Yearly Maintenance ideas

[amitmishra4]

That is a very good tip. Although I do have a couple questions to understand this a little deeper:

1) When do you classify oil as dirty? For example, if the car only ran a few hundred miles, is the oil still considered dirty? Or, is it based on age of the oil?

2) I know that most people on here change every 5k miles on here. Its simple if you hit 5k miles in a season but if you only run the car for 2000 miles a year, does that mean it sits through at least 2 winters before the oil is switched out?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Next year, when you are getting ready to put the car away for the winter, do your maintenance oil, filter, etc. before you put it away. Leaving the car sit for months with dirty oil in it is one of the worst things you can do to it.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by amitmishra4

That is a very good tip. Although I do have a couple questions to understand this a little deeper:

1) When do you classify oil as dirty? For example, if the car only ran a few hundred miles, is the oil still considered dirty? Or, is it based on age of the oil?

2) I know that most people on here change every 5k miles on here. Its simple if you hit 5k miles in a season but if you only run the car for 2000 miles a year, does that mean it sits through at least 2 winters before the oil is switched out?

Thanks in advance.

(1) Yes. Oil that has been used any amount has both fuel and water contamination, which will lead to the creation of acid compounds, which are not good for any engine. Change the oil, then put the car into hibernation.

(2) At a minimum, you should be changing your oil once a year, even if the car had no miles on it. All oils break down with age, particularly when exposed to metal, that is why even the plastic container they come in have expiration dates on them.