First Oil Change Service???

[kitkat]

i usually change my new car oil at 1k miles .... i just did the emira at 950 miles and was quite surprised at how clean the oil was vs my other new cars i did in the past...
anyway, it was simple to do at home and gave me piece of mind... the filter had no visible particles either....
i will probably goto 3500 to 4000 mile changes from now on....

Keep in mind anything showing up on an oil analysis like posted above is not visible to the eye, but it's certainly still there.

I also follow the same intervals as you -- 1K and then every 3-4K mile intervals.

 

[Jjrho]

Keep in mind anything showing up on an oil analysis like posted above is not visible to the eye, but it's certainly still there.

I also follow the same intervals as you -- 1K and then every 3-4K mile intervals.

true, yes... i was just surprised that the oil came out almost golden , as new.... albeit , yah ,i can't see the detailed contaminants, etc but....

i thought it 'd be at least somewhat dirty....lol...

james R

 

[John777]

What are you Canadians paying for an oil change?

 

[EspritGuy]

What are you Canadians paying for an oil change?

Nothing Looney, I hope.

 

[crestima]

I've seen lots of opinions and recommendations on this thread regarding oil change intervals based on mileage/kilometers which I've found to be interesting and educational, but funny enough, I noticed nobody has brought up time intervals. Basically all automakers conventionally recommend "oil change at each (X) miles/kms or 12 months which ever occurs first".

While I have religiously followed recommended service intervals based on mileage, I've always been skeptical of having to respect the recommended time intervals, as I find it hard to believe that oil deteriorates that much from one year to another, particularly with low motor usage. I'm, of course, not implying that if a car sits idle for much longer periods of time i.e. (3 or more years) that one shouldn't need to services it. I am pretty certain that extensive periods of time do have a detrimental effect on, well... everything including oil.

Would like to have your insights on this, but keep comments cordial and constructive please.

 

[Jjrho]

I've seen lots of opinions and recommendations on this thread regarding oil change intervals based on mileage/kilometers which I've found to be interesting and educational, but funny enough, I noticed nobody has brought up time intervals. Basically all automakers conventionally recommend "oil change at each (X) miles/kms or 12 months which ever occurs first".

While I have religiously followed recommended service intervals based on mileage, I've always been skeptical of having to respect the recommended time intervals, as I find it hard to believe that oil deteriorates that much from one year to another, particularly with low motor usage. I'm, of course, not implying that if a car sits idle for much longer periods of time i.e. (3 or more years) that one shouldn't need to services it. I am pretty certain that extensive periods of time do have a detrimental effect on, well... everything including oil.

Would like to have your insights on this, but keep comments cordial and constructive please.

For me.... I have multiple garage queens n they get driven any where 500 to 2000 miles per year and I get so busy with life that I would change the oil on them maybe once every 2 to 3 yrs ? I do try to start em n run em around for 20 minutes or so every 1 to 2 months tho...including turning on the AC....

But I definitely don't change the oil every year....

Unfortunately I'm even worse with radiator fluid n brake fluid changes....

 

[scc.131.fe]

Basically all automakers conventionally recommend "oil change at each (X) miles/kms or 12 months which ever occurs first".

When I started used oil analysis on our V8 Vantage I had two back-to-back changes right around 4k miles each, the first over 12 months and the 2nd over 24 months. We didn't plan the usage of the car that way, but when it turned out that way it was a perfect test to see how the Motul 10w-60 changed with another 12 months. Note that the driving frequency was about the same, just shorter trips over the second period.

Backstone results were that a 4k mile change after 2 years had no measurable effects compared to the 4k over 12 months. But that's one data point for 1 specific engine and 1 oil type and 1 user / driving style.

Intentional use of UOA will tell us whether exceeding 12 months on the V6 will have any impact.

 

[crestima]

For me.... I have multiple garage queens n they get driven any where 500 to 2000 miles per year and I get so busy with life that I would change the oil on them maybe once every 2 to 3 yrs ? I do try to start em n run em around for 20 minutes or so every 1 to 2 months tho...including turning on the AC....

But I definitely don't change the oil every year....

Unfortunately I'm even worse with radiator fluid n brake fluid changes....

That's my case as well. I also drive my cars very infrequently and a couple of them are in Europe where I drive them only 3 months a year, and I barely put 1k miles/yr on each of those. In such circumstances, it seems to make little sense to me to change fluids every year. As for the other fluids are concerned, likewise, I only have those checked when I bring them in for the mileage interval service.

