Oil change intervals with synthetic oil?

[cruisin4bruisins]

Hello all!

How often (in miles) do you change your oil?

I m running Mobile One synthetic, and have been changing it every 5000 miles.

As you all know, this is not cheap! Do I need to suck it up, or can I extend the interval?

Thanks much!

Jordan

I have a 2002 with 235k miles. I change my oil and filter every 5-6k miles with synthetic blend Valvoline. I've done black stone kits multiple times for fun and I've found that Valvoline products seem to be really good quality and the kits support that argument. I also do diffs and transfer case with the Valvoline squeeze bags every 30k miles, I highly recommend the squeeze bags lol

 

[SteveH]

I have done Blackstone analysis on my '01 7.3 Powerstroke diesel, because the factory recommended OCI is 3000 miles. Each oil change costs $125+, since it holds 15 qts of diesel oil and a $20 filter. Blackstone said things looked great at 8K miles (including TBN) and suggested a 10K change interval. I'm sticking with 8K mile changes, and it saves me a ton of $$. I trust Blackstone's numbers. I run Rotella T6 5w-40 synthetic.

 

[Joe422]

Been using Full synth since our LX470 drove off the showroom floor new. Oil Changed every 5k miles w/ OE toyota filter. Im at 280k now, and engine still runs like new, and doesnt burn/lose any oil. Will continue this regiment.

 

[Rednexus]

Been using Full synth since our LX470 drove off the showroom floor new. Oil Changed every 5k miles w/ OE toyota filter. Im at 280k now, and engine still runs like new, and doesnt burn/lose any oil. Will continue this regiment.

Testament to Lexus reliability! I did the same on our last Subaru. Never more than 5k between M1 0W20 changes. It didn't matter, it still started burning a quart between changes by 110k. Poor design. My 2UZ at 176k and 17 years dosen't burn a drop.

 

[Live to Ski]

Testament to Lexus reliability! I did the same on our last Subaru. Never more than 5k between M1 0W20 changes. It didn't matter, it still started burning a quart between changes by 110k. Poor design. My 2UZ at 176k and 17 years dosen't burn a drop.

wife bought a suby base forrester new '19. the low oil light comes on at around 10k miles. did some "poking and hoping" on the internet. Known issue w. many pushing for new engines. It's tough to keep the wife on track w. checking oil level

 

[Rednexus]

wife bought a suby base forrester new '19. the low oil light comes on at around 10k miles. did some "poking and hoping" on the internet. Known issue w. many pushing for new engines. It's tough to keep the wife on track w. checking oil level

I think the early FB series engine had problems with the oil control rings gumming up. Ours was a 2014, so they didn't totally rectify it for the later years either. I think the Subaru "max spec" is 1 quart per 1,000 miles before they'd fix it! I really dislike having an oil-burning vehicle of any kind.

 

[magikaram]

wife bought a suby base forrester new '19. the low oil light comes on at around 10k miles. did some "poking and hoping" on the internet. Known issue w. many pushing for new engines. It's tough to keep the wife on track w. checking oil level

I think the early FB series engine had problems with the oil control rings gumming up. Ours was a 2014, so they didn't totally rectify it for the later years either. I think the Subaru "max spec" is 1 quart per 1,000 miles before they'd fix it! I really dislike having an oil-burning vehicle of any kind.

My '22 Impreza with the FB20 engine has got 23k miles or so with no oil burning issues, same for my mom's 2021 Forester.
We do have a 2016 Forester that my sister drives and she's burning about a quart per 1000 miles, at 90k miles on the car. The 2016 I'm sure has 'extended' a few too many oil change intervals to say the least, so we'll see how long it lasts.

 

[Rednexus]

My '22 Impreza with the FB20 engine has got 23k miles or so with no oil burning issues, same for my mom's 2021 Forester.
We do have a 2016 Forester that my sister drives and she's burning about a quart per 1000 miles, at 90k miles on the car. The 2016 I'm sure has 'extended' a few too many oil change intervals to say the least, so we'll see how long it lasts.

Glad to hear they that they may have rectified it in the later FBs. Honestly the Subaru's aren't bad cars, it was just depressing for me to have to re-ring the EJ25 in my old 2000 Forester and then have our 2014 Outback become an oil-burner despite my religious 4K changes after buying the car brand new.

I can't believe Subaru recommend a 7,500 COI interval in those cars. I changed ours at 7,500 miles just one time and the oil was disgusting. Keeping it at 4K probably helped it say at 1Q/4K instead of 1Q/1K. We sold the car to my mom who is still driving it and I'm sure it will run another 100K as long as she keeps up on the oil levels and changing it.

