Oil Change Required?
 

For the last three months, I've been working from home. Because of this, my car hasn't move hardly at all. The only reason it has 650 miles in three months is because my bf had to put his truck in the shop for a little while, so took my car to work.

My question is, I'm at the three-month mark for my oil change, but not nearly at the 3,000 mile mark... would it be okay to put off the oil change since the miles aren't there, and if so, for how long? It's a 1996 Saturn SC2, if that makes a difference. =)

I wouldn't even consider changing the oil. Old school rules say every 6 months or 3000 miles which ever comes first. I would stay with the 6 months (or 8 months) and use about 4000-4500 miles for the mileage. As long as you use a quality oil you should be fine.

Oil does break down over time in the engine and will protect it less and less over time. But they say do it every 3 months just to be on the safe side. 6 months would be fine as long as the temp where you live dosnt change a whole lot. temp changes can tend to speed up the process of the oil breaking down. Next time you do get the oil changed if your still working from home and hardly using the car i suggest having a good synthetic oil put in it instead of normal oil. Just because it lasts longer without breaking down. could most likely sit in a car for a year or more without hurting anything.

I dont know if you do still drive the car but if i was you i would go out and start it up every few days take it around the block or something. Just to get the oil mixed up and lube the upper engine parts. If its not started for a while the higher parts in the engine can dry out totaly and with a little humidty they can start to rust. then the next time you do start the car it will put alot more wear on it then it would have if you started it every now and then.

Running the engine for a few minutes will add to the problem. Any modern oil in good condition will protect surfaces for months. Somewhat less in a hostile environment - say near the coast. Warming the engine a bit just condenses moisture which the oil additive package has to fight. This will exhaust the add package ahead of its time and promote rust, not fight it. I suppose if the oil is shot then mixing and splashing it around might deter rust briefly but that's fighting the wrong side of the battle. If it's that bad it's beyond its interval.

If you expect infrequent short trip use (never allowing it to come up to operating temp) take it out once a week for 15-20 minutes to burn off water and unburnt fuel. That'll minimize contaminants and extend the oil and engine life. I'd go with 6mo changes and not beyond unless you know better from oil analyses. Start with an oil designed for rough or extended use. They'll have extra additives and be better able to handle the unwanted junk. Diesel oils are ideal this way. Unfortunately most are 15W40 which is out of range for many smaller engines. (What does your manual recommend?)

If you can find them locally, Chevron Delo 400 is made in 10W30. Shell Rotella 10W30 is another good one. Both are ~$7/gal.

Synthetic oils are generally superior to dino but not just because of the oil. Your money is buying a more durable oil as well as a heavy duty additive package. If you aren't running at extreme temperatures then a Diesel oil like those above which have monster additive packages can outperform synthetics for pseudo-storage situations, and for much less money.

Saturns require proper oil changes more so than some other brands.

Yeah, learn to do it yourself (easy wtih a Saturn) because you're going to have to change it every 1000 miles or so to avoid sludge after you pass the 75k mark.

Seriously? Cause I bought the car 7 years ago (the car is 10 years old currently), and it had 50k at the time... I'm up to about 127k now. Of course, the engine and transmission are newer than the car, they may have at the most 50k on them. Would that make a difference?

He must work for the oil industry. Changing oil every 1000 miles is silly. If the car is to sit for extended periods of time, it might be advisable to use a synthetic oil, and go with 5000 mile intervals, with 2500 mile filter changes.

Well, it wasn't supposed to sit for three months, hardly being driven... the office was supposed to be open May 1. Then it bumped to June 2. They were still painting and doing other stuff on Monday, and didn't have any furniture or anything in, and they're doing built-ins... don't even have doors or door frames.... I think I'll just do the oil change, and hope that the office doesn't take another three months to open. =\

Let's not go crazy here. 3000 is fine; just make sure you don't go over.

I'm not a saturn expert, but with every other car I do have experience with, changing your oil every 5k or six months is fine.

It depends on what kind of oil you put in a car. Some go for 3000, some for 5000. I don't know of any other mileframes, but might exist.

I have also heard Saturns are sludgers. Best to rein in intervals a bit, though that's less relevant to sitting. Wish fresh oil it would store fine. If it has 2-3K on it already then might not be bad to change it out before another extended park.

When I change my oil I use synthetic exclusively, and I never have a problem when I go over 3000 (Oil is never overly sludgey, no knocking or hearing lifters.... etc). I won't run it to 5,000, usually 4,000.

But in doing this, you have to make sure once you go Syn you stay syn.....as I have heard you can have problems switching back.

Syn is expensive but I swear by it and cars are more expensive if they break down..... if a car knocked or burnt oil when I bought it, first thing I do is get a Syn oil change and the problem goes away.

PS after watching the Lube Stop post ( here: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=105580) if you do not change you own oil make sure the people you take it to are legit and truly using Syn. as the cost is almost double normal oil.

Cali, PM me if you need help or info on your car.

I have always changed my oil about every 7000-10,000 miles. I just don't buy that it needs to be changed every 3000 miles. I think its just another way for car dealership to have you nickle and dime you to death.

Yeah, it's been almost six months, and I still haven't hit my 3,000 miles, even though I was only working from home for four months. I'll think I'll get it changed in the next couple weeks, and see if the guys at the oil change place can tell that it was six months (they seem to be able to tell if it's been over 3K miles). Also, I need to get some coolant added, and they do that stuff for me as part of the change.