January 23, 2012

Change your oil often

The question comes up: How often should I change my oil. Oils are better these days than they were 30 years ago, so you don’t really need to change it every 3000 miles like you used to. It used to be a rule of thumb that every 3000 miles or every 3 months, whichever came first, was the time to change the oil. The reason for this was that the oil would break down and form sludge if left longer than that amount of time in the crankcase. And sludge is an engine killer.
These days, the oil used in engines is much more resilient. It’s recommended now that for new cars that the oil be changed every 7500 miles.
But for older cars, over 5 years old that is, it’s still recommended to change it more often, more like 4000 or 5000 miles. The reason is that older cars, even with the newer, synthetic oils, will have a little more breakdown of oil into sludge. And even if you don’t drive the car the prescribed distance within a year, it’s still recommended to change the oil because oil has a shelf life.
It is true what they say, changing your oil is the best investment you can make for your car. With all this talk about living with less money, living on $1000 a month, and cheap car repair, prevention is still the best way to keep things working smoothly.
And if you’re trying to live cheap, chances are you probably have an older car. And if you look carefully, you can find some really cool deals on cars that get good mileage. I got my 1992 Toyota Corolla for only $1500, and under good conditions it can get up to 40 miles per gallon. But this is going to require one to pay close attention to details like prevention, and this includes changing the oil on a regular basis.

Til next time,

Hal