Home » Posts tagged "extended drain"

Extended Drain Intervals in your car to save money

 

Buy Amsoil Now by visiting our main site.

Recently FORD came out with new press releases dismissing the validity of changing oil every 3,000 miles. We’ve all5W-20DominatorRacingOil heard the saying “Change your oil every 3,000 miles.” If you hear it enough you start to believe it; that is what ads do. If you are using the same oil as your grandpa, you should be changing it but today we have better alternatives. Lubrication technology has experienced the same advances as cars, motorcycles, and other technology. Synthetic oil is becoming more and more popular, with many high performance cars coming from the factory with synthetic oils installed when new. Some cars that are delivered with synthetics include; Acura RDX, Aston Martin, Bentley, Cadillac, Corvette, Mercedes AMG, Mercedes SLR, Mitsubishi Evolution, Solstice GXP, Porsche, Saturn Red Line, Dodge Viper, and more. Educate yourself and you’ll learn that Amsoil  synthetic oil beat all others in testing. Many manufacturers are also promoting extended drain intervals, something Amsoil has been advocating for decades.

Most European manufacturers suggest 9,000 mile drain intervals and are considering doubling it. Big Oil is the main remaining supporter of 3,000 mile oil changes; it helps them sell more oil. Unnecessary oil changes use 300-400 million gallons of oil annually, and over 1.5 billion dollars annually in U.S. consumer costs. There is also environmental impact; all that old oil has to go somewhere The solution? Use a quality synthetic oil like  Amsoil and extended drain intervals of 7,500, 25,000, or 35,000 miles as recommended by Amsoil. This will reduce your oil changes from 4-5 per year to 1-2 per year. The 3000-mile oil change is a conservative approach to maintaining your vehicle that, according to General Motors, dates back to 1968. It’s also an oil change interval that the automotive oil change industry and quick lube shops continue to encourage because it helps them sell more oil. Automobile manufacturers cite modern oil and engine technology as the reasons why oil change intervals can be extended. Some of these reasons include better oil filters, better air filters, and the availability of oil analysis to offer the benefit of the extended drain intervals.

Understanding the Oil Life Monitoring System

Many new cars also have a oil life monitoring system. This does not really monitor the oil at all, it simply times how long the engine has been running and calculates suggestions for oil changes. There is no actual oil condition sensor. No chemical analysis of the oil takes place. In fact, you could drain the oil and replace it with any fluid and the oil change monitor would have no way of knowing it. Additionally, the oil life monitor does not check how well your oil filter is filtering the oil in your system. Contaminated oil is just as, if not more, harmful than oxidized motor oil. The bottom line is that an oil life monitor is a useful tool that should be used in conjunction with common sense and good judgment. Whether or not you have an oil change monitor, if your car is still under warranty, continue to follow the car manufacturer’s recommended oil change intervals. Face it, the auto dealers also want to train you to bring your car back to them on a regular basis so they can continue to upsell you more products. Extend Your Oil Changes by Upgrading to Amsoil Synthetic Oil Synthetic oil does not impact any car warranty and you are free to pursue extended drain intervals if you want to enjoy the convenience of fewer oil changes. You can extend your oil change intervals by upgrading to synthetic oil. This will reduce the number of oil changes saving you time and money, and reducing the amount of oil purchased and disposed. There are a number of quality Amsoil products available to choose from. Most lubricant manufacturers will give a recommended number of miles you can drive between oil changes under normal conditions. The number of miles you can allow between oil changes will depend on the way you drive and the oxidation stability (useful oil life) of the motor oil.

Upgrade Your Oil Filter with Your Upgraded Oil

EaO

If you elect to upgrade your motor oil, you should also upgrade your oil filter. Low quality filters are often made with the 3,000 mile interval in mind and may go into ‘bypass’ mode shortly thereafter. Amsoil carries a complete line of filters that include the original AMSOIL EaO Filters that are guaranteed for 25,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first, when used in conjunction with AMSOIL synthetic motor oil in normal service. Amsoil also carries MANN filters (cheaper than BMW) and Donaldson filters.

