My car tells me that it is time to change my oil, but there is no input to this computer calculation. The car only requires regular motor oil, but I use Mobil 1 synthetic. Should I ignore the computer and base the interval on the oil mfg recommended interval. I drive normal mixed city and highway.
Not another synthetic oil question. Man this thread is going to last forever.
If your car is under warranty, you need to protect yourself, and get your oil changed when it is scheduled. Otherwise your drivetrain warranty will be denied for any claims, regardless of what oil you use.
I won’t get into the service life of oil, because there is gonna be 40 opinions and everyone else is correct. My humble opinion is oil has changed very little and I would change synthetic oil every 5k miles. 15k miles for an oil change is a crock. If you don’t believe it, talk to any BMW owner who has followed the recommended intervals and at 100k miles needs major engine repairs from sludging. There are plenty of forums to support just that. It’s an advertising ploy will work fine till the car is out of warranty. That’s all they care about.
Changing oil too often won’t hurt a thing. Not changing oil often enough can lead to sludging (among other things). Play it safe.
Oil is cheap; engines are expensive.
I suggest that you follow the recommendations in the car’s owner’s manual even if you switch to synthetic. Certainly you should do this if it is still under warranty.
Exactly how is your car telling you it is oil change time? There are several possibilities, including a simple mileage based reminder or a more advanced computer based reminder.
I would suggest that you should consider that the oil manufacturer has no idea what car that oil is going in, it could be a Model T Ford or a Indy race car. I would not take their recommendation.
I too recommend following the manufacturer’s recommended schedule even if you use synthetic. The goal, after all, is to get as many miles as possible out of the engine, not out of the oil. Oil cannot be too fresh.
On many vehicles, the oil change interval is changeable if you have the procedur instructions. ( my '06 escape hybrid is one of these ) When you’re sure of what you want it set at, ask your dealer to change it to the mileage you want, or just ignore the message until you know it’s time.
The car’s computer does not recognize oil type but uses your driving habits to determine the oil change interval. If you do short trips or sit in traffic a lot it recognizes that it’s severe service and gives you a short interval. If it’s all highway mileage it gives you a long one. As for synthetic oil, it will increase the time between oil changes, but it ins’t worth the extra cash for a single car. If you owned a fleet of cars or trucks and could keep them on the road longer with a smaller motor pool staff, then it would make sense. Your staff could also keep an eye on the vehicles to see what effect the longer intervals was having and you could make an informed decision on how long your fleet could go between oil changes.