 

[Eagle7]

I also have cars that don't get much use in a 12 month period, and I don't change the oil every year on those either. I think modern oils are so good, that they're not going to deteriorate so much in 1 year that they need replacing every year. Probably a marketing gimmick to get people to buy more oil more often. It's like those shampoo commercials where they tell you to lather up, rinse and repeat. You absolutely do NOT need to immediately re-shampoo your hair again like that. You don't wash your car, then soap it up and do it again, and your head isn't as dirty as your car (hopefully not anyways), so you don't need to "rinse and repeat".

From what I've read, it's heat that breaks down the integrity of oil, and that happens over time. This is why you should change your oils much more frequently if you track your car, but for low mileage usage or garage queens, every couple of years is fine in my opinion.

 

[marc1adrien]

First change at 1,500 for me. Lotus of DC and it was under $300 for those watching. Seemed reasonable to me and they were excellent.

 

[Jjrho]

First change at 1,500 for me. Lotus of DC and it was under $300 for those watching. Seemed reasonable to me and they were excellent.

Good to know, as a reference....

If you have a lift, oil change on emira is quite easy tho.... most pain in the rear thing was removing the under tray...
Which btw collects quite a bit of road debris so, good to drop the rear diffuser down n clean that mess off once in a while ...

 

[marc1adrien]

Good to know, as a reference....

If you have a lift, oil change on emira is quite easy tho.... most pain in the rear thing was removing the under tray...
Which btw collects quite a bit of road debris so, good to drop the rear diffuser down n clean that mess off once in a while ...

Yup. For me the pricing is in the right place for "can" vs "should" to net out to the dealer doing it, at least for now.

 

[crestima]

Good to know, as a reference....

If you have a lift, oil change on emira is quite easy tho.... most pain in the rear thing was removing the under tray...
Which btw collects quite a bit of road debris so, good to drop the rear diffuser down n clean that mess off once in a while ...

Good advice. Can't quite understand why Lotus didn't include some sort of debris escape vent when designing those under-trays.

 

[bankser]

Good advice. Can't quite understand why Lotus didn't include some sort of debris escape vent when designing those under-trays.

Dealer here in Charlotte wanted $450. I did it myself (at 1900 miles) on my back inches from the tray and wasn't expecting to get a face full of gravel but here we are.

The process wasn't too bad, I got some low-profile ramps from Harbor Freight and backed the car up on them. Still was a snug fit. Took off the diffuser completely, probably only needed to unbolt the front-facing end. Used a long skinny funny for the new oil. It took about 2 hours but I wasn't rushing and was learning as I went along. I'd probably pay $300 to have someone do it (like at Lotus of DC) but $450 is still a deal-breaker IMO. I did petition the wife to let me buy a lift though. We'll see how that goes!

 

[netsinah]

Dealer here in Charlotte wanted $450. I did it myself (at 1900 miles) on my back inches from the tray and wasn't expecting to get a face full of gravel but here we are.

The process wasn't too bad, I got some low-profile ramps from Harbor Freight and backed the car up on them. Still was a snug fit. Took off the diffuser completely, probably only needed to unbolt the front-facing end. Used a long skinny funny for the new oil. It took about 2 hours but I wasn't rushing and was learning as I went along. I'd probably pay $300 to have someone do it (like at Lotus of DC) but $450 is still a deal-breaker IMO. I did petition the wife to let me buy a lift though. We'll see how that goes!

Good luck fulfilling your dreams of a lift. A word of caution: it's like a heated garage: once you're used to a lift, you won't want to be w/o one. One sales pitch that worked for me: it frees up a parking stall in your garage, so you have even more room for everything else. If you do get a lift, consider putting a rubber pad under the base of each post. That helps prevent rust which will otherwise transfer from the lift, to your garage floor, staining the floor. That's what happened to me with my first lift, but no more. Good luck!

 

[Tomwa]

Curious as to why you think there will be metal fragments in the oil, isn't it the job of the filter to remove those, and thus the oil supplied through the pump shouldn't have any metal fragments in it. Or are you saying that the filter doesn't take out all of the metal fragments?

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That's not from cutting open the oil filter and seeing what is in there. Particles of stuff won't end up in the filter unless they got picked up by the oil pump, that doesn't mean it's not sitting at the bottom of the pan and coaxed out through draining.

 

[Jjrho]

having a lift for working on the cars and doing basic stuff is nice and for keeping another car on it when not in use.... but that car on the lift hardly gets used then... lol
even the car that is in the deep part of 2x2 garage doesnt get used much in my case... lol