rotella. I changed the filter and added the makeup every 5-7k and at 26,000 miles, Blackstone was telling me the oil was still good, that was back at 250,000 miules or something like that. I got scared and changed it, but it goes to show you how good oil is today.

So to me, it's a huge waste of money to dump perfectly good oil at 5k.

 

And I sleep just fine knowing I have 23,000 miles on the same oil and filter.

 

where can you go to get an anaylsis done??

 

HERE

 

The oil companies love those who change oil every 3K for gas engines and 5K for diesel engines. The more oil you buy the more $$$$$ they make.

I will say that all of the advertising the Quick Lube Business did years ago paid off very well for them in training people to believe that you have to change your car oil every 3K and 5K for diesel. Heck back in 1983 we would run 15w40 Delo 400 in our Cummins 350 for 15K using a Fram oil filter and no problems showed up in the oil reports.

 

How many times a year do you change your oil with 15K mile intervals? At 5k intervals, I am changing oil approx. 4 times per year. With the amount of miles you are running per month to get 600k on a 2003, a 15k interval makes perfect sense. For a daily driver and recreational tow vehicle running 20k per year, I do not feel comfortable leaving the same 3 gallons of oil in my truck for most of the year.

 

Does the oil degrade sitting in the pan? I don't know, but I suspect not.

I'm not saying that anybody should change their PM, if it makes you feel good to change it every 1,000 miles, that's fine with me. I'm just pointing out that the only lasting effects of a 5k PM vs a 10k PM is peace of mind, and for some that's worth a lot.

 

Corvettes and Mercedes have syn from the factory. My truck was a week old when the temp went to 36 degrees below zero and I dropped the oil that was in it and put in Esso 0-40 full synthetic at 1700 kilometers or about 1050 miles and I run it winter and summer change at around 200 hours The engine does not use any oil and it now has over 250,000 kilometers or 156,000miles.
Jim O

 

Delvac and Fleetguard every 5K miles - I know that's probably overkill, BUT I'm doing it more for the reason to slide under the truck every 5K miles and check everything else out while I'm under there. Look for slow leaks, lube the ball joints, tie rod ends, etc.

I have to keep this truck running well for a long time - it'll probably be my last diesel... I won't buy one of the new ones and then spend over $1500 extra to make it run like this one does now (deletes, etc.) and worry about warranties, fines, etc.