Quote:
Originally Posted by Beyond Limits
And I am not going for the oh wow look how many miles bit... more I am commenting on how I have seen in real world applications engines last without changing the oil every 3000.
|
I totally agree with you there. I probably posted something like this earlier in the thread, but really...do you know
anyone who has had a modern engine failure that could have been prevented by better/more frequent oil? I sure haven't heard of any such incident! Modern engines and modern oils (even cheap modern oils) are quite decent, and unless you really are putting in abnormal rough service, the manufacturer's recommendation for "normal" conditions ought to be fine.
My example is more realistic but far less impressive; my 2002 GMC 5.3 has 170,000 miles without an engine problem (except a gasket that leaked oil once), and I've been pretty lax about it. I generally change oil when the light comes on, occasionally I ran significantly past it. I have had it changed mainly by independent garages without specifying any product preference. I have done a moderate amount of heavy work with it. When that gasket was leaking I got a low engine oil level warning, which I checked once and saw it was fine so I ignored it for a long time; I brought it in for the oil level sensor to be repaired and was surprised to find out I had been running it completely dry. That was a long time ago and it is smooth and powerful to this day.
I wouldn't recommend anyone be as careless as I was, but at least with a GM,
following the manufacturer's recommendation ought to prevent oil-related failure pretty much forever.