Oil Change Frequency Question?

[jzak]

Hey Guys,

So my CJ5 isn't my daily driver. I'm probably putting two hundred miles or less a month on it. I was told that on high milage vehicles you should change the oil every 3,000 miles. If I followed that rule, i would change the oil maybe once every two years. I cant believe that's good for the engine. I typically change the oil every three to six months no matter how many miles i've done. Every time I do it, the oil is completely black.

I know that Oil Change Places, and Dealerships usually say something like 3,000 miles or 3 months, but i've also heard the month indicator is a scam to charge for unnecessary oil changes.

I'm sure some other CJ owners out there are also not using their jeep as a DD. What do you guys typically do? Wait every few years to do a 3,000 mile oil change, or do it more frequently?

Thanks!

Josh

 

[Lumpy Grits]

I change once a year, and it's rare I have over 1500 miles on that oil.
If, I don't have 1000 miles on the oil after a year. I'll go for 2 yrs.
Never an issue. engine is 30+ years old(bought the Jeep new in '85), other than a couple reseals of the valve cover, have never been inside it.
I run 20W-50 Castrol with a WIX oil filter and a bottle of STP.
LG

 

[hdgapeach]

If you go by recommendations, dino oil should be changed out whether it's used or not, about every 3 to 5 thousand miles or six months (if I remember right). Supposedly the dino stuff has a shelf life.

If you're running full synthetic, it shouldn't have a static "shelf life", so to speak. Synthetic gains contaminates during use that usually suggests changing around 7 - 7.5K miles.

I'm about like Lumpy. I run Castrol 20W50 (dino) but I make sure and change mine a couple of times a year, no matter how much it sits in the yard. If it gets the miles sooner than scheduled date, I shoot for 5,000. The reason I change it at least twice a year is because of the southern climate. You'd be surprised how much condensation accumulates in the oil pan when it sits for a while in the southeast part of the country.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

I do NOT recommend switching oil brands to save a dime or so.
Each brand has it's own 'chem-pack' that they use. Mix'n those 'packs' is NOT good for your seals.
The worst thing for our engines, are short trips(under 5-6 miles). They don't get hot enough internally to 'cook-off' the condensation that forms as the engine warms up.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Why change oil, I just wait until enough oil leaks on the driveway or burns out the tail pipe so there is no sign of oil on the dip stick then pour in what ever I find laying around. Marvels mystery oil, 2 stroke oil, diesel oil, 3 in one, sewing machine oil, cooking oil, if it's still slippery between the fingers I figure it's still good enough for me. I have found that junk yards will give you a great deal on old oil drained from engines before they are crushed. Take that oil, strain it through a pile of old towels and you are good to go. If there is an excess of water in the oil, boil it over an open flame for a while. Eventually the water will evaporate and you are ready to go.

Have you ever noticed that even Wix filters get dirty or clogged from time to time. I like to pull my filters, open'em up and get rid of all that paper inside, gosh, no wonder oil slows down and clogs up when it needs to go through all that paper. It can be problematic sealing the oil filter back up though. I like to weld'em then, dip'em in some old roofing goop with a final seal of duct tape or 100 mile an hour tape. Better yet, when the filter is new, dump about a table spoon full of gas inside remove the rubber gasket ring and light 'er on fire. The paper will burn away leaving some carbon behind. I used to try to shake out all that carbon, but years ago stopped doing that, carbon is good for an engine. If not why is there so much inside your average engine? In a paperless filter oil moves faster through the system allowing it to flush out all the good stuff that falls out of your oil as it moves through your engine keeping the oil like new....................

.................... Annnnnddd that's enough of that. Just kidding. I did know a guy that NEVER changed his oil. He swore that his Chevy ran better and got better mileage with old oil that it did with new oil. There was no convincing him otherwise. I hate to admit it, but he had well over 100,000 miles on his truck. The very thought gave me the willies.

