Oil Change Frequency

Cape Codder

Cape Codder

Well-known member
I use Shell Rotella T 15W-40 with a 4 oz. bottle of ZDDP. After 1500 miles on the oil it still is just as clean when I put it in.

How often do YOU change your oil and is it modern day?

Thanks for your time.
 
This could probably be another drawn out oil discussion with no one (1) answer to please everyone; however, maybe we can ask ourselves two (2) questions on how often "we" want to change "our" oil, as individuals, prior to responding:

1. Do we want to, or not want to install a modern air filter and a modern oil filter maybe to compare oil change frequency's to our more modern cars?

2. Whether "Yes" or "No" to question no. 1; maybe ask ourselves how long do we want our engines to last before they begin smoking and/or burning & using oil & fouling our spark plugs?

3. Maybe, don' even bring up non-detergent oil unless you really like it.

4. My guess with today's modern oil, today's hard surfaced highways, staying off of gravel roads & dirt roads, every 1,000 miles would work & not cost much.

5. Now for the show.
 
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First off, Rotella is an excellent choice, as is any Diesel oil. I change my oil much too often, mostly when it looks very dark and dirty. About 4 times a year, or roughly every 1,000 miles.
 
I'm not a hundred percent sure, but doesn't rotella T have the full amount of zddp in it. I know dello 400 doesn't. and it says LE ( low emissions)
Too much zddp is not good.
 
I was told in Europe by classic car experts, at engines without oil filter never use graded oils such as multi range oils, my A gets W50 ungraded. Graded oils contain acids which should "create" a special surface on the bearing surface to support an oil safety film, older engines do have different, weaker and less corrosion resistant bearing metals and graded oils can destroy these bearings....

Cheers from Vienna
 
Extra ZDDP in Rotella is a waste. Rotella has the most ZDDP of all the diesel oils on the market and does not need any added.
 
I change mine about the same as you and I also agree after reading about spring pressures of our engines as compared to others that ZDDP additives are money down the drain.
 
I use Wolfshead straight 30W and change it once a year. Most of my engines the oil comes out darker, but not black. Two of the recent rebuilds its about the same color as when it went in. Same time I grease the chassis, pull and gap the plugs, gap the points and check the timing.
 
As I see it, make sure your oil comes up to temperature and stays there for several miles. Short rans never get the oil hot enough to get rid of the moisture. For my engine it takes around 23 miles before the oil pressure settles down to 6 psi at 50 mph with a 160 degree thermostat and 75 degrees out side. I use 15-40 mobile oil. Once it settles at 6 psi, it stays there all day. I change mine between 500 and 2000 or more depending on how I use it.
 
Cape Codder said:
I use Shell Rotella T 15W-40 with a 4 oz. bottle of ZDDP. After 1500 miles on the oil it still is just as clean when I put it in.

How often do YOU change your oil and is it modern day?

Thanks for your time.
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Cape , the govt started taking zddp out of engine oil and diesel oil has also been less the old stories are still here that diesel oil is still old school its not govt has made it less and less. have fun modelAtony.
 
I reckon a heap of Hooey is put out by the marketing department of all oil companies. I have used modern 20-50 changed at every 1200 miles-ish on my Tudor for 10 years- no appreciable wear or oil consumption yet
 
oil does not wear out, modern oils are designed to run up to 6000 miles in modern engine, with much more rpms and combustion pressures than the A will ever achive, 2500 miles is a reasonable amount of miles to put on an engine before an oil change, and contrary to another post multi grade oil does not contain any type of acid, its the combustion process that causes acid, that's the reason for oil changes, modern engines run 300000 to 400000 thousand miles with out any acid caused by the oil, an old(new) wives tale, in closing, if the oil starts to look dark its picking up contaminats, and that is the time to change, and to further aggrevate the some on here, detergents do not hurt or dissolve babbit, the thin coating on modern bearingsi s babbit and nothing happens to it even over thousands of miles of driving other than just pure wear
 
ford3 said:
oil does not wear out, modern oils are designed to run up to 6000 miles in modern engine, with much more rpms and combustion pressures than the A will ever achive, 2500 miles is a reasonable amount of miles to put on an engine before an oil change, and contrary to another post multi grade oil does not contain any type of acid, its the combustion process that causes acid, that's the reason for oil changes, modern engines run 300000 to 400000 thousand miles with out any acid caused by the oil, an old(new) wives tale, in closing, if the oil starts to look dark its picking up contaminats, and that is the time to change, and to further aggrevate the some on here, detergents do not hurt or dissolve babbit, the thin coating on modern bearingsi s babbit and nothing happens to it even over thousands of miles of driving other than just pure wear
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There's a lot of life left in used oil.
Finished motor oil is generally made from 85% base oil and 15% additives. The "oil part" of motor oil doesn't really wear out. As oil goes through the drain cycle in the engine, it's the additives that wear out. At the same time, contaminants like fuel, metals and sludge build-up in the oil. But the vast majority of oil molecules do not breakdown and are fully usable. The recycled oil in NextGen goes through a multi-stage refining process to remove contaminants and additives to create fresh base oil. Then Valvoline adds-in award-winning chemistry to create new oil performance that's 50% recycled.
- See more at: http://nextgen.valvoline.com/nextgen_why_recycle.html#sthash.iVOGD8hI.dpuf
 
