Yet another interested oil discussion...? I was ask this questions so I'll post it for your thoughts. A friend of mine drives his car about 500 miles a year. It has full synth. oil in it. It has been a year, the oil looks just like it was put in and everything runs fine. Its $70 each oil change. New filter + 7 qts of oil ( different car w/ 7qt pan). Should he still change it after a year or would it hurt to run a little longer?

 

i would change the oil once a year with that amount of miles....oil will turn acidic after a long period of time....

 

wow running the same engine oil for a whole year, even with that many miles is not good.

 

Check the owner's manual and go by that recommendation. Acura is 1 year, and there is no problem with the oil being in there for that period of time. In fact, the last oil change in the TL was just at one year and the MID was at 15% 7600 miles.

 

I would say if those 500 miles are done in 50+ chunks, then no worries. If they are done in 2-4 mile chunks, then I would change it out.

If anything, get the oil tested to see how the oil really is doing.

 

if in 50 mile bursts, it should be good for another few months, if in 2-4, swap it out. Also swap it with some regular DINO oil, its just wasting money...

 

On a different acura I had, I went a year w/o changing it. Granted, it was synth. and it ended up with a total of 3020 miles (in a years time) on it with 65% left on the gauge before it said it needed to be changed. On my daily drivers, its changed between 3-4K miles or atleast twice a year since I don't have to put alot of miles on what I have since I'm not far from work.

 

He could get his oil tested by Blackstone Labs to see how much life the oil has after one year's time.

 

I'm in that same boat with the Mustang. I hardly drive it - so it gets done around once a year.

 

Is your friends car an Acura?

I'd change it just for safety sake. $70 is a lot cheaper than a new engine.

On a side note, if it is an Acura, I don't understand why someone would buy it and only drive it 500 miles a year? Certainly its a great car and should be taken care of but it is by no means an exotic that should sit in a garage for a year... But to each his own, I suppose...

 

Its in supercharged mustang. It doesn't get driven much as noted above.

 

 

Full synthetic has a shelf life (in containers) of 3+ years, so I can't see how 500 miles of driving in 1 year would suddenly see it turn to piss and jelly in his oil pan.

That being said, while I'd imagine it would be just fine for another several months, he might as well do it once a year......easy to remember that way.

 

The oil it self should be fine BUT moisture does and will build up from sitting and not being burned off. I would spend the 70 bucks and change it. Its the least he could do for the motor.

 

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

So how often should I change my oil?

...Fact is, large quantities of water are produced by the normal combustion process and, depending on engine wear, some of it gets into the crank case. If you have a good crank case breathing system it gets removed from there PDQ, but even so, in cold weather a lot of condensation will take place. This is bad enough in itself, since water is not noted for its lubrication qualities in an engine, but even worse, that water dissolves any nitrates formed during the combustion process. If my memory of chemistry serves me right, that leaves you with a mixture of Nitric (HNO3) and Nitrous (HNO2) acid circulating round your engine! So not only do you suffer a high rate of wear at start-up and when the engine is cold, you suffer a high rate of subsequent corrosion during normal running or even when stationary...

 

If you believe the ex-CEO of Catrol Netherlands, you should NEVER change your oil because its properties only get better as time goes by. He claims that changing oil is a waste of money, and that you should only add oil when required.

Why don't you suggest that to your friend and report back here periodically so that we know if it's safe to do that in our own cars.

 

Where's Sodaluvr?

There is a lot of hearsay out there and the only way to be certain is to send out a sample and have it tested at a lab.... or you can change it and be on the safe side. Conditions vary greatly based on the car itself and the climate it is in, no one can tell you if it is OK over the internet.

I don't drive much either, part of the reason I got into a more affordable car, but I drive enough to do the oil change once a year with dino oil weather I hit the manufacturers mileage recommendation or not.

 

I actually had an employee who felt the same exact way, he would claim he was backing up his claims with science, "oil is a solid substance!" he would always scream. In his defense he never had an oil related problem, at the same time he always drove a pile of shit for a car. I don't believe in changing it significantly more often then required, but I like to follow the manufacturers suggestions.