With oils, be consistent, buy what you can afford, lean toward the heavy side of viscosity if for no other reason your CJ engine likely has quite a few miles on it and heavy oil won't hurt. When I say heavy I mean 20-50 not that 60 weight glorified gear oil you see in old motorcycles. I do like Wix or NAPA filters. When the CJ sits like it has this year, I try to change my oil once a year unless I put 5,000 miles on the CJ, then I change it more frequently. My oil of choice is Brad Penn 20-50 racing oil. Why? It's supposed to have stuff in it that is good for older engines and it pisses off the EPA and that's good enough for me.

 

[mriplaybass]

Why change oil, I just wait until enough oil leaks on the driveway or burns out the tail pipe so there is no sign of oil on the dip stick then pour in what ever I find laying around. Marvels mystery oil, 2 stroke oil, diesel oil, 3 in one, sewing machine oil, cooking oil, if it's still slippery between the fingers I figure it's still good enough for me. I have found that junk yards will give you a great deal on old oil drained from engines before they are crushed. Take that oil, strain it through a pile of old towels and you are good to go. If there is an excess of water in the oil, boil it over an open flame for a while. Eventually the water will evaporate and you are ready to go.

Have you ever noticed that even Wix filters get dirty or clogged from time to time. I like to pull my filters, open'em up and get rid of all that paper inside, gosh, no wonder oil slows down and clogs up when it needs to go through all that paper. It can be problematic sealing the oil filter back up though. I like to weld'em then, dip'em in some old roofing goop with a final seal of duct tape or 100 mile an hour tape. Better yet, when the filter is new, dump about a table spoon full of gas inside remove the rubber gasket ring and light 'er on fire. The paper will burn away leaving some carbon behind. I used to try to shake out all that carbon, but years ago stopped doing that, carbon is good for an engine. If not why is there so much inside your average engine? In a paperless filter oil moves faster through the system allowing it to flush out all the good stuff that falls out of your oil as it moves through your engine keeping the oil like new....................

.................... Annnnnddd that's enough of that. Just kidding. I did know a guy that NEVER changed his oil. He swore that his Chevy ran better and got better mileage with old oil that it did with new oil. There was no convincing him otherwise. I hate to admit it, but he had well over 100,000 miles on his truck. The very thought gave me the willies.

With oils, be consistent, buy what you can afford, lean toward the heavy side of viscosity if for no other reason your CJ engine likely has quite a few miles on it and heavy oil won't hurt. When I say heavy I mean 20-50 not that 60 weight glorified gear oil you see in old motorcycles. I do like Wix or NAPA filters. When the CJ sits like it has this year, I try to change my oil once a year unless I put 5,000 miles on the CJ, then I change it more frequently. My oil of choice is Brad Penn 20-50 racing oil. Why? It's supposed to have stuff in it that is good for older engines and it pisses off the EPA and that's good enough for me.

I love it Hedge! At first I thought, what is he posting?, but then I remembered a little green 72 Chevy Vega that I had when I was in my teens. Had all my friends save their drain oil for me so I could drive without hauling and oil refinery along with me. Eventually as the sludge built up in the pan it impaired rotation. What the heck, by then the the cylinder pressure was about what is in a beach ball. Time for a different engine (3x) Oil in the drive way from a CJ? Like they say, it's only marking its territory!

 

[007]

My only 2cts here is that if you like organic oil, use a good 15/40 diesel oil. I use Lucas Magnum with a quart of stabilizer. With 200 miles a month you can run it a couple years and sleep well.

Diesel oils have WAY more zinc and that's good for these older engines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Take another look at the 'diesel' oils and their Zinc content of today.
The refiners are cut'n way back on the ZDDP(Zinc).
That's the big 'why' I use STP(blue bottle).
LG

 

[007]

Some have. Lucas had not.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jzak]

Hey Guys! Thanks for the feedback, but you guys just raised another question.

Until recently, i've been using 10w-30 with Lucas oil stabilizer. With the lucas stuff my oil weight was probably more like 15w-30. With the weather getting colder, and everyone saying you should use a light weight oil in winter months, I switched to a 5w-30. With the 5w-30 the engine seems to start and run better.

