Oil Life, how is it determined?

[Meatbag]

It's all gimmicky anyway which I think we should all know at the end of the day. Change oil under 5000 miles and you'll be fine. Built in oil life sensors shouldn't even exisit. People just need to pay attention to their cars more and take care of their stuff if they want it to last. /endrant

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[bigb]

I am a firm believer in regular oil lab analysis, in fact it saved me a Jeep engine once by alerting me to coolant contamination while still in the early stages. I agree that 5,000 miles is the sweet spot but I don't agree that I need to change it at 6 months, especially in this dry climate I live in. My oil samples on other vehicles have shown TBN to be still high and moisture and fuel contamination to be non-existent even after 2 years. I do 5,000 on all my vehicles regardless of time and I send a sample each time. I'll even send a sample early by pulling it thru the dipstick tube if it has been a lot of time but low miles.

 

[purdyd]

I agree with the 5k miles thing and that what I’ve always done. But… on my previous oil change I was at 50% oil life at 2200 miles So I changed at 2500 miles because I had a big trip. Now I’m at 2500 and 75%

the difference is a lot of short trips versus one big highway trip.

the suggestion to change at 50% oil life might be a good one.

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