Oil Change intervals?

[Hay Dude]

Took my International dump truck in for state inspection and asked about changing oil in the allison transmission at 91,000 miles. He pulled the dipstick and smelled the fluid (just like I do) and said “I wouldn’t”. He told me he has a customer with an Allison transmission with 800,000 miles on the original oil.
I wouldn’t condone waiting that long, but it goes to show you that there’s a balance between oil-change paranoia and waiting too long. I know a few of my buddies that never changed oil on cars and trucks and never had an engine failure. Again, something I do NOT suggest, but you need to be the judge of your situation.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Took my International dump truck in for state inspection and asked about changing oil in the allison transmission at 91,000 miles. He pulled the dipstick and smelled he fluid (just like I do) and said “I wouldn’t”. He told me he has a customer with an Allison transmission with 800,000 miles on the original oil.
I wouldn’t condone waiting that long, but it goes to show you that there’s a balance between oil-change paranoia and waiting too long. I know a few of my buddies that never changed oil on cars and trucks and never had an engine failure. Again, something I do NOT suggest, but you need to be the judge of your situation.

Was one of them started a thread about that not too long ago ... like yesterday .... because he certainly convinced me ...

Sorry I had to... it was such of a low hanging fruit.

 

[big bubba]

problem is that all of this is opinionated & anecdotal, & to me, it's pointless to advise one's own personal oil change interval for others
oil analysis is the only way to determine an oil's condition & need for change.
otherwise we just impose our own oil regimen on others with our empirical experience. almost meaningless

 

[DarkBlack]

Oil life hours in NON-ICE applications can be magnitudes greater, such as transmissions, shaft housings, etc, because those applications don’t have the fuel-air combustion byproducts getting into the oil like an engine does.
Engine oil is constantly polluted by the fuel and air constantly exchanging in the interior, which contacts the oil on cylinder walls, valve stems, and ring blow by.
It’s a totally different oil longevity situation

 

[BnRidge]

I know a few of my buddies that never changed oil on cars and trucks and never had an engine failure.

Yah, and I had a car that dripped and burned a quart every 70mi, basically got a complete oil change every 300mi or 10 days which ever came first, and the engine hadn't failed yet, started every time, even at -25f. When I sold it I didn't let the guy see all of the tow straps, tool box, cases of spark plugs, oil, and a torch to dry out the inside of the distributor cap. Pop the hood at night and the spark plug wires were a light show. I don't recommend any of this, but thought I'd share that miserable time of my life anyway.

 

[WinterDeere]

Oil life hours in NON-ICE applications can be magnitudes greater, such as transmissions, shaft housings, etc, because those applications don’t have the fuel-air combustion byproducts getting into the oil like an engine does.
Engine oil is constantly polluted by the fuel and air constantly exchanging in the interior, which contacts the oil on cylinder walls, valve stems, and ring blow by.
It’s a totally different oil longevity situation

I was about to say the same. I only change the oil in my compressor once every 10 years, and because it only takes ounces while that product is only sold in gallons, the oil I'm putting in has been sitting in an opened but capped jug for maybe 20 - 30 years. No issues, because no combustion byproducts, and the compressor isn't out being driven around in bad weather picking up moisture and condensation.

I change all of my ICE's once per year, unless mileage dictates sooner, or unless they haven't been run since the prior oil change.

 

[TxSteveS]

I was perusing the "today's posts", saw this thread and thought: Here we go!!

I was not disappointed.

"Oil is cheap - I change it before every use!!" (Slight exaggeration)

"I go 10 years between changes!!" (again - slight exaggeration)

and everything in between.

Haha - I go by the book. My 5240 says every 200 hours - that's what I do.

My cars have oil interval notifications and that's what I go by. When the vehicle/engineers that designed the vehicle tell me to do maintenance, that's when I do it. So far so good.

Tractor is ~15 years old and going strong.

Cars have anywhere from 75,000-170,000 miles on them and they are going strong.

Oil is cheap, but it's not free.

 

[scootr]

I had a Ford gas V8 truck. Pulled a gooseneck horse trailer 2-3 times a week and worked construction usually putting 100 miles on it every day. I racked up some miles to say the least. Manufacturer recommended 3500 mile oil changes. I ran full synthetic oil and religiously changed it every 10-15k miles. At 170k miles I sold it to a friend who hauled show cars. It's still going on the original motor/trans 20 yrs from the purchase date. Ford tough.

48 recommended oil changes
12 performed

 

[DarkBlack]

Many newer,.. and all older ..tractors, cars, and trucks, specified oil change intervals in their original owners manuals, based on conventional oil being used , and of the oil quality being produced at the time.
Using today’s synthetic, and conventional/synthetic blends, could certainly allow longer intervals

 

[WinterDeere]

My cars have oil interval notifications and that's what I go by. When the vehicle/engineers that designed the vehicle tell me to do maintenance, that's when I do it. So far so good.

Cars have anywhere from 75,000-170,000 miles on them and they are going strong.

Hold on. If your cars have 75k - 170k miles on them, they're almost certainly of an age where the oil life indicator is not tied to a real time clock. If you read your owner's manuals, you will almost certainly find instruction to change the oil at 12 months, whether the oil life indicator has run out or not.

Even my 2016 works this way, I believe our 2020 is the first car we've owned where the oil life indicator is also tied to a real time clock, in addition to engine hours x load.

