Like the five - day work week and glass in about an hour , the 3,000 - mile oil colour change is part of the American consciousness . Whether you follow the guideline or not , the identification number remains the same , decade after decade and railway car after car . It ’s been around so long , most of us do n’t even question its veracity .
But where does the good word come from , and is it lawful ?
If you check your car ’s substance abuser manual , you ’ll in all likelihood discover you ’ve been changing your oil more often than you need to , at least fit in to the people who designed your car . Most carmakers vacate the 3,000 - mile ( 4,828 - kilometer ) separation long ago , opting instead to advise their client to go 5,000 or 7,500 mi ( 8,046 or 12,070 klick ) between crude changes [ source : MEMA ] . Some people even go 10,000 geographical mile ( 16,093 kilometer ) or more without any guilt – or damage to the engine .
The 3,000 - sea mile guideline see back to a clock time whenmotor oilwasn’t quite as advance as it is now . It used to be that if oil were leave in the crankcase too long , it would start to degrade , cause a buildup of slime [ source : Torbjornsen ] . But over the age , as tailpipe - emissions regulation have changed , so have railway locomotive and the oils that keep them running smoothly . Today ’s motor oils do n’t break down as speedily . Under ideal drive conditions , somesynthetic oilscan go about 25,000 miles ( 40,233 kilometers ) [ source : CIWMB ] .
Of naturally , driving conditions are rarely ideal . Lots of idle , stop - and - go traffic , super hot or cold weather , humidness and towing can all decrease the lifespan of locomotive engine fossil oil . Plus , every motorcar is a little different . The interval that is perfectly fine for one elevator car could be way too long for another . So in world , very few drivers will go 25,000 statute mile without an oil change , even if they take a hop for high - gradation synthetic oil colour . And most of them should n’t , although some can go 10,000 without a trouble [ source : CIWMB ] .
And yet most people still aim for 3,000 - mile changes , perhaps because they do n’t hump it ’s undue , or perhaps because they stick to an utmost good - safe - than - sorry rationale . The result is millions of redundant dollars rot on oil changes and millions of extra gallons of oil potentially foul the environs .
The best advice , then ? Ignore the petroleum manufacture and go by your gondola ’s exploiter manual of arms , which will believably advise an musical interval of 5,000 international nautical mile or more . You ’ll save some money – and possibly keep the Earth a little green in the process .
For more information on oil change , car caution and related issue , look over the link on the next page .
