I only drive my car enough to change the oil once or twice a year. I usually put in 10w30. Is this okay? I just bought some today and I got to wondering if it will be alright through the summer, even though I wouldnt need to change it until mid winter.

 

You should be fine, but just for reference in the FSM there is a chart that lists the oils and which are best for which temps.

 

How many miles do you drive a year?

Oil should be changed by TIME OR MILEAGE. Or, you could waste $35 on a Used Oil Analysis. Make sure to have the TBN tested. This number will help let you know how well the oil can defend against acid.
Without the UOA, I WOULD still change the oil every 4 months even if it was 1k miles. Moisture, condensation, and other variables(like running on stale old fuel), will work that oil.

Since 3 supertech oil filters costs $6 and 15 quarts of supertech oil costs $20, my vote if for 3 oil changes a year. UOA, IMO, isn't too cost effective.

Mandatory usage of a fuel stabilizer if the vehicle isn't burning a full tank of gas every 2-3 weeks. Basically, if you drive <450 miles a month, you should use Stabil or any of its competitors(small engine or marine fuel stabilizers).

Just about any weight of oil can be used year round. Nothing wrong with your PCMO 10w30. But, I'd rather use a HDEO(15w40 summer or 5w40 winter) motor oil if you insist on being lazy with your Oil Change Interval.

 

10w30 winter, 20w50 summer. read the faq.

 

Yes, Im aware of that smart guy. That wasnt what I was asking.

Its my DD, so fuel stabilzer and all that isnt necessary. I just use it to get to work a few minutes away and to the train station for school. I hardly ever drive more than 30 minutes from home.

I guess Ill just go get some 20w50 then and save the 10w30 for winter. I didnt have a jack or jackstands before so it was kind of a hassle to find some to borrow and made me sort of lazy about it. I bought some today though so its not a big deal anymore.

 

Short trips are torture on the oil. Change it more frequently then twice a year.

 

Yeah man, you should be changing your oil every 3 months, no matter how many miles you have on it. Old oil is supposedly -worse- for your car than over-used oil, as it has had time to build up more contaminants.

 

Not trying to steal the thread, but the original owner of the 88TII I just bought said he has been running straight SAE 40 for the whole engines life, is this ok or do i need to convert over to 20w50, 20w50 is what i always ran in my other 7's... what do you think, temps here in the summer are like 100 degrees everyday and it dosent get that cold in the winter....

 

oil changes should be every 3-5000 miles for a non turbo and 3000 miles for a turbo.

If you are only driving 6000-9000 miles a year then a couple of oil changes a year should be fine (depending on model)

 

With the number of people complaining about the milky deposits in the oil filler and oil cap, I would think that more maintenance, even for NA owners, is needed. I wouldn't use regular oil over 3 months or 3k miles without proof in the form of the UOA. The only NA UOAs that I've seen are for the Renesis and they're nothing to brag about.
But, with the number of geniuses blowing up engines weekly, why even bother with the oil changes. Do what you want and rebuild as needed.

Straight oil sucks. It rarely meets the testing specs set by manufactures and the likes of SAE/API/ILSAC/ACEA......
Are there any new products that require a straight weight besides the disposable ones like my lawnmover(which I use a multiweight in anyway)? Stick with the multiweight oils.

 

Most of the people complaining about milk deposits seem to be owners that do either infrequent short trips as their primary driving, or have seal issues. In both those cases more frequent oil changes would be a benifit.

But people that are too cheap to change their oil every 3000 miles are probably way to cheap to get Oil testing done as well.

I can not agree with you more on this. Single weight oils have no place in modern automobiles, and are never ever recommended by Mazda for rotary engines.

 

Damn i guess I need to change the 40 weight over to some good ol castrol gtx 20w50 Huh? hope it didnt hurt anything running 40 weight for like 10 years