New car oil change after 20 miles?

bigjl

Since you are not going to listen to another opinion, even when presented with evidence to enforce the point I will leave it there, but just because you have done 1/2 million miles with out trouble needs to be put into context, how many miles did you do in the cars and are they still going now?

I did upwards of 150k in one car in under 18 months, another had done over 300k in 4 years, and was seen 2 years after being sold still working as a minicab on the Old Kent Road.

My NHS Trust, long intervals, engine go bang, short intervals, engines don't go bang.

As far as conditions being harsh in the US, maybe in Alaska, but regardless of ambient temp if the car is at operating temp then the oil is doing its job, so long as you specify the correct oil.


I will freely admit that when I drove my mums Renault 5 after passing my test I ragged it everywhere, it always seemed faster than the mechanically identical one my dad owned 2 years later, he used to run his cars in gently.

But there is no way to do a comparison test as I had a small incident with a forest and a wall when the car was just over a year old.

However the Ren 5 my dad owned, 89G, is still being used today, is on its original engine, gearbox, clutch. never broken down etc, though this is the wilds of Scotland we are talking about so very different usage to most of the posters on here.



One thing that is prevalent in the US is very high annual mileages compared to say the UK, normally at operating temp on long highway runs, which is perfect conditions for an engine, not harsh in any way, harsh use would be stop start driving, dusty environments. Extreme hot and cold wouldn't help, but so long as the oil spec is adjusted to suit then once up to temp it shouldn't be too bad.

cyclonebri1

bigjl wrote: »

You can say that, but actually read the handbook, what exactly is the definition of harsh use, you will see that under harsh use they drop the oil change interval substantially.

I have mentioned it before but the Mobil1 million mile BMW should tell you all you need to do about oil changes and using good oil, a million miles and still within tolerance for a new engine.


I have driven over a million miles, mostly in my own cars, and haven't had an engine wear out or have any problmes relating to lack or lubrication or problems caused by contaminated oil.

I do however know several blokes that used to use the cheapest oil they could get their hands on and stick to the original intervals or sometimes a bit longer and they had several failures, bottom ends, rattly top ends, sticky hydraulic tappets, not talking about old Peogeots but rather Mercs, BMWs and VWs.

You stick to what you thinks works for you, I will stick to what I know works for me.

You cab research things like oil changes on some american forums, though typically of americans theytake things a stage further, and talk about sending samples of their oil off for full analysis, to confirm exactly how much contamination is in the used oil, and all kinds properties of oil that degrade through use.

I also remember when I was into motorbikes in a bike way, then went on to do some courier work, reliability was always an issue, it wasn't unusual for oil changes to be done every 1000/1500 miles, some used to stick to the manufacturer intervals, resulting in lots of decent bikes with very early top end wear etc.

Maintenance is a personal thing in my opinion, my opinion is to do more than the minimum, in my opinion it has saved me more than it has cost me.

Totally agree, the handbook states the minimum to uphold the waranty, not the absolute best for the longevity of the car. Posters who say we are wasting money are being slightly short(term)sighted :money:

Safer lest sorry.

optimus_primera

There is no harm in changing oil when ever you want to, as long as its not longer than the particular manufacturers recommendations.

The best advice i was given by an Oil specialist was, drain oil change filter, fill with cheap oil, run for a week, drain oil, change filter, fill with favourite top notch oil,enjoy car till whenever you need to change oil again.

there is a bloke (whose name i forget) who has done over 2 million miles in a Volvo P1800 (Saint's Car) with only regular oil changes.

vikingaero

The Americans are pretty anal about oil changes. Most will change their oil more frequently than the manufacturers recommendation and their are many businesses in the USA geared to it with Kwik Lube type companies where you can get your oil and filter changed in 10-15 minutes. It's normal for the Americans to send off oil samples for analysis and receive detailed reports.

Unless your car runs on "running in oil" or is a M3, WRX or Evolution type car then the best thing to do is not to change the oil until the first service or 10k. This will allow the engine the bed in. Then after that halve the oil service intervals.

Crabman

vikingaero wrote: »

It's normal for the Americans to send off oil samples for analysis and receive detailed reports.

Please tell me you're joking! :rotfl:

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Nothing laughable about that practice. It can be very revealing to know what percentages of metals is suspended in your oil - that way you can determine what exactly is wearing on the engine.

benham3160

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Nothing laughable about that practice. It can be very revealing to know what percentages of metals is suspended in your oil - that way you can determine what exactly is wearing on the engine.

There is a trade product available called Oil Spy I believe that will do a few tests on the oil, for fuel, coolant, contaminant amounts.

Normally by the time people want their oil changed over here, it's a) Because they're selling the car, b) It's started to "rattle" or c) There's no oil in it.

Regards,
Andy

sassy_one

Ask the garage to where you are buying/collecting the car from on the recommended times to change the oil and the next mileage for the oil to be changed, although some new cars require an oil change after so many miles, it's far more than 20!

Enjoy your new car

skiddlydiddly

Gordon861 wrote: »

On the subject of running in an engine here's an interesting link http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

That's how my rebuilt forged engine was run in.Its done 400 miles or so now and has good compression over all 4 cylinders.

I think some people will be scared of running in as per that guide but if you read the theory behind it, it makes a lot of sense.

vikingaero

Crabman wrote: »

Please tell me you're joking! :rotfl:

I'm certainly not joking about the banality of some Americans towards their motors. Fine if you plan to keep a car for years and years, but it normal for them to take a sample of their oil and send it for analysis on say a leased Ford Taurus that they might only keep for 3 years.

But Americans commute and use their cars far more than us Brits. Whereas we think of 10-12k as an average mileage, most Yanks will do upwards of 40-50k per annum and have 2-3 hour commutes each way as normal most private American motorists will cover as much private mileage as our UK sales reps.

I suppose in America where you might be travelling across several deserted states, knowing the condition of your engine is more critical than in the UK where you're never more than a couple of hours maximum from help.