The FB25 burning was the final nail in the coffin and we're now an all Toyota family after always having at least Subaru around from 2009-early 2023. One thing I will say is that they are crazy-easy to work on, EJ25 headgaskets can be done over a weekend.

 

[Jack90210]

^^^^^....to add. How many more quality miles with zero major issues will I get, above the 427k I currently have, if I spend more money on more expensive oil, spend said money more often on clean oil at some subjective mileage interval and pay for oil analysis several times a year.....to tell me nothing that will really matter short of a new engine as mentioned.

However, I do agree there is a value represented by currencey exchanged for the fun, enjoyment and peace of mind the above may provide to some of which I am not one.

Agree 100%, there's no harm in engaging in "cheap insurance" if it brings peace of mind. However, time and money spent on short-interval oil changes might be better spent on making sure that other fluids are fresh; the UZJ100s are "easy" on oil but suffer when brake/coolant/trans fluids aren't serviced.

 

[jayp2]

7,500 to 10k and I have sent multiple samples to blackstone to verify.

This is the key

Over a couple of OCI's send a sample to Blackstone and they will produce a report that shows how your engine is wearing based on metals in the sample but they can also test to see whether the oil is spent/due to be changed or if there are remaining additives/detergents/etc to help guide you is figuring out optimal OCI

 

[Wah00]

I typically have it changed at 5k, after the light comes on my dash. I acknowledge that it is unncessary, but I don't mind the expense and it allows me to rotate tires and have another set of eyes that I trust look everything over (including other fluids) a couple of times per year.

What comes out of my '06 LC (205k mi) is generally a lot cleaner than what comes out of my son's '03 LX470 (325k)

 

[Rednexus]

With regards to your second paragraph, that is part of what you pay for: Blackstone analyzes (by way of education and expertise) the oil with respect to what they find, and in comparison to the many other UZJ100 motors for which they've analyzed drain oil. It's only one data point, but it's a useful one. Similarly, fleet maintenance staff don't have to have graduate degrees in tribology if this expertise can be outsourced as part of oil analysis.

Further, the optional TBN test can determine the level of additives left in the oil as a means of verifying an appropriate drain interval.

All of this puts me at risk of sounding like a shill for Blackstone, which I am not; I simply think that it's helpful to know what oil analysis can and can't do, and what you receive as part of the service.

That's certainly great to hear, my only sticking point is that they are going to offer that kind of a service, they need to stand behind it in some capacity in case they are wrong . That's pretty standard in technical fields when recommendations are made. Otherwise the risk is unfairly allocated between the Blackstone and their customers.

 

[Jack90210]

That's certainly great to hear, my only sticking point is that they are going to offer that kind of a service, they need to stand behind it in some capacity in case they are wrong . That's pretty standard in technical fields when recommendations are made. Otherwise the risk is unfairly allocated between the Blackstone and their customers.

Much like I would never purchase an investment instrument that was also an insurance product, I wouldn't want to buy an oil analysis that came with a warranty based on their analysis: the cost would be more than I would want to spend, and I only want the one product and not the other.

Just tell me what numbers are in my oil, and I'll do the rest.

 

[newbielx470]

Since someone mentioned earlier that they change oil whenever it becomes "dirty", I'm curious, on average, at what mileage (within one oil change interval) is the oil supposed to turn dark (say for a 250k-mile healthy engine)? Does your oil get pretty dark after 3000-ish miles after changing, or earlier/later? And for a healthy engine, is it supposed to turn dark quickly?

 

[87nm60]

I do the oil changes by my self $42 for Castrol full synthetic 7 quarts and OEM filter every 2500-3000 miles. Oil is cheap and abundant while, a Japense made 2UZFE are very rare.

This is just overkill. 2500-3000? You’re wasting a lot of money and time.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I run full synthetic on all my trucks, have them all clocked to oil changes every 10k mile turnover (150k, 160k, 170k, etc) - makes it easy to glance and know when an oil change is needed.

230k+ on my daily and it purrs like a kitten.

 

[Jack90210]

Since someone mentioned earlier that they change oil whenever it becomes "dirty", I'm curious, on average, at what mileage (within one oil change interval) is the oil supposed to turn dark (say for a 250k-mile healthy engine)? Does your oil get pretty dark after 3000-ish miles after changing, or earlier/later? And for a healthy engine, is it supposed to turn dark quickly?

Oil is supposed to turn dark; detergents hold any "dirt" (soot etc.) in suspension in the oil, among other reasons for its darkening.

The color of the oil is not necessarily a marker for its condition.