15,000 between oil changes

[Dave G]

Oops!

I knew it had been a while, but...

[getnpsi]

Kms right? Heh. My pops said a full crankcase of old oil is better than low on fresh. I had a severe leak. And had to be somewhere, I used a witch brew of gear oil atf and clear ps fluid when i was 18 and didnt give a crap. Total non motor oil was about 2.5 quarts. That 5.0 bottom end still alive today with alum heads on it. Forged factory 5.0.

[Bert]

There will be a lot of sludge deposits in your engine. Hopefully there is no major wear or damage. Adding a can of seafoam just before an oil change probably wouldn't be a bad idea either.
I bought a used GM V8 engine many years ago. Compression test at purchase was good but the motor completely failed within a week of my installing it. Previous owner had either never changed the oil or had used cheap non-detergent oil. I had put in decent oil and all the sludge and filings and debris that loosened because of that wore out the camshaft lobes in a few hundred miles, plus ruined numerous other things.

Everybody will offer different advice about oil and when to change it. Better too often than not enough is my take on this. I've been using synthetic oil for 25 years in the same vehicle and it still burns no oil after 1/2 million K. To make up for the price difference I did double the service intervals to 10,000 k (6000 mi) instead of often recommended 5000 k (3000mi).

[GenevaDirt]

There will be a lot of sludge deposits in your engine. Hopefully there is no major wear or damage. Adding a can of seafoam just before an oil change probably wouldn't be a bad idea either.
I bought a used GM V8 engine many years ago. Compression test at purchase was good but the motor completely failed within a week of my installing it. Previous owner had either never changed the oil or had used cheap non-detergent oil. I had put in decent oil and all the sludge and filings and debris that loosened because of that wore out the camshaft lobes in a few hundred miles, plus ruined numerous other things.

Everybody will offer different advice about oil and when to change it. Better too often than not enough is my take on this. I've been using synthetic oil for 25 years in the same vehicle and it still burns no oil after 1/2 million K. To make up for the price difference I did double the service intervals to 10,000 k (6000 mi) instead of often recommended 5000 k (3000mi).

shouldn't be an issue if it was one time....if it was a habit I could see sludge build up

[Bert]

shouldn't be an issue if it was one time....if it was a habit I could see sludge build up

We can only hope!
Conventional motor oil breaks down over time as well deteriorates from heat cycles. Takes some folks a couple of years to go 15000 and engines that have never properly been heated up (ie short trips only) to burn or vent off crankcase moisture etc can really suffer. Especially in climates like here.

[GenevaDirt]

We can only hope!
Conventional motor oil breaks down over time as well deteriorates from heat cycles. Takes some folks a couple of years to go 15000 and engines that have never properly been heated up (ie short trips only) to burn or vent off crankcase moisture etc can really suffer. Especially in climates like here.

I hear ya....but he is in Ohio....and it is a Festy....lol.

[Bert]

I hear ya....but he is in Ohio....and it is a Festy....lol.

I have to hand it to Mazda for producing rugged and durable motors. 'Sewing machine' engines similar to that wore out well in advance of 100,000 miles back in the 1960s and British engines required an inordinate and ritual amount of fussing almost once a week right from the day you brought the car home.

[Dave G]

Hard to put my finger on it, but it seems happier today somehow

It ain't like it went 15k miles with the same four quarts of oil - the thing leaks a quart every thousand or so... The old stuff I drained out (all two and a half quarts) is pitch black, but it is pretty *oily* still.

I won't do it again - promise!

[getnpsi]

What leaks out or burns is going to be thinner than remaing goop in there. I'd change the filter one extra time between your next change and top off, nothing extra.

[jhli]

I'm at 10k and my oil is still full and clear.