Hope my link works.

http://autos.sympatico.ca/maintenance-guide/9830/extended-drain-are-longer-oil-c...

I put a lot of miles/kilometers on my van and only change the oil and filter in spring and fall of the year. I've been doing it that way for years. Now I hear quality synthetic oils are better and black oil isn't always bad oil. Read some the comments below the article if you like. What do you folks do. One of my friends changes his oil every 3000 kl religiously, his Diesel engine holds 16 quarts. I thought that was a bit excessive myself. Mines a gasoline V8 that tops off with 6 Litres with a new filter. Around 30,000 to 40,000 kilometers between changes.      

machineman9 wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2011 at 8:07pm:



Our MOT* here requires emissions test every two years after your vehicle is x amount of years old. And yes, that is another time I change my oil. Speaking of fathers, my dad had this odd way of sniffing the oil and he said he could tell when it was time to change the oil by the way it smelled. 




*(Ministry of Transport) 

Quote:

Checking/changing engine oil is not part of the MoT test. Unless you have the car serviced or do it yourself it will not be checked.

In my old BMW, I changed oil and oil filter every 5000Km on average, and the only reason the engine left me around 200.000Km is that it was an old one, born to be used with 98 octanes leaded gasoline but used in a world of green 95 octanes green gasoline.

I learned how NOT to do it from my father, who, on the other hand, bought a FIAT 127 in 1977 and for the ten years that followed NEVER changed its oil not filter (when asked he said he did it, ONCE, but I suspect he is lying, and even if he actually DID, that one time is hardly enough), only adding fresher oil (and of a bad quality too) when its level dropped, and the poor car's engine gave up the ghost before 120.000Km total.

I always knew that's always a good idea to plan regular oil's and filter's change intervals because the "black oil" gets this coloring by its own exhaustion and microscopic impurities that aren't blocked by the filter and cannot be healthy for the mechanical parts, and looking at my father's old blunder only reinforced my conviction.

expat wrote on Oct 4^th, 2011 at 3:48am:




I'm one of those diehards I guess. I drive them until the last lugnut falls off. Lucky for me though, I have some mechanical background and a good selection of tools on hand, so I can nurse them along in their final years. (cheaply)
  Now days cars are made with more sensors than a brain surgeon uses. The last trip to the mechanic for my girls car was 240$ because it needed a new sensor to make the irritating yellow warning light turn off. 

Oil change for me every 4-5k miles with full synthetic 0w-40 Mobil1. I've seen too many customer cars all sludged up, so I like to keep fresh oil in there. May cost a little more, but Im ok with that!

A few years back my timing belt and water pump went out unexpectedly (Thanks VW!). Luckily my car had a 10yr/100k mile powertrain warranty (Thanks VW!!) And what could have been thousands of dollars in repairs were covered. At the time I knew the mechanic working on my car and he noted how the camshafts and bearings looked brand new. This was due to my good upkeep with the oil changes! 

Steve M wrote on Oct 6^th, 2011 at 1:36am:


The engine in my old BMW 318i was simply too pushed... no matter how many times I made it go through a mechanic check up, it would always enter premature detonation even with 98 leaded fuel if you stomped on the throttle. You did it, and the metallic noise of knocking began making itself heard. Only with the VERY expensive and VERY rare 103 Octanes (to be found on some remote supplier on some far away speedway ONLY) it did not knock even going at it with Lead lined Osmium right foot, I remember. And obviously with the advent of the 95 Octanes green gasoline things went even worse. Actually, with the green gasoline stomping on the throttle made the car accelerate slower than using the throttle with calm... and the noise of that horrible knocking... gods...

Not that I was really all that hot wheeled with it. Only the great number of two times floored it up to 200Kmh, and both times was with 98 leaded gasoline, and the literal highway robbery prices of gasoline here in this godforsaken peninsula always kept me from opening the gates of my wallet to the thieves in the various governments we had more than it was strictly needed.

I guess even BMW can mess up the building of an engine, and the new watered, but more and more expensive than the older gasolines just compounded to make it stop at 200.000Km. I did treat that engine and the whole car well. When it went to the crusher, the car looked better than most 5 years old FIAT I see around, and it had more than 21 years... only with an engine that the mechanics wanted ONE GRAND only to dismount out from the mounts and all there would be to be done from there was to be paid aside... and they never included the cost of the remounting of the engine on the mounts too, those sons of debatable male ancestry.

Having it changed every year... as the exhaust system makes the oil pan too hot... typical Saab 9-3 problem.

Had 2 oil changes this year in just 2 days time... one day after major service the turbo decided to die