Life span of engine oil?

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Mexican

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71 mustang grande
I asked this question before to somebody else and never got a straight answer;

How long does engine oil lasts inside a motor?

Can one change the oil to a car, put 1000 miles in 3 years and the oils still good?

Conventional vs synthetic ?

Is it safe or cost effective to put synthetic oil in an old motor?

This questions include cars and motorcycles

Diesel engines

Thanks guys, just curious about it

 
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There is no single answer to the first question other than, "It depends". It depends on use, filtration, condensation, additive packages, etc..

Generally no oil company recommends leaving oil in use longer than one year unless an oil bypass filtration system is in use and periodic oil analysis is done.

I do feel there is general agreement that synthetic causes less friction, keeps ring lands cleaner, has fewer viscosity modifiers to wear out, has better adhesion, reduces cold start up wear, and thickens less as it cools.

The only risk I know of concerning using synthetic in an older engine is that it cleans very well and if there is a failed gasket that is not leaking because it is plugged with "gunk" the synthetic will eventually clear the gunk and a leak will appear.

I believe, if the engine is running properly, the filter will give up before the oil does. The only way to know for sure is periodic oil analysis. Perhaps someone else can provide more information on the subject.

Chuck

 
I am sure we will see many replies on this question. It would be nice to see the results of an analysis of oil with age on it. The oil in my Mach 1 is 33 years old. I would be willing to pull some out and have analyzed but I don't know where. Is it expensive?

On my daily driver I change the oil and filter and run until it is a quart low and then put a quart in. When it gets a quart low again I change the oil and filter. It is not mileage driven and goes over the mileage most use. Knock on wood no oil leaks no engine issues and it has 226,000+ miles. I took it on several 1,500 - 1.800 mile trips last year searching for parts. That is Ford Motorcraft 5W20 synthetic blend. I think that is Havoline in real world?

Like has been said with short runs the moisture does not get out of the oil and crankcase like it does with normal use. It would depend if you live in humid areas or dry area if the moisture gets in. Other than the moisture I do not know what could go bad in the oil. Does it have addatives that evaporate?

I don't think you need to worry about the car if you only drive 300 miles a year any oil would work.

The older engines do not have seals made for the full synthetic oils so like stated they might leak.

I personally would look at the oil and if still clean and not milky with moisture run it. That is me I never buy insurance not even the home, they make me buy car insurance.

So many things in a car are what I call FEAR DRIVEN. They tell you all the bad things that can happen if you don't do your regular service. Most of the repairs done are not fixing something but so called preventative. The old cars in the 1950's required lots of attention, grease fittings everywhere, bad clearances and no oil filters, it was an option on GM. Ford was standard oil filter early on.

Just my thoughts,

David

 
Mexican, there is not really a yes or no, left or right simple answer. like c9zx said, it depends on your driving habits. If your car is a daily driver, then there is less chance of condensation building up in your crankcase. If your vehicle is an occasional driver such as my now retired Mach 1's then I would change more frequently. To me, the key factor is to use the BEST quality oil and filter you can afford. Just make sure it is a major name brand. I always use Motorcraft oil and filters and have never had any engine related problems. I have two daily drivers and have NEVER been into the engines of either. My 85 Mustang GT (bought new) has 275,000 miles and a 2001 Explorer has 180,000 miles. I change about every 5-6 thousand miles. It's really hard to keep my hands off that 302 in the GT, but I have vowed to not go into it until it quits.

The synthetic oils are great as they do reduce friction and help keep the engine cleaner. We had a 2010 Flex that was rated @ 24 MPG and got 25-26 MPG. We now have a 2014 Taurus rated @ 29 MPG and get 30-31 MPG using 5W20 full synthetic and now can stretch our oil changes to 7,500 miles or more. But as David said, I don't believe the oil seals in our "Dinosaurs" were formulated for the additive packages the synthetic oils contain and could possibly develop some leaks.

