Whatever the drawbacks of oil just sitting, may or may not be, the synthetic oil would handle it better than petroleum based oils. Just like synthetic oils handle the extremes better than petroleum based oils.
Engine oil life indicator--reliable?
- Thread starter gc2001
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iamdub
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Clean quality oil is a major factor but not the one factor in a long life. If you maintain it and don't abuse it, 250K+ is super easy.
You betcha.....done it numerous times
There are 2 things that come to mind. First, is the truck inside all the time and temperate? Or outside with humidity, and wild temp swings?
Secondly, I'd probably just do a yearly service no matter what just to keep it consistent and fresh.
DirtDigler
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It's mainly outside but in patrial shade. I always date and write the mileage on the filter when I change the oil and last time it was a year old with only a few hundred miles. Yea, probably at least once a year should be OK. Heck it's probably time to do it!
Wow! Low use for sure. I'd make a point for more frequent movement just to keep things from getting stiff and to discourage any critters from taking up residence......a couple bad squatters will reek havoc. LOL
DirtDigler
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I took it for a ride this past weekend just for that purpose
Joseph Garcia
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I change my oil and filter at 5K or less miles.
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I too change my synthetic oil every 5k miles.
nonickatall
Full Access Member
I believe the engine oil indicator. I use longlive oil which is nearly the same price, than the standard oil for the gmt820. But i use Motul, which is a good brand here in Germany. I have very good experience with that oil. The engine oil change is in my case to early, my oil looks nearly new after the engine oil indicator says 0.
From my experience, the following general conditions apply to oil changes.
Firstly the quality of the oil is crucial. I would rather drive good quality oil twice the time than change cheap oil regularly.
Then the condition of the engine, it does not help to change the oil regularly, if you do not take care of spark plugs, air filter and other maintenance.
The driving profile. if you only drive oil on long distances, coast to coast, you can drive the oil twice as long. if you only drive short trips and drive a mile to the nearest supermarket, you will need to change the oil much more frequently, because then a lot of condensation will collect in the oil. And of course the driving style, if you drive the car around at low revs and with a cautious foot on the accelerator, the oil lasts much longer than if you constantly pedal the car around at full throttle.
And that's what the engine oil indicator tries to calculate.
And that's also the reason why the manufacturers say, that you should change the oil after a year at the latest, because if you haven't clocked up the kilometers that are necessary for an oil change in a year, you usually drive short distances and have to change the oil much earlier.
However, if I use the car once a year to drive 1.000 miles at once through the country, and the rest of the year, the car stands still, you can drive around with the oil for 10 years. That's not a problem at all, from my point of view.
From my experience, the following general conditions apply to oil changes.
Firstly the quality of the oil is crucial. I would rather drive good quality oil twice the time than change cheap oil regularly.
Then the condition of the engine, it does not help to change the oil regularly, if you do not take care of spark plugs, air filter and other maintenance.
The driving profile. if you only drive oil on long distances, coast to coast, you can drive the oil twice as long. if you only drive short trips and drive a mile to the nearest supermarket, you will need to change the oil much more frequently, because then a lot of condensation will collect in the oil. And of course the driving style, if you drive the car around at low revs and with a cautious foot on the accelerator, the oil lasts much longer than if you constantly pedal the car around at full throttle.
And that's what the engine oil indicator tries to calculate.
And that's also the reason why the manufacturers say, that you should change the oil after a year at the latest, because if you haven't clocked up the kilometers that are necessary for an oil change in a year, you usually drive short distances and have to change the oil much earlier.
However, if I use the car once a year to drive 1.000 miles at once through the country, and the rest of the year, the car stands still, you can drive around with the oil for 10 years. That's not a problem at all, from my point of view.
