In an ideal situation, the oil must be changed prior to any of its additives being depleted thus reducing it effectiveness. Unfortunately, there is no technology that can currently detect that in cars at present. The pressing issue about oil change is the same for all car owners. When is the best time to change your car’s oil?
First, let’s establish why it is important to do so. Contaminants, do, accumulate in the oil. Oil is also prone to certain chemical changes like oxidation and additive depletion. These two reasons alone, prevent it from doing its job of lubrication and an as a coolant. The longer you drive a car, the more contaminants it accumulates. The increase of these depend on several factors like the mechanical condition of the engine, the owner’s driving habits, air cleaner service, and carburetion adjustments. Oil filters must be replaced regularly in order to slow down the deterioration process. To further clarify, oil doesn’t wear out but the additives responsible for making it function are the ones that get depleted. New oil and filter will make the engine last longer and maintain the car’s good performance.
Carburetion or fuel injection gasoline fuel systems must be in good stead and properly adjusted. Intake air is properly filtered with a clean and undamaged air filter. The engine’s oil filter must be in good condition as well. The engine speeds overall during driving and on trips should be moderate to a reasonably high range. Of course engines should be operated under clean environmental conditions. Lastly when choosing the maximum oil change interval as assigned by the manufacturer, ensures that the engine is not overloaded as may occur when the vehicle is towing a heavy trailer or similar heavy load.
These suggestions should only be used a basis for when you should change the oil. Take it with a grain of salt. If you have an upcoming cross-country trip where you expect to travel around 7,000 miles, it is not practical to have your oil change every 2,700 miles in the summer. Granting that ideal conditions are present like well-paved roads, high speed driving and clean highways, then you can make an exemption. If luck isn’t on your side and an encounter with a bad dust storm occurs, good reason will tell you that an oil-drain must be done earlier than usual.
When driving under harsh conditions, this can qualify as “Super Severe Service”. This is when adverse climatic conditions make it necessary for the recommended time intervals to be shortened. This is applicable to activities such as towing a trailer in a mountainous region under very hot weather. The main idea is, these suggestions should also be coupled with good judgment. After all, the owners are the best persons to determine how soon oil changes must be done because they are fully aware of how often and how hard their cars are drive.V:12