You can't really compare the oil requirements of a motorcycle or diesel engine to a gasoline powered vehicle. When the diesels went to the ultra low sulfur fuel, the oil API service classification changed greatly.

Just keep in mind that an oil change is cheaper than an engine repair!

 
Mexican, there is not really a yes or no, left or right simple answer. like c9zx said, it depends on your driving habits. If your car is a daily driver, then there is less chance of condensation building up in your crankcase. If your vehicle is an occasional driver such as my now retired Mach 1's then I would change more frequently. To me, the key factor is to use the BEST quality oil and filter you can afford. Just make sure it is a major name brand. I always use Motorcraft oil and filters and have never had any engine related problems. I have two daily drivers and have NEVER been into the engines of either. My 85 Mustang GT (bought new) has 275,000 miles and a 2001 Explorer has 180,000 miles. I change about every 5-6 thousand miles. It's really hard to keep my hands off that 302 in the GT, but I have vowed to not go into it until it quits.

The synthetic oils are great as they do reduce friction and help keep the engine cleaner. We had a 2010 Flex that was rated @ 24 MPG and got 25-26 MPG. We now have a 2014 Taurus rated @ 29 MPG and get 30-31 MPG using 5W20 full synthetic and now can stretch our oil changes to 7,500 miles or more. But as David said, I don't believe the oil seals in our "Dinosaurs" were formulated for the additive packages the synthetic oils contain and could possibly develop some leaks.

You can't really compare the oil requirements of a motorcycle or diesel engine to a gasoline powered vehicle. When the diesels went to the ultra low sulfur fuel, the oil API service classification changed greatly.

Just keep in mind that an oil change is cheaper than an engine repair!
There you go Steve is an insurance salesman, lol. Do what makes you feel good and it will be ok, lol.

David

 
I have new and old technology 'stangs. My '13 Boss 302 LS uses synthetic, and I changed the oil for the first time last spring (after acquiring) and drove her about 1000 miles. She was parked at the end of October and has sat in my garage all winter (not started) and in the Spring I will change the oil before starting for the first time. The same basic principal applies to my classic 'stangs I have owned over the last 35 years, regardless of the mileage I may or may not have put on; the oil is changed every spring. One year, I only put 300 miles on my classic 'stang, still changed it out next spring. My biggest concern is moisture buildup in the engine oil, even when sitting.

My daily driver is a simple approach, every 5000km (3000 miles) the oil is changed. This has allowed me to put 100,000's of k's on my vehicles with no major engine issues, ever.

It is safe to say, change the oil regularly and keep your bank account intact...

 
Ok just for the heck of it I ordered a sample kit to have oil tested. It is with Amsoil so not fly by night. I will take the sample from the Mach 1 that has been sitting in pole barn since 1983 without being started or oil changed.

I live in Western North Carolina that gets a lot of moisture and temperature swings from night to day. The car has taken below zero F. but I don't think we have ever topped 100 deg. F. The average yearly rainfall here is 48.14" and record for a month is 18". This week are due to have gone from teens with ice to 60's for the weekend.

The car has no protection other than a cloth cover under a tin roof.

I will post up the report when I get it. They have to send me the postage paid kit first which I have ordered.

Be interesting to see what they say about what I think is Gulf motor oil over 30 years in the crankcase. I use to run their oil years ago and switched to Havoline.

David

 
Let me know if this link works... Its been a while for me:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/showthread.php?tid=8584

Or do a search for flat tappet engine oil.

Good luck.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
I had read through that one in the past. People get wound up about their oil. Too late for me to change now. I am somewhere around 1.5 million miles and none in a long haul truck. I had jobs that were over 100 mile round trip for over 20 years. Knock wood, never had any failure of any type on an engine. I did have excessive wear when I tried full synthetic in a 240 Ford 6. Wore the push rods and rockers out in about 9,000 miles. Went back together with same brand parts and my regular Havoline and no issues. Now I broke a bunch of transmissions in the drag race days. V-8, inline 6, Flathead, Ford, Oldsmobile, Chevy. The Chevy SS Nova sucked and so did the 78 olds. that the wife just had to have. Some were turned up to 7,000 rpm but most just driven the heck out of.