Share
Posted on July 7, 2010 by , Reply

3,000 mile oil changes don’t apply anymore

This press release just came out from Royal Purple, another synthetic. These points are all valid, but of course we would recommend Amsoil. Amsoil has been doing this since 1972, and Royal Purple was founded in 1986. If you want to compare the oils, check our article on motorcycle oil which includes detailed and exhaustive graphs. The points made about extended drain intervals, quality filters, and “oil life monitors” are all good information.

GRANBURY, TX, June 24, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ — We’ve all heard the saying “Change your oil every 3,000 miles.” Well times have changed, and the old “3,000 mile” adage may or may not apply to your vehicle. The 3000-mile oil change is a conservative approach to maintaining your vehicle that, according to General Motors, dates back to 1968. It’s also an oil change interval that the automotive oil change industry continues to encourage.

Automobile manufacturers cite modern oil and engine technology as the reasons why oil change intervals can be extended. Numerous factors come into play when determining the oil change interval you should follow including: the vehicle you drive and how you drive it, oil and filter selection, and if your vehicle has an oil life monitoring system.

Every manufacturer establishes recommended oil change intervals for each model they produce. Oil change intervals are now 5,000 – 7,500 miles for many new cars. If you’re not sure where your vehicle fits in this range, consult your owner’s manual or ask your oil change professional at your next service appointment.

Understanding the Oil Life Monitoring System
A relatively new technology impacting oil change intervals is the oil life monitor. Many people are unaware that oil life monitor systems are simply computer software algorithms that determine when to change oil based on engine operating conditions. An oil life monitor considers mileage, speed and idling time to calculate when you should change the oil. A better name for the oil life monitor would be “oil life predictor.”

There is no actual oil condition sensor. No chemical analysis of the oil takes. In fact, you could drain the oil and replace it with any fluid and the oil change monitor would have no way of knowing it. Additionally, the oil life monitor does not check how well your oil filter is filtering the oil in your system. Contaminated oil is just as, if not more, harmful than oxidized motor oil. The bottom line is that an oil life monitor is a useful tool that should be used in conjunction with common sense and good judgment. Whether or not you have an oil change monitor, if your car is still under warranty, continue to follow the car manufacturer’s recommended oil change intervals.

Extend Your Oil Changes by Upgrading to Synthetic
If your car is no longer under warranty, you can extend your oil change intervals by upgrading to synthetic motor oil. This will reduce the number of oil changes saving you time and money, and reducing the amount of oil purchased and disposed.

There are a number of quality synthetic motor oils available to choose from. Most lubricant manufacturers will give a recommended number of miles you can drive between oil changes under normal conditions. The number of miles you can allow between oil changes will depend on the way you drive and the oxidation stability (useful oil life) of the motor oil.

Oxidation stability is measured by the ASTM’s rigorous Thin Film Oxidation Uptake Test (TFOUT). The test is so severe that it lasts 1300 minutes. Conventional motor oils typically last less than 300 minutes. Synthetic motor oils typically last less than 500 minutes. One high performance synthetic motor oil, Royal Purple has been shown to outlast the duration of the test. Royal Purple motor oils are recommended to extend oil changes intervals to 12,000 miles under normal driving conditions. It has also been shown to improve fuel economy and performance, while reducing emissions. You can find out more at www.royalpurple.com or ask your oil change professional at any quick change place that carries Royal Purple.

Upgrade Your Oil Filter with Your Upgraded Oil
If you elect to upgrade your motor oil, you should also upgrade your oil filter. Low quality filters are often made with the 3,000 mile interval in mind and may go into ‘bypass’ mode shortly thereafter. There are premium oil filters on the market from manufacturers such as Royal Purple, Wix, Purolator and K&N. Check the recommended filter change interval on any filter your purchase (each filter will be rated for a different mile interval) or ask your oil change professional during your next service.

Share
Posted on June 24, 2010 by , Reply

Ford Knocks 3,000-mile Intervals

Ford Knocks 3,000-mile Intervals

Ford issued an “automotive maintenance myths” statement March 12 that labels the idea that cars need oil changes every three months or 3,000 miles as a myth, though fast lubes caution that such an interval is still smart for many vehicles driven under severe conditions.