But some of you guys are saying that with a high milage CJ you need to use a heavy weight diesel oil. It seems with a thicker oil its going to be harder for the oil pump to move it around the engine, especially during a cold start, resulting in more wear on the engine components.

So if you can clarify why you should use heavy weight oil, even during the winter, i'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[007]

Personally, I'm referring to your spring summer and fall months. What you're doing for the winter time in my opinion is perfectly fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Torxhead]

Hey Guys! Thanks for the feedback, but you guys just raised another question.

Until recently, i've been using 10w-30 with Lucas oil stabilizer. With the lucas stuff my oil weight was probably more like 15w-30. With the weather getting colder, and everyone saying you should use a light weight oil in winter months, I switched to a 5w-30. With the 5w-30 the engine seems to start and run better.

But some of you guys are saying that with a high milage CJ you need to use a heavy weight diesel oil. It seems with a thicker oil its going to be harder for the oil pump to move it around the engine, especially during a cold start, resulting in more wear on the engine components.

So if you can clarify why you should use heavy weight oil, even during the winter, i'd really appreciate it.

-------Looking at my well worn owner's manual, a 5w-30 oil can be used at temps 60f and below, and that's for a newer engine. When you use a lighter oil make sure the oil pressure doesn't drop too much. I like that STP additive idea for the zinc.

 

[Hedgehog]

Newer oils are incredibly light, like 0 weight, I wouldn't go with the very light oils even in cold weather. I wouldn't go with lighter than 10 weight, but that's me. 5 weight probably won't be a problem. Even though it's now shunned, when I was growing up, yep back when my CJ was new, 10-40 was the oil to use. We ran it in all weather conditions -40* wasn't uncommon. 10-40 was light oil then and it seemed to work well.

 

[caveman]

I change mine Once a year. I don't put a lot of miles on it. It's just a weekend toy for me. I run a straight 30 wt. And a little bottle of zinc that I get off of Ebay.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Some have. Lucas had not.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

STP has far more ZDDP than Lucas does and always has.
Look up some of the side by side testing of STP and Lucas. STP clearly stands out as the better.
LG

 

[steve1973]

I change mine once a year regardless of how few miles are put on it. 5w-20, with latest api rating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CJim7]

I don't change my oil

Ok, I do, but its only for viscosity breakdown. Running propane, I have zero carbon buildup so my oil looks brand new no matter how long I run it.

I do use a ZDDP additive in my oil, it's good for the innards on these old motors.

 

[007]

STP has far more ZDDP than Lucas does and always has.

Look up some of the side by side testing of STP and Lucas. STP clearly stands out as the better.

LG

Are you comparing STP with Lucas Oil Stabilizer or Lucas Magnum oil? I'm confused.

Don't know that it really matters as once you reach a certain level of zinc additional zinc is of little if any value.

Several years ago, due to a clerical error, we mistakenly ran a 2000 Kenworth with a 3406 Cat 65,000 on an oil change. Engine had just under 200,000 miles when filled. We sent a draw from the engine to the lab in Indianapolis and they found only trace / acceptable signs of wear and no brass (from worn mains) at all.

Using a high zinc, high detergent oil with stabilizer is a sure fire way to eliminate the actual lubricant from being an issue. At that point which label hasn't much to do with it.

There is no question this combination sustains oil pressure and prevents wear. Indisputable. Had too much lab work done to not know. I use Lucas because that's what I know. Other similarly rated oils are I'm sure fine but that stabilizer is where it's at. Organic or synthetic...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Woolyworm]

I just filled this summer with Rotella 15-40 - thoughts on that stuff?


Wooly

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Main bearings are not made of brass.
http://kingbearings.com/files/Engine_Bearing_Materials.pdf
I was referring to the oil stabilizer. I have not heard of the magnum oil.
STP oil treatment was around long before Lucas. I use it as an assembly lube when building an engine or gear box or diff.
There was a chart that compared the the two. I can't find it now.
LG