 

[DarkBlack]

My Massey Ferguson manual states 150 run hours. There’s no mention of chronological days. I wait for 150 run hours on the indicator

 

[big bubba]

sound advice from your manual. as a caveat to change intervals based on tractor hrs., keep in mind that older mechanical hr meters are based on 540 pto rpm per hr, & that actual running time in hrs could be more esp when the engine is run at rpm that equates lower than 540 pto rpm.
didn't state that in a clear way, but you get the idea esp if you've run mechanical tach meters.

 

[Oaktree]

I always do a oil analysis with Blackstone simply because it will alert me of any impending issues that may arise down the road.

Depends on what kind equipment you're talking about. For cars, pickups, CUTs, etc. the analysis is likely to cost as much as an oil change.

 

[big bubba]

Depends on what kind equipment you're talking about. For cars, pickups, CUTs, etc. the analysis is likely to cost as much as an oil change.

good point, but all it would take is a few analysis reports to give a general pattern of one's specific use. frequent analysis would not be necessary

as a footnote, never done an analysis. i've stuck to my own personal regimen of interval changes on my '92 original truck engine w/320k still working hard. but my personal track record of oil interval change has nothing to do with other's oil change recommendation

another interesting question in this equation is the engine size. 4cyl vs 6 or 8. by virtue of the sump capacity, would the interval recommendation be different or the same on those different engine sizes?

 

[Quickster2]

My Kioti recommends 150 hour intervals. Mine has been changed every 75 since new as that about averages the yearly usage. I always go into winter with fresh oil & filter. Each to their own.

Correction: My Kioti states oil change at 100 hours and filter every 150. Never understood the staggered interval. Regardless, oil & filter get changed every 75 hours.

 

[nickmags]

I was perusing the "today's posts", saw this thread and thought: Here we go!!

I was not disappointed.

"Oil is cheap - I change it before every use!!" (Slight exaggeration)

"I go 10 years between changes!!" (again - slight exaggeration)

and everything in between.

Haha - I go by the book. My 5240 says every 200 hours - that's what I do.

My cars have oil interval notifications and that's what I go by. When the vehicle/engineers that designed the vehicle tell me to do maintenance, that's when I do it. So far so good.

Tractor is ~15 years old and going strong.

Cars have anywhere from 75,000-170,000 miles on them and they are going strong.

Oil is cheap, but it's not free.

I agree. When I posted the question, I knew there would be a lot of anecdotal input. It was a moment of weakness, sorry. Consider it a rhetorical question if you will. I had pretty much decided to change the oil and filter as soon as it warmed up. Positively hate laying on snow wet ground to get both drain plugs. Roughly 250 hours rather than the 400 called for in the owner's manual. That is almost 20 months of tractor use. I feel it's a good compromise meeting service requirements and my inner concerns and worries.
While oil and filter are not cheap, ($75.00 ++) I can not afford to replace an engine, or tractor because I skimped on an oil change.

Now, to add my own anecdotal info to the mix: My brother-in-law had a chevy S-10, bought it new at the dealer. Managed to put a grand total of 63,000 on it, and NEVER changed the oil. Motor died a horrible death on the highway and had to be towed home. When I questioned him about the black sludge on the dipstick, his reply was he "added oil when it was low." Dropped the pan, oil was so thick I used it as tar to fix holes in a tin barn roof!!

 

[Long Valley]

My L4701 just went over 200 hrs. Did the initial 50 hr. oil and filter change. I used premium oil and Kubota filter. The owner's manual says to change oil every 400 hrs. It has been 15 months since the original 50 hr. oil change. Oil still looks okay, darker, but not coal black from soot. Note to those engineer/techno types - Not going to send it out to get it analyzed, cheaper and easier to just change it. My question to folks is, at current usage rate it will be 3+ years on an oil change. Seems like a long time, maybe too long. Tractor sits a lot lately, due to ongoing health issues. (Getting old sucks!) Just wondering what others are doing in similar situations. I'm leaning towards changing it sooner rather than later. Don't figure it would hurt anything. Oil and filter are not cheap, but when compared to cost of tractor or engine re-build, dirt cheap!!

I change the oil annually, as its cheap insurance.

 

[Gem99ultra]

My L4701 just went over 200 hrs. Did the initial 50 hr. oil and filter change. I used premium oil and Kubota filter. The owner's manual says to change oil every 400 hrs. It has been 15 months since the original 50 hr. oil change. Oil still looks okay, darker, but not coal black from soot. Note to those engineer/techno types - Not going to send it out to get it analyzed, cheaper and easier to just change it. My question to folks is, at current usage rate it will be 3+ years on an oil change. Seems like a long time, maybe too long. Tractor sits a lot lately, due to ongoing health issues. (Getting old sucks!) Just wondering what others are doing in similar situations. I'm leaning towards changing it sooner rather than later. Don't figure it would hurt anything. Oil and filter are not cheap, but when compared to cost of tractor or engine re-build, dirt cheap!!

If your owner's manual specified "every 200 hours" I would not interject "or every x-number" of months. Hours is tallied by usage, not age.

 

[WinterDeere]

If your owner's manual specified "every 200 hours" I would not interject "or every x-number" of months. Hours is tallied by usage, not age.

Thinking back through all the machines I've owned in my life, quite a long list, I can't think of a single one that didn't specify something like "200 hours or annually, whichever comes first". For examples, the Yanmar diesel in my Deere 3033R specifies "200 hours or annually", and the Kawasaki V-twin in my Deere 757 Z-Trak mower specifies "100 hours or annually". How many engine or equipment manufacturers actually specify hours only, with no maximum time interval?

 

[DarkBlack]

My massy Ferguson lists hours only