Oil change?

[tonyiiiafl]

I am not one to change oil early, I rather go to what is recommended. I changed my 2019 Tiguan every 10,000 and when I owned heavy diesel tractor trailers it was once a year or 100,000 miles. I would get 850,000 + from my trucks and get over 350,000 from my cars when I trade them.

ANYWAY:::::::::
This was not a great year for boating for us as the Admiral had her medical issues. She is doing great so we are blessed. I ran genset once for an hour to run it. Engines (454 gas carb) port 1100 hours, stbd remanded with 110 hours. This past year we put 9 (YES, 9 engine hours!) on the vessel. Needless to say oil is clean and no signs of moisture. I was considering not changing oil this year. I know about acid buildup, etc, but I will be sending her up to storage and it is an hour cruise.

What do you all think of leaving all as it is for this year?

Thank you again for the opinions and input!

Best,

Tony

[tomschauer]

ooh Tony, sounds like you are trying to fire up an argument LOL...
I am sure everyone has their opinion. Being overly cautious certainly will not hurt your boat, but it may injure your wallet.

I do not change mine every year. I run mobile1 synthetic. I change it every 100 hrs or 3 years whichever is first. It is never dark, always looks as new. I do change the oil filters every year regardless of hours. I use purolater pf454 filters.. My 7.4 mercs use zero oil between changes (hopefully they stay that way!)

You all can bash me if you wish!!!

[Rocketman]

I would not change.

[km1125]

It's not imperative to change it. Yes, the acids are the biggest concern, but when it's for WINTER storage the low temps help reduce the corrosive affects. It would be much worse to put an engine into long term storage with old oil if it was over the summer. You could change your oil every 5 hrs and it would (technically) be "better" but having nearly new oil in there now won't be an issue for an overwinter nap.

[Cooler]

Viper is probably the best source. Oil formulas are very different from years ago, there is no longer any degradation for just sitting, just actual use. We have all had those low hour seasons over the years. I have skipped oil changes in low hour years and never had any issue. Check for any changes in spring, if anything causes concern, change at that time. You call! Nobody bashes anybody in this forum, that's one reason we enjoy it here. Glad your wife is doing well, give her another hug for all of us! er

[Midnightsun]

Viper will say to change, heck he gave me crap for buying my oil a year in advance as it gets old and past the expiration date. IMHO, I would be fine with only 9 hrs on the clock. If you want to change, no harm done but do not change the filter as it will be clean as a whistle.

[bud37]

There are a lot of people on here that have a life time of experience with engines and oil etc...Tony you in particular....every year this comes up and there are opinions thrown around as if they are fact. Much of the oil change drama has been created by marketing types that have a vested interest in you throwing out perfectly good lube....IMO.

If you want to know for sure, send off a sample to a lab like Blackstone ( USA ) and see what they have to report. I believe we waste far too much oil every year with the yearly ritual. Yes for sure change if you have like 50-100hrs hard on plane use......but the testing is the best way imo.

This is coming from someone who used to change oil waaaaay too frequently....but I used to get oil for free.The bearings never looked any different if I left it longer or not so I stopped it....actually when the oil sheared down it made a little more HP.......

[Midnightsun]

If you want to know for sure, send off a sample to a lab like Blackstone ( USA ) and see what they have to report.

Problem here is it is cheaper to change the oil than to get a sample tested. When I had my gassers, I remember it cost me about $18 to change oil and filter doing it myself that is.

[Viper]

LOL, I think we beat this horse to death already. Sounds like you all know I am a big proponent of annual oil changes and that oil has a shelf life both on the store shelf and in your engine. Synthetics start off with more stable compounds but I think we're all just thinking of the base/crude here when we should also be considering the additives are a concern as well, they're there for a reason and that blend doesn't maintain its spec forever.

No sales pitch here, no vested interest, if there was I wouldn't be taking my own advice. Is this an old way of thinking that is fading? Maybe, but it's what I've learned throughout my career, is what I continue to learn from the field, and it's worked for me so I'll stick with it.

Tony, the best part of forums is that you get a snapshot of varying opinions and experiences that you can puzzle together to draw your own conclusions, then act on them. Usually only long term results will tell whether your decisions and habits were the right ones or not. If you can sleep with the decision you make today, then it is the right decision for you at this time.

[bud37]

QR_BBPOST

If you want to know for sure, send off a sample to a lab like Blackstone ( USA ) and see what they have to report.

Problem here is it is cheaper to change the oil than to get a sample tested. When I had my gassers, I remember it cost me about $18 to change oil and filter doing it myself that is.

There is no problem....simple to do then you will know what is what.....maybe you didn't need to change it....there is only one way to find out. Now with your diesels it is a few more bucks I would guess. What better way to avoid all the marketing hype.......how can scientific test not be better than opinions.