1 of the biggest things I see is people no longer check and top off their oil. Check and top it off every 3K or so. Feel the oil. Smell it. If something seems off change it. 5-7K on today's vehicles is ok. Also, take into consideration your conditions. Are you stuck in Houston traffic idling for 5-7k or actual driving. Does it take you 4 months or 14 months to reach 5-7k? As far as the serpentine belt. Noise, cracks, uneven wear replace it. I see belts going 75-125k these days before I recommend replacing. Also, do not wait for the dummy light to change oil. Change it on a schedule.
all of you that change more often, how many times a year do you get it changed. i manage fleet vehicles that hit 10k every 2 weeks ( 6.7 ford) so i have 40 trucks getting oil changed every 3 weeks on average. the 2 biggest issues i run into with these trucks are the fuel system and the A/C
Manual says 3500 for '10 Titan but that is for conventional oil. So I do 7500 for Mobil 1 which I've been using for over 20 yrs. No problems yet with the Mobil @ that frequency.
I do 10K changes on my 2018 Toyota 4Runner as thats what the manufacturer recommends. No issues. People i know have done the oil test kits and paid to have used oil test ran and still have 30-40 percent life left on full synthetic at 10K
Just got my oil analysis back from Blackstone. So far so good. This is with Motorcraft Full Synthetic in a 2014 F150 5.0 near 100k miles. I've only been on the full since 75k, with it being synthetic blend before that. I wanted to see how my motor has done with just following the oil change minder on the dash and it seems to be doing me fine.
I've considered changing to something other than Motorcraft, but so long as it keeps working well, then I'll keep using it.
FYI, I don't tow/haul anything, nor am I a lead foot. I like playing the MPG game with the dash computer, but I do about 70/30 city/highway driving.
One thing you can do is change just the filter 1/2 way and top off oil when running the upper limits of the oil. I think the oil is far better than most filters. I got lifetime oil changes with my truck so I change mine every 5K
Every 15k for me on synthetic oil. I’ve been doing this on all of the diesel trucks I’ve owned since 97. Had a 98 dodge 12 valve with over 300k on it running like a top when I sold it and it got 15k oil changes. Current truck is a 2012 duramax that I bought in 2012. Same oil changes and same results.
Start at the recommended interval, then if the lab says it's good to go, stretch it out a bit and see what comes back with the next test, rinse and repeat.
As a GM Master Tech I see people who follow the change oil light and they are way over due at that point. No matter the make model etc. you may have to top off in between changes. Most who go 10-12k are 1-2qts low typically, or more. The people who change at 4-5K typically do not see the lifter issues or other commonly found problems. The engines I take apart I can tell the difference as soon as I remove the cover. At. 50K unless you're having issues with the belt noise etc. and no cracks keep rolling. Most I replace tend to show wear around 75-100K. At 50K i would have the dealer drop the transmission pan and replace the filter. Same with the differentials change the fluid.
I recommend 4-5K for gas engines
5-7K on diesel and check your oil levels monthly or every 1500 miles or so. Top off with the correct oil for the vehicle.
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