Question How many months should I use before I change the oil. Assume the cars all have synthetic oil Mobil 1 or close to it. I know the cars say 13000 miles or once a year whatever happens first. I ask my question is if someone has alot of cars and only puts less than 1000 miles on a car is once a year needed. Can I stretch it out to 1 1/2 year or even 2 years? Seems like a silly question but if someone has alot say 20 cars or close to it can be a hassle. My thought was the once a year was to help the dealer. I think Porsche had 13000 miles or 3 years for awhile but my memory may not be correct. Thanks lee
13,000 mile oil change? You've got to be kidding me. If I had a Geo Metro I'd change the oil more frequently than that. I'll let others chime in, maybe they have more experience with cars that get used less than 1000 miles per year. Personally though, if I had a car that got used so infrequently, I would probably change the oil every year and a half to two years just because--and I certainly wouldn't be using mobil in it.
Lee, I'd do it once a year. Is your storage site climate controlled? The biggest issue I think you'd see is moisture in the oil. The oils and filters if you buy an extended life filter, last a lot longer now. But the oil still will build up carbon. And moisture from short trips. You could probably do every two years, but your engines aren't cheap. I'm sure there are others with more experiance with cars that don't move much though.
i get my oil changed yearly if the car is driven 4K miles or more. on my cars driven less than 2K miles/year, i change the oil every other year. this is my own rule of thumb!
If synthetic oil only, they don't break down (the additives) like mineral oils do from "cooling" after driving or being kept in during wintertime. You should be able to do 2 year intervals if that's the case - only synthetics though.
They are appreciated. The concensus seems to be by some folks on the forum and some other car buddies is 2 years should be fine. I do not have 20 cars but still enough they do not get drived very much, say less than 100 miles a year and some much less. My freind says the cars that use petroleum based oil should be okay for 2 year intervals. As nativetroy said some of my cars have expensive engines so I need to think about those. What I do know from my brief time as a Lubrication engineer is very early in my career Never use synethic oil on cars that were not designed for it Put the oils recommended in the cars manual. Oil type and design is a science People get PHDs in oil science Synethic oils never wear out like regular oils but they get dirty. All oils pick up nitrates from the combustion cycle which in time can attack engine block metal. Most of my modern cars with synethic oils have a 11000 miles or once a year oil change sch So my plan is to: change oil only every two years Exotics, I will stay on the scehdule recommended ( thanks troy ) I will scheck oil level once a year and look at the oil to make a judgement I remebered that I have a freind I used to fly with that worked on lubrication for Exxon oil I will try to find him and ask his opinion. Thanks again for your comments regards Lee Lee
Sounds like a good plan Lee. Just keep an eye on things. Or I could just pick up a car once a month for the weekend and get the oil changed for ya. But you should be fine. Run a good synthetic in all your cars. Just let them warm up properly.
No matter what oil you use, once you start to drive a car contaminats from the combustion process gets in the oil and starts to form acids etc. I am sure you know that the worst thing for any vehicle is lack of use. But yes if you have a lot that may just be the case. Moisture in oil is also a big issue, this happens at startup and will build in oil with each trip unless the car driven a distance. That is one reason why, short duty cycles like going a few miles per day is considered far harder on an engine than a series of long trips. But yes If you're doing less than 100 mi in a year or 200 then 2 years on a sysnthetic might be Ok. But if even that 100 Miles is a series of short trips say 5 miles each you are building up moisture in the engine and slowly wrecking it. This will show up as rust on bearings cylinder bores etc. Probably not in your ownership but in the next guy's. This explains why Ferraris seem to need engine redos after 30 years but low miles. I would also be very concerned with Gas quality. Todays fuels start to break down after 30 days and attract moisture. Some suggest leaving tanks close to empty and then filling with fresh gas when youa re going to use the car, other swear by using Stabil etc. From my own experience Stabil will keep Gas Ok for about 9 months, but fresh gas is still better. I do an oil change after each summer before winter storage, regardless of mileage. In the old days I filled the tanks and put stabil in for winter storage, now I put stabil in a mostly empty tank. On my track lotus though I change the oil after every two days. In my M3 there is an oil life calculator which takes into account the entire driving cycle. Normal use seems to indicate over 10K miles between oil changes. After one day at the track with fresh oil the computer was recomending an oil change in 1000 miles. In other words oil life is detirmed by duty cycles and the type of cycle. Low mileage and short duration usage even if you baby a car is just as hard on the oil as racing. If you really dont use a car and have fresh oil in it, then 2 years is probably Ok or longer. But if its used semi regularily then once a year is going to be far better regardless of mileage. The advice for long term storage is to have no oil in the engine. I bought a Lambo 350Gt once that had been left for 10 years with old oil in the sump, the car was sold by the owner because the motor was frozen. We had to replace the Cylinder liners and pistones because they were rusted solid. The crank etc needed to be repolished. The car had been used sparingly prior to that and put away with old moist oil. I know it is a pain taking care of all these old cars, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the equipment. But if you have a lift handy, or even a Floor Jack, you can take a weekend to do all the cars at once, or get someone to come over once a year and change all the oils. If youre taking 10+ cars to the dealer for an oil change it will surely take away a lot of the fun in ownership. the only things thats hould need regular attention on a new car doing low miles is Oil and gas for the first 5 years, after that Tires need replacing and things like coolant should be changed.