“That used to be true, but not with newer cars,” Ford stated. “Because of synthetic oils that don’t break down as quickly, consumers actually don’t need oil changes as often – more like every 5,000 to 7,500 miles – or even 10,000 on the new 2011 Mustang depending on your driving habits.” The 2011 Mustang features a die-cast aluminum deep-sump oil pan that Ford claims provides for up to 10,000-mile oil change intervals

The company’s current recommendation is 7,500 miles per oil change, said Ford Car Marketing Manager Robert Parker. “Special operating conditions are 5,000 miles, 6 months or 200 hours of engine operation, whichever occurs first, and that’s for severe usage like taxis and things of that nature,” Parker told Lube Report.

Ford noted that there may be two recommendations for oil change intervals – one for normal driving and one for hard use – and advised checking one’s owner’s manual to be sure. The c

Share
Posted on June 12, 2010 by , Reply

Is Synthetic Oil More Eco-Friendly than Regular Oil? – carsdirect.com

Synthetic Oil: More Eco-friendly?

Well, in a word, yes synthetic oil IS more eco-friendly and I’ll explain why. There are several articles circulating on the internet that dismiss the advantage of using synthetic oil to minimize your impact on the environment.

While it is true that used synthetic oil, if improperly disposed of, is just as damaging as any oil, there are advantages of using synthetic oils.

Synthetic Oil and extended drain intervals greatly reduce your output of used oil.

Big traditional oil companies are the main proponents of 3,000 mile oil changes. The reason is simple; they sell more oil that way. However, this also creates a huge amount of used oil, much of which is not properly disposed of. It’s estimated that unnecessary oil changes create an extra 300 – 400 MILLION gallons of used oil a year, costing consumers around 1.5 BILLION dollars a year.

Lets do some simple math; assume a average car, driving 15,000 miles a year. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume it takes 6 quarts of oil to change oil. Now, with a 3,000 mile oil change, that’s 5 oil changes a year. That means you will create 5×6 quarts of used oil per year, meaning 30 quarts a year. That’s 7 1/2 gallons a year. Now, if you used an extended drain oil from Amsoil like  0W-30 Signature Series, you would only change oil once a year, creating 1 1/2 gallons of used oil.

So we can see that moving to a quality synthetic oil like Amsoil can reduce the used oil generated by one car by 6 gallons a year. There are about 300 million cars registered in the US today.  It’s easy to see that moving to extended drain intervals and quality synthetic oil could save millions of gallons of waste oil per year in the US alone.

In conclusion, synthetic oil can claim to be more eco-friendly simply because it gives us a way to greatly reduce amount of used oil we generate.

Reduce Dependency on Foreign Oil

Another side effect of extended drain intervals would be the reduced demand for foreign oil. We’ve shown it would be easy to reduce US oil consumption by 600 million to 1.2 billion (or more) gallons of oil per year. Taking that amount of oil out of the demand market in the US would mean we would have to import that much less.

If you want to do you part to reduce your output of used oil, and reduce our dependency on foreign oil, you would use synthetic oil and extended drain intervals. Please request a free Amsoil catalog.

Below is part of the original article circulating on the Internet….

Synthetic oils are not derived from crude petroleum, but rather are synthesized and artificially created. If they are dumped down the drain after use in an automobile, they can be just as harmful to the environment as conventional oil. The difference, then, is their longevity and method of creation.

Because they are not pulled out of the earth and refined industrially, they begin their life without having any initial environmental impact. And because they improve engine performance, increase gas mileage, and offer extended oil drain capability–meaning synthetic oil doesn’t have to be changed as often–they reduce the environmental impact even further. Thus, it is not that they necessarily possess inherent “green” qualities. Their creation and use provides a reduced footprint, quite a bit less than conventional oil.

Synthetic motor oil is more eco-friendly than conventional oil for the reasons that it is not extracted from the earth, lasts longer when in use and improves fuel economy. Indirectly, it is a greener choice than conventional oils

via Is Synthetic Oil More Eco-Friendly than Regular Oil? – carsdirect.com.

Share
Posted on May 8, 2010 by , 1 comment