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Myth: 3000 mile oil change. BUSTED.

Wrecker

Wrecker

The Oil Geek
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Location
Beaver Falls, PA
From Lubes & Greases magazine:

"General Motors yesterday joined the California Environmental
Protection Agency and its Integrated Waste Management
Board in the state’s “3,000 Mile Myth” campaign to educate
drivers on reducing motor oil consumption by following their
automakers’ recommended oil drain intervals.
In response to research showing that 73 percent of
California drivers change their oil more frequently than
their vehicle manufacturers recommend, the Board has
launched a new public information program to educate
drivers to follow automaker guidelines for oil change frequency.
The program, said the Board, is “designed to
bust the 3,000-mile myth, the old mantra that drivers
should change their oil every 3,000 miles.”"

Full article
 
Or the myth that if your oil is black it needs to be changed.

It needs to be put to rest.

I know my amsoil is supposed to be changed at 25,000 IIRC. I might change it a little sooner due to the amount of soot that I put through it. Im thinking 15,000 but Ill let the oil anaylisis tell me.

What do you reccomend for oil analysis intervals on the amsoil. I was thinking of getting one at 10,000 and one at 15,000??

There is some truth to changing oil sooner if you have a lot of fuel going into your motor. NTPA tractors will often change theirs every 5-10 hooks. Otherwise they spin bearings. However that is not a good comparison to our trucks. We dont run 30 gallons per minute of diesel or run our diesels to 3 times the factory RPMs.
 
durallymax said:
Or the myth that if your oil is black it needs to be changed.

It needs to be put to rest.

I know my amsoil is supposed to be changed at 25,000 IIRC. I might change it a little sooner due to the amount of soot that I put through it. Im thinking 15,000 but Ill let the oil anaylisis tell me.

What do you reccomend for oil analysis intervals on the amsoil. I was thinking of getting one at 10,000 and one at 15,000??

There is some truth to changing oil sooner if you have a lot of fuel going into your motor. NTPA tractors will often change theirs every 5-10 hooks. Otherwise they spin bearings. However that is not a good comparison to our trucks. We dont run 30 gallons per minute of diesel or run our diesels to 3 times the factory RPMs.
Click to expand...

For the Dmax running AME 15w-40 the change intervals are 25k miles for normal, and 15k miles for severe service. Racing, pulling, etc are done at the operator's discretion.


I had my analysis done at the 15k mark, my TBN was still 8 and eveything looked good except for some copper leeching out of the oil cooler. I'll sample again at about 25k (oil miles).

Normal Service: Personal transportation vehicles frequently traveling greater than 10 miles (16 km) at a time and not operating under severe service.

Severe Service: Extensive engine idling, daily short trip driving less than 10 miles (16 km), frequent towing, plowing, hauling heavy loads or dusty-condition driving.
 
Maybe I shouldn't feel bad after running 5500 miles before changing it out (using Rotella 15-40)? My DIC was at 43% and looked at my entry of last oil change and thought I better :bolt: and buy some oil.
 
25,000 miles is considered normal for Amsoil? Shew, thats alot of miles...
 
I have been changing mine at every 5000 in the D-max using Rotella. Was thinking of increasing that but not sure by how much.

When I drove OTR the last 3 companies I drove for changed at 20,000 with a filter change and grease job at 10K. When I first heard that, I thought that was crazy (back in the mid 90's) but was told that the oil test showed breakdown did not occur until 25K. That was in Detroit series 60's and Cummins N14's both using rotella. And diesel locomotives don't change until a sample test tells em to. Now of course those oil capacities are much more than our trucks, but I wonder how long I could go with rotella?
 
daletheman3 said:
I have been changing mine at every 5000 in the D-max using Rotella. Was thinking of increasing that but not sure by how much.

When I drove OTR the last 3 companies I drove for changed at 20,000 with a filter change and grease job at 10K. When I first heard that, I thought that was crazy (back in the mid 90's) but was told that the oil test showed breakdown did not occur until 25K. That was in Detroit series 60's and Cummins N14's both using rotella. And diesel locomotives don't change until a sample test tells em to. Now of course those oil capacities are much more than our trucks, but I wonder how long I could go with rotella?
Click to expand...

EMDs (GM Electro Motive Division diesels) for instance in locomotives and such run at a substantially lower rpm. For example in a stationary generator application they idle at about 500 rpm and run fully loaded at 900 rpm, others run even slower, like Colt-Pielstick diesels. Not exactly the same as stop and go traffic or smoking ricers.

You are right, they also have a much larger sumps and usually have multiple filtration systems in both the locomotive/marine/stationary setups as well as OTR trucks.

A sample kit is the best way to find out for sure and not have to guess.
 
Well Im in a dilemma now. Do I run Amsoil or Cen-Pe-Co next season??

Either way it is getting changed every weekend.
 
So, the average driver running Amsoil would go about 10K on a oil change and be ok?

Can you PM some prices on a Complete Oil change, Filter Oil and all thanks
 
hey oil geek send me a PM for a 55gal drum of 15W40 if I become a preferred customer.

I would like to sompare prices to decide which oil to run next year.
 
I changed my oil last weekend at right at 7000 miles in the old 6.5. Got a sample to send off and see what it says. I am running amsoil 15W-40 will post up the results when i get them back might not be till after Christmas break when i get back to college. But we have been changing the oil in all of our vehicles at 5000 miles for a long time and never had a problem yet.
 
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