Old_Man_Wiggins

(The board looks kinda stagnant... so here's a topic that perhaps we can debate. )

Am I reading this correctly??

The owner's manual for my 2003 Pro says that the oil should be changed at 5,000 mile intervals... and that's schedule #2, which covers cars driven in dusty areas or repeated short trips, etc.

5,000 miles??

Now, although I know it's a different engine, my Honda VTEC suffered damage to the valvetrain because of the 3-years-worth of short trip driving I did with it, and only changed the oil every 3,000 miles. (It's a long story, but some Honda techs told me that a VTEC engine should have it's oil changed every 1,500 miles if it is subjected to frequent short trips.) I just wish they would have told me that BEFORE the engine went to hell.

On any given day during the week, I drive my Protege 9 miles (round trip) to and from work. Most other places I drive to, such as the grocery store, the gas station, the mall, etc., are all within 1 to 8 miles of my place. I live in the Kansas City metro area, so even though I do use the freeways occasionally, I'm usually on and off again fairly quickly. However, the vast majority of my driving is the typical suburban, stop-and-go, traffic light variety.

Again, although I'm not trying to make any direct comparisons between the Honda VTEC and my Mazda 2.0, I don't want to even risk the possibility of damaging the engine as a result of not changing the oil often enough.

So, what do you guys think? Should I change it more often than 5,000 miles? More often than 3,000? How often do some of you change your oil?

BTW, my Pro has 1,600 miles on it and has not had it's first oil change yet... obviously.

Thanks in advance!


~OMW

stormtown

I also disagree with the manual. I switched to synthetic and now change the oil filter at 3000 miles and change both the filter and oil at 6000 miles. More expensive, maybe. Cheap insurance ultimately. I've done this for years since synthetic oil came out. Numerous vehicles in that time.

Astral

My dealer told me to replace the oil every 3000 miles. I'll stick to that.

I put 650 miles on my Protege in the first week and a day, and I average about 50 miles a day of mostly highway traffic. Still, there are some short trips and city stop and go traffic. I also accelerate the car more than "normal." I guess I should be doing everything else according to the "heavy duty" schedule.

Redfyre

I do mostly highways driving on my P5 and have roughly 40 000 km (25 000 mi) on it. I've had it for over a year now, the manual as well as my dealer says to change the oil every 8000 km (5000 mi), I've been doing do for over the past year and have had no problems. Mind you, the car is only over a year old...

One thing I did do is do the first oil change earlier (at 2000km). This was just to clean the initial crap out as the engine is being broken into.

cjb200

5000 miles OR 4 months, whichever comes first. This is what the manual recommends, but most people seem to ignore the months part. If you're not putting many miles on your car and you're driving short trips, chances are you'll hit 4 months before 5000 miles.

kenchan

my manual says 7500miles, so i dont plan on taking it until then...especially the first oil change because it contains breakin fluid.

Mark_02DX

7.5k for "normal" conditions, which applies to almost no one. 5k for "severe" conditions, which, if you read the description, is more like real-life. I go 5k or a little under; 3k just seems a little overkill-ish. I use Valvoline Durablend (1/2 synthetic).

slenser

I'm sticking with the 5k mile routine. I'm also switching to synthetics on my next oil change. I admit, most of my driving would not be considered short distance, though.

cjb200 is correct. Most people do ignore the time interval with oil changes. I can't help but think I should have changed my oil as soon as I got my P5. It was sitting in the lot for many months.

Also be careful what filters are used where you get your oil changed (or what you buy if you do it yourself). Most oil filters don't have an anti-drainback valve in them. This means additional time to fill the filter with oil before it can even get to the motor. Motorcraft, Wix Gold and Purolator (the higher priced one of the two) all offer the said valve. I think Mobil1 filters do too. Just some added protection.

Mark_02DEX,
Most people are unaware of this, but synthetic blends act more like dino oil than synthetic. It's all marketing hype, I'm afraid. There have been many tests done on this. I hate to see people wasting their hard earned money on something like this. Either save your money and go dino or spend the little extra for the full synthetics.

Old_Man_Wiggins

Okay, looks like the 5k interval is a safe bet since most everyone who posted seems to be comfortable with it. As far as the type of oil, I'll probably just stick with a standard motor oil like Castrol GTX for my Protege.

I was using synthetic in my Honda, and it did nothing to prevent the damage that occurred.

Anyway, thanks to all who posted on this thread!

Peace.


~OMW

Z me Pro

I changed my oil at 575 miles and im going to change it again at 1200 miles, im not sure if im going to switch to synthetic then or at 3000 miles

i feel that, especially for new engines changing the oil is importent (as the engine is breaking in and the oil becomes dirty from the material worn in by the breakin) at 575 miles my oil was ******* nasty stuff so im happy i changed it

20OMZ

The manual says that you should do that every lets say 5000 miles, they only put this in for the average person. I dont know the miles to kilometre rate, but my manual says every 10,000 kms which is around 5000 miles i think, some car manuals say every 7,500 miles...... The car manuals say this but it is you ask any car specialist, they say it should be changed ever 5000 kms - 2500 miles... if you go over the sceduled miles between oil changes you will lose your warrenty.
thats why they have the figure so high, cause of stupid people that wait till the last mile to go and change the oil. i would be changing it every 3000 miles if i was you mate.

http://www.imagestation.com/members/20omz

slenser

Every 3000 miles/3 months is such an old rule of thumb to go by. Oils now days are so much more advanced, cars are much cleaner running and have much tighter tollerances than when that rule was put in place.

My opinion is you are just wasting money changing it more than what the manual recommends. I have a chrylser minivan that I don't change until 7,500 miles. My wife puts 20k+ each year on that and we've had it for over 3 years now. No problems with the engine at all. I won't say anything about the rest of the van!

The manual states 7500 for scedule A or 5000 for schedule B. You will be safe with warranty work with either one actually. They can't prove how you drive.

20OMZ,
They could put a 20K or 30K mile requirement between oil changes and there will still be the same people waiting until the last minute. They didn't increase it because of them. They increased it because it wasn't necessary to change it as often.

Sam

00117064

I agree with you slenser, if the manual say 7500 for A and 5000 for B I think they know what they talk about. A company always take more precaution than what it really need because some people abuse and always wait until the last minute... The waranty on the power train is 5 years and I dont think that mazda want trouble so if they said 7500 I think 7500 is safe. We are not in 1985 anymore, all those old rules: 3 month-2500 are crap... The fuel is better, the electronic injection is better, the car is cleaner and more efficient and the oil is far better too.

I think you trow away your money by changing your oil that often. I live in a cold place and this is my tird car, my previous car where 15 years old and I never had anny problem with the engine and I drive really hard with car...

On my previous car, I was changing oil every 4 month with dyno oil since I dont made enought distance. We dont drive a Bmw M3, or a porshe...

mnkyboy

When using synthetic oil, you actually dont have to change the oil as much.

nowkeg

ahhh!!! you sure? man, that's what i use!

i usually go by the book... it turns out that if i change the oil every break, summer break, winter break, spring break and thankgiving... then i'm good. i also drive alot less than most.