One of the most damaging culprits is water in the oil. How does water get in your oil? 1)Water is a product of combustion. A small amount makes it to the oil. 2)Every time the engine is shut down there is condensation that develops from the air cooling in the engine. 3)Condensation also happens every night as the ambient air temperature drops at night. The cooling air become condensed and water is formed. To combat this we just run the engine up to operating temperature for more than a few minutes. Of course it is ideal to keep the engine in a climate controlled environment such as a musuem of that type. Just starting the engine once a month to lube internal is not helping moisture in the oil. It must be run at operating temperature. It is critical with reciprocating type aircraft engines to heavy equipment diesel engines and has proven to shorten their lifespan. If the engine is operated to operating temp for an amount of time every two weeks of its life it will have optimal lifespan given everything else needed is adhere to. The buildup of acids and other contaminants from combustion is reason to change oil.
 
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Has anyone asked Shell about rotella lately?

I sent this to shell on 12/03/11

"There are a lot of questions having to do with ZDDP in oils for classic/antique engines. which products that Shell sells have ZDDP in them?"

This came to me on 12/5/11;

"Dear Sir,

All of our Rotella multigrade oils have the higher levels of ZDDP
necessary for older flat tappet cam engines.

Best Regards,


Shell Technical"
 
A regular oil change is one of the best things that we can do for our cars, the cost in reality is nothing. I change my oil every 6 months regardless of the miles, everything said by others is 100% true, it is just about choice and I prefer to change the oil every 6 months.
 
The 'Old School' of thought is this :
"If your engine oil leak is working properly, most of the 'old' (dirty) oil should drain out naturally", as was meant to be.

Of course, many of today's Model A drivers obsess about this naturally occurring oil leak, and spend time, money and energy in actually trying to STOP this process from occurring !

Those people then must spend their nights worrying about - "WHAT type of oil is 'right' for my old car". Hell, how many of us actually keep our cars for the twenty or thirty years and 50,000 - 100,000 miles it will take for it to 'fail' due to 'inappropriate' oil ?

Just put OIL in the thing. Clean new oil of any kind, will be much appreciated by this 'easy to forgive' cast iron engine. Many of us seldom put more than 2,000 miles on it in a year. And once-a-year oil change should keep most everybody happy - the engine, Henry Ford, and YOU !

Now, IF I were driving 10,000 miles a year on an Oklahoma dirt back road, I would have a different answer. So for all of you that drive 5,000 miles on a dirt road, please continue to debate this subject.
 
First, thank you to all who responded to my post.
Well I thought that when I wrote my question, "How often do YOU change your oil and is it modern day?" would go the way it has. Every one has their own opinions on the subject.
Also as I said "After 1500 miles on the oil it still is just as clean when I put it in". I actually changed the oil after an hour of idle operation and then changed it again after 200miles, all according to the builder so I really only have about 1300 miles on this oil.

After reading all of the opinions I have decided to change it at the 2500 miles and continue to change it every 2500.

Again thanks to all for the responses.
 
There are lots of opinions.

Consider these comments.

Have you ever seen an engine fail due to old oil? Now I am not saying some kind of extreme where someone did not check the oil and 50,000 miles later it was tar. You will NEVER have your engine fail because you did not change the oil enough.

The oil does not loose it lubricating properties, the additives get used up over time.

You are wasting natural resources and money by changing too often. A few years or a few thousand miles might be more reasonable. Quite frankly I would say 5 years might be ok depending on how the car is used. I know it takes decades for enough acid to build up to etch holes in the pan like I have seen in some engine pans.

Remember that all the standards for changing oil were developed by companies that make money selling oil based on cars that are driven daily. If you really want to do it right you should send out samples of the oil to find out when it is depleted.
 
Just a heads up on ZDDP.

first, it is not a lubricant, it is more like a plating process.

Second, detergents in modern oils can prevent the coating from building up on cam lobes and lifters. So, most newer oils are not compatible. The detergents in the oil need to be formulated to accept the ZDDP.
 
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