Some of vehicles with the change oil light use an algorithm that dynamically
adjusts the number of miles before the lights comes on based on number of start
stop cycles, average throttle position, etc. So if you are doing a bunch of
short trips or are always ropping on the motor the oil light will come on
sooner than if you steady state hi-way miles.
IMHO, a 3k oil change interval is a very conservative number even if your
driving meets the owners manual definition of "extreme driving conditions".
In my 30+ years of driving I have always changed dino oil at 5K intervals and
syntetic at 7.5K intervals. Even that is conservative. I typically keep
vehicles 7 to 10+ years and put 150K to 300K on them and I have never worn out
and engine so it's been working for me. My 99 Dakota is seeing 7.5k intervals
(I fully expect to see 250K+ miles out of this truck just like I did with my 89
Dakota) on Mobil 1 and the PT cruiser is following the Schedule A while it's
under warranty (5k for the turbo motor) then will change to 7.5K. A couple of
my previous turbo mopars have had the head off at 175k+ miles for new head
gaskets and still were showing the original factory honing marks on the
cylinder walls.
FWIW, there has been a ongoing test that I have been following on the web on
synthtic oils. The conclusion on Amsoil, Redline and Mobil 1 (there regular
stuff) is that these oils do not show any appreciable break down until 12K
miles and are good to 15K, if you are changing the filter every 5k and topping
off with fresh oil then 20K is a realistic goal. A friend of mine sells Amsoil
products and didn't change the oil for over 100K miles on one of his vehicles.
He sent a sample out every few thousand to have it tested and the results kept
coming back that the oil was fine. He did have a secondary by-pass filter
installed so the oil went through a conventional filter then a portion of it
was routed through a very fine filter and these filters were changed regularly.
In article <d1pa8p$2uf$1@bent.twistedbits.net>, josh@omg-stfu.com ("Josh
Battles") writes:
>
>
> "Barry Oliver" <barrysuperhawk@insightbb.com> wrote in message
> news:423F9ED3.5010201@insightbb.com...
> >
> > When I had the bimmer, it went something like 7500 miles before the
> > light came on, and didn't go out when I changed it. I had to find a shop
> > that would reset my oil light, and they told me they could re-set it for
> > whatever mileage I wanted..
>
> My dad's bimmer is like that too. He's got over 120k on it now and has done
> the oil changes/services every 7500. He drives it hard and it still runs as
> smooth as silk.
>
> --
> - Josh
> Lowered 2000 Dakota CC 3.9L
> I put on my robe and wizard hat....
> www.omg-stfu.com
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Apr 01 2005 - 00:13:21 EST