10k miles between oil changes; really?




I did have a Ford truck with a 351W that leaked a quart of oil every 100 miles from the rear main seal though.









The Best of Mercedes & AMG
When I clean the accumulated brake dust off my wheels once a year I always notice slightly quicker acceleration, somewhat shorter stopping distances and quicker turn-in. MPG is also up probably around 8%. This is due to the reduced rotating mass of the now clean wheels. An added benefit is they become shiny again.
Funny you bring that up. I use two of them. Simple math indicated to me I would see a 40% increase in MPG but at best I've seen around a 37% increase and that's on a good day. Usually hovers around 34~35%. That's okay but I'm not entirely satisfied/impressed.




Mr. Whipple admitted years ago that Charmin was not "all that" when it came to oil filtration. Privately, and you didn't hear it from me, he would recommend Quilted Northern.
Might sound odd but I noticed the same smoother acceleration when I wear a copper wrist bracelet for increased life longevity.




What's the real skinny?
3.5L
maw
If it's in a wet, northeast city, driving around the pot holes and delivery trucks for 10,000 miles, your oil will have long ago been beaten to death.
OTOH, if it's like the way I do 10,000 miles - a couple thousand miles around low-density suburban streets and freeways plus an 8,000 mile 95% interstate speed highway road trip, I have no problems at all doing a 10,000 mile oil change interval. In fact, I prefer it to being forced to stop mid-road trip for a quickie oil change (probably giving full access to the bowels of my car to some minimum wage 18 year old "technician"). ;-)
FWIW, my oil looks pretty good after 10,000 miles, and I should add that I'll pretty much change the oil after one of my epic road trips, even if I only have 8-9,000 miles since the last change.




I am just wondering if the results would have been much different if the lubricant in use was …
Mobil 1
Amsoil
Or any of another handful of highly hyped lubricants.
I just replaced the oil and filter on my Bluetec; even though I had less than 10K miles on this interval, it has been over 1 year. I drove about 5500 miles during this time, but there was a lot of idling and crawling in traffic as well.
Perhaps when deciding the best OCI, it might be a good rule of thumb to go by (1) total miles up to 10K, or (2) 250 engine hours, or (3) 1-year, whichever comes first.










