just passed 250,000kms.... still 5000km oil changes?

[greg123]

just passed 250K on my 10yr old corolla, should i still change every 5000km? or should it be shorter/longer?

is 5000 the oil change mark set by someone important long time ago? does it really hurt the engine say if we change at 8000-10000kms? assuming engine doesnt burn any oil.

[Pete_Coach]

Oil change intervals were set (and still are) by the OEM to ensure that there will not be any damage to the engine. This leaves the OEM in a favorable position in regards to the liability he would have if the engine would be damages under severe to normal driving.
Of course, you the owner, needs to make sure that the oil levels are maintained at all times.
Now, should you increase the oil change interval to 4 or 3000kms? Up to you. Is it burning? Does the oil look real bad during a change? Are you having to add between changes? All this helps you make the decision. If it is still running fine, keep doing what you are doing because it has worked very well so far. Don't change anything (even the brand, type or quality of oil), success should not be interfered with.

[BartBandy]

....success should not be interfered with.

Exactly.

Oil changes are cheap. Blown engines are not. Don't change to high-mileage oil unless as long as it isn't burning oil. Don't change to synthetic at this point. Don't change anything. Well, except your oil at 5000km.

[DrXenon]

just passed 250K on my 10yr old corolla, should i still change every 5000km? or should it be shorter/longer?

is 5000 the oil change mark set by someone important long time ago? does it really hurt the engine say if we change at 8000-10000kms? assuming engine doesnt burn any oil.

The way to find out for sure if your oil change interval is too long or too short is to do used oil analysis. It is commonly done on aircraft, large construction machinery, and fleets but less commonly done on consumer passenger cars. There are a number of companies that do it through the mail for about $25. I use Blackstone Labs.

The key number you're looking for, assuming the wear metals in the analysis are normal, is the Total Base Number, which indicates how much acid can still be neutralized by the additive package in the oil. If the TBN approaches zero, you should have changed that oil sooner.

My experience with my '99 Camry 4 cylinder engine is that 7500 km is a perfectly safe interval with Mobil 1 synthetic oil and I could probably go 10000. I'm reluctant to go as high as 10000 because the filter is quite small and I'm not sure it will last that long.

A good way to learn an appropriate interval for your car is to check out the forums in bobistheoilguy.com . Odds are someone else has done analyses on an engine of the same type as yours, and you can take that as a baseline.

[Avatar]

I think it depends on the way you drive and the type of oil you use. I drive mostly highway with about 50k per year (my 3.5 yrs old car has 190k km). I mostly use synthetic oil with oil change at about 8000km or more sometime. And I'll check the color/thinkness of the oil comes out when doing oil change.

I guess worst scenario city driving (stop and go) probably should change your oil around 5000km. Assuming the engine is not burning oil, a reasonably longer oil change period is not gonna blow your engine.

[cwb27]

A previous vehicle of mine had 279,000km on it when I finally sprung for a new vehicle, the oil was changed every 5,000km/3 months on the dot. The thing ran great, had great gas mileage and not a single hint of any oil coming out the exhaust.

I'd say definitely keep up the 5,000 km changes.