We tried different oils in the racing cart but that is much different with no oil pressure.

Never used any special break in oil the engines had proper clearance there is really no break in but the rings. Yes they say cams but I think it is just important to have a good assembly lube and prime the engine before starting. That is when the damage is done. You run any racing cam at low rpm and it will eat itself up.

Why would I want to change anything now. Never had any break in issues except when I did use synthetic once. It was Mobil 1 full synthetic.

David

 
Thanks for the responses guys, reason i was asking about different oils is because i have several vehicles and some of them sit for a month or 2 at the time, exemple, my 09 Ninja 500 has 4000 miles i did a full synthetic at 3500 miles, 1.2 years ago, my F250 same thing 1.2 years ago and still have 3k miles till next change, basically just drive it to car shows

No, even tho i am a Mexican it is NOT a lowrider:)

 
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My car sat for roughly 30 years before I found this:

attachment.php


About a quart of water came out of the oil pan when I drained it before the sludgey mess followed. Because of all the moisture building up in the cylinders (which #4 & #8 had about a half cup in each and were rusted solid in-place) the rust was so bad in #4, that my "never-been-bored-and-would've-only-taken-.020"-to-make-it-good-again" block had to be bored out to .060" to get rid of the scar from the piston being rusted there for so long.

Even though I'm in West Texas (where you would think humidity and moisture wouldn't be a big problem), whenever I fire up the car now, there is always plenty of condensation building up on the exhaust tips and dripping out while it's running... and everybody talks about how 'dry' it is here.

If for nothing more than the purpose of taking accumulated moisture with it, I think an annual oil change prior to or even after seasonal driving is a pretty safe hedge against rust build-up from moisture accumulation while it sits.

As for what kind of oil? Beats me - motor oil is kind of one of those things you can discuss to death and everybody will still disagree on the 'best' practice, oil type, oil brand, etc... I think pretty much everybody ( :whistling: ) agrees that it needs to be changed periodically. :cool:

 
My car sat for roughly 30 years before I found this:

attachment.php


About a quart of water came out of the oil pan when I drained it before the sludgey mess followed. Because of all the moisture building up in the cylinders (which #4 & #8 had about a half cup in each and were rusted solid in-place) the rust was so bad in #4, that my "never-been-bored-and-would've-only-taken-.020"-to-make-it-good-again" block had to be bored out to .060" to get rid of the scar from the piston being rusted there for so long.

Even though I'm in West Texas (where you would think humidity and moisture wouldn't be a big problem), whenever I fire up the car now, there is always plenty of condensation building up on the exhaust tips and dripping out while it's running... and everybody talks about how 'dry' it is here.

If for nothing more than the purpose of taking accumulated moisture with it, I think an annual oil change prior to or even after seasonal driving is a pretty safe hedge against rust build-up from moisture accumulation while it sits.

As for what kind of oil? Beats me - motor oil is kind of one of those things you can discuss to death and everybody will still disagree on the 'best' practice, oil type, oil brand, etc... I think pretty much everybody ( :whistling: ) agrees that it needs to be changed periodically. :cool:
How did you ever get the pistons out acid?

 
2 cans of PB Blaster, soaking for a few days in Marvel's Mystery Oil, and finally the BFH for the 2 seized slugs. #8 dropped out after only a few whacks with the BFH, but #4... took about an hour of beatin', bangin' & cursin' before it finally broke free.

The rust rings (from where the pistons were resting/rusting) required boring to .040" to get rid of #8, and .060" to get rid of all but a few minute specs of damage in the #4 hole.

 
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