Thank you for the well thought out and knowlegeable write up. I do use sabil in all my cars and it has helped or at least I have had no problems. I have had people offer to take my cars for oil changes as needed. we never talked my cost or even if it was even because they could sdrive the car. To be honest I have been nervous to do that. Thanks again regards Lee
Lee I would be very careful letting other people drive my fast cars. There is always the temptation for someone to floor it, in that once in a lifetime situation. Most cars that most people drive can be floored with inpunity, pretty much most cars really are not that fast. However, take a Zr1 or Shelby Mustang and that right foot needs some judgement, if youre used to a regular car or even a regular fast car then an accident can and will happen pretty quick. I have seen this with a lot of superbikes where someone lets their Freind take it for a spin, if you are not used to the power, how sudden and hard it comes on and you get thet throttle wide open on a short street, in traffic or on a bend then its going to get ugly fast. Really fast cars and Bikes can only get floored on the right road and conditions, a trip to the dealer is unlikely to be the time. Even if nothing happens your anxiety while waiting for someone to return is probably not worth it. That all being said I have no problem with my ferrari mechanic taking my car out and opening it up, he knows what he is doing, and I dont see how he can tune it properly without winding it out. But that is probably a special situation. Find someone to do the oil changes in your garage, its really not complicated.
+1!! The moisture is my biggest concern. Humidity here is bad enough as it is. Why I asked if the storage was climate controlled. And youre very right about the cars. Especially the supercharged cars. Shelby's step out very quick, I'm sure the ZR1 is similar, can imagine the GT. I'm content to sit next to Lee. Fun to think about but not a responsibility I think I'd take on. But if you ever need help at your shop Lee, pm me. Be glad to assist.
Troy, My storage area is not climate controlled. The facility owners have offered to put HVAC in my area or chinese caps. They have also offered to put doors on the back as well as the front. I suppose the moisture would be burned off when the car is driven and brought up to temperature so that does not impact the 2 years question unless the cars are not driven. Troy I drove my Ford Gt today the car is as much fun as anything on balance than anything I know of or have driven. Thank you Troy for your offer We may do that at sometime. I think the problem is me I am just getting lazy Oh so many cars to buy and so little time. In my development we are limited to 4 garages if I was not I would build more garages and keep them home Lee
I have had some of those problems, nothing serious just "lets not do that again" comes to mind. I have stopped going to several mechanics because they run my cars hard after working on it. one Mechanic who works on european cars took his girlfriend out on a sat ln my Lambo. The idiot told me how much she liked the car. Even when looking at a car to perhaps buy a freind I am with runs the car to hard. The car I am thinking of was an early Lambo and at the time they were lnown for weak clutchs. I had a freind scare the S.... out of me in my ferrari. he was doing a complex concave/convex turn at very high speeds. I did not know how much grip the tires had and I am sure he did noy either. So it is good advice you give. The trouble with oil changes is I have classic to Modern American and exotic cars. Some of the cars are odd like the Evora Lee
Lee, The moisture can be burned off. But condensation forms when the engine is cooling also. Climate control would be ideal. For the tires, interiors, rubber trim. But the price of the electric bill would not be cheap I'm sure. Those type of buildings aren't the most insulated. And as for the cars, I honestly can't say there is anyone I'd trust at the dealer now with anything other than the Shelby. Wish I could say otherwise.
10,000 miles or one year, whichever occurs first, is a reasonable oil change interval for a modern synthetic oil.
I change my oil every three months regardless if I've driven even 1000 miles. Peace of mind is worth more to me than a fifty dollar oil change.
That imho is a waste of money. One day after getting my latest vehicle (one year ago this month) I dropped $75 on new synthetic oil and new filter including labor and I have driven less than 3K miles since day one of ownership. My oil is still as clean and clear as it was in the bottle. The "OLD SCHOOL" every 3 months or 3K miles belief went out the door with full synthetic oils which I have been using for 18yrs+. If peace of mind helps you sleep better at night then go for it but in reality it is unnecessary.
Yes the 3/3 is long gone I think that was in the 50's. Your comment on clean oil is strangly where my question came from. I was having the oil changed on my Ford GT. It was my once a year oil change and I had only put 300 miles on the car since the last oil change. As my old oil was being drained it looked new. I know oil left in the car picks up nitrates and an earlier poster also said acids build up. I know they are not good for an engine over time. A poster on this thread had the most intelligent comment which roughly said I would not see the problem the next owner will. I am not sure of the time frame but the salient point is it will serface sometime in the future. regards Lee
Lee, In reality there are many factors involved regarding different makes/models/engines etc etc and you should follow your heart and mind. There is nothing wrong with changing your oil at such intervals, I actually commend your attention to detail.
Jim most people do not know that eynthetic oils never break down. TThey also can take higher oil temperatures than standard oil. The problem is when that oil get to its max temp it quits lubricating and part of or all of the engine can seize. Tegular oil fails at a lower temperature but continues to give some protection past synthetic oil temps as it begins to lose lubricity and create varnish. This is why Synthetic oil should only be used in cars that specify those oils by the manufacturer. They do a process called spectrograhic analysis that makes sure there are no hot spots in the engine that synthetic oil can not lubricate properly. I have only two classic cars and I use petroleum based oil for those. Thank you for the kind words and I am getting more comfortable with two year oil change interval. At least for the amount my cars get driven. I think you are right on not doing it for the regular oils Thank you for your post regards Lee
Texasmr2. That's the wonderful thing about peace of mind, you can't put a price on it. This is why I lock the house doors at night and bring the kitty cats in so the coyotes won't be able to put them on the dinner menu.
