How Often Should I Change My Vehicle's Oil
Oil Change Schedule
Changing your vehicle oils is by far the single most important thing you can do to improve the performance and life of your vehicle. If you are reading this, you are on the path to improving your vehicle's health. There are several oils in your vehicle. Some need to be changed frequently while others require less frequent changes. Let's take a look at the most common oils.
Engine Oil Change Schedule
Your engine oil requires the most frequent changes because it takes the most abuse of any oil in your vehicle. Thankfully, changing your engine oil is not time-consuming or expensive. How often you change your oil depends on a few factors.
Vehicle Warranty Requirements
If you are driving a new vehicle, it most likely has a warranty. This warranty includes requirements that you change the oil at specific intervals. The intervals could be spelled out in the warranty or the vehicle itself has software installed that reminds you when you need to change the oil. In these cases, it is important that you follow this schedule so your warranty is valid in the event of an engine failure.
Vehicle Oil Change Reminders
Most vehicles manufactured in the last couple of decades have reminders that tell you when to change your oil. Some of these reminders are simple timers that track time or mileage since your last oil change. They are programmed to remind you to change the oil after a certain amount of time or miles. Other vehicles have more sophisticated sensors that attempt to measure the cleanliness and/or viscosity of the oil and tell you when it is sensing it is time to change the oil. These are hit-and-miss in terms of accuracy. In most instances, if the sensors do not pick up anything, the vehicle will default to a counter like earlier vehicles.
Driving Conditions
The single most important factor in determining when you change your engine oil is the driving conditions you use your vehicle. A vehicle that is driven on paved highways at normal speeds does not stress the engine and oil as much as a vehicle that is driven in constant start and stop conditions. The conditions the vehicle is driven can have an impact on oil life. If you drive in dusty or dirty conditions such as dirt roads, construction sites, or farms, it is likely your oil is dirtier and requires more frequent changes.
Conventional Vs Synthetic Oil
The type of oil in your vehicle can impact how often you need to change your oil. Conventional oils breakdown and lose their ability to properly lubricate faster than today's synthetic oils.
Conventional VS Synthetic Oils
The Bottom Line On Engine Oil Change Schedules
There used to be a saying back in the day that you should change your engine oil every 3 months or every 3,000 miles. This was very catchy and easy to remember. However, it may not be true based on the conditions explained above. Today's conventional oils can run around 5,000 miles between changes and today's synthetic oils can usually run 7,500 to 10,000 miles between changes in most cases. Just be sure to check your warranty requirements and make adjustments for your driving styles and conditions.
WARNING: Just because an oil may last 15,000 or even 25,000 miles before it breaks down you may want to change it earlier. This is because your vehicle is filled with LOTS of sensors. Some of these sensors have tiny little screens on them that can get clogged with dirt and debris in your oil. The longer you run your oil, the more dirt and debris can get into it and potentially clog those little screens on sensors like variable valve timing sensors. These will cause and engine warning code that may lead you think you need to change the sensor. So remember, just because an oil says it can last 25,000 miles, you may not want to run it that long.
Differential Oil Change Schedule
Your differential takes a real beating every day you drive. While these parts are very strong and made of heavy-duty steel and other strong materials, dirt, and metal shavings in the oil can take their toll on these parts. These critical components of your vehicle do not have oil filters so whatever gets inside, is there and recirculating until the oil is changed.
The process to change differential fluid is not hard or expensive and quality differential fluid is readily available. Of course, we recommend TriboDyn Full Synthetic Gear Oil with Ceramic Coating because it contains the highest film strength available and also releases ceramic coating that works with the oil to reduce damaging friction inside the differential as you drive.
Gear Oil or Differential Fluid is usually changed about every 50,000 to 70,000 miles for most normally driven vehicles. High-stress vehicles used to tow heavy loads or vehicles driven in harsh climates may require more frequent changes.
If you have a 4 Wheel Drive vehicle, remember, you have a rear and a front differential. Both of these differentials have oil that needs to be replaced.
Always verify you are using the correct type and weight of oil for your differential by referencing your vehicle owners manual.
Limited-Slip Differentials
IMPORTANT: If your vehicle has a Limited-Slip differential you will need to use TriboDyn Full Synthetic Gear Oil with Limited-Slip Additive. This gear oil has a premium Limited-Slip Friction Modifier blended into the formula. Limited-Slip gearboxes require a friction modifier to operate properly. If you are not sure if you have a limited-slip differential, you can reference your owner's manual or do a quick search on your vehicle. Just make sure you put in the exact model you own because a limited-slip differential may have been an option on your vehicle.
Transmission Oil Change Schedule
Transmission Oil is critical to keep your vehicle shifting properly and to prevent extremely costly repairs to vehicle transmissions.
If you have a newer vehicle, you many not have access to even check your transmission fluid level. If you take your vehicle to the dealer for regular service, there will most likely be a schedule they will check and/or replace your transmission fluid. If this is part of our service plan then you may or may not have to pay for this service. If this not part of your service plan, changing the transmission fluid can be $500 to $1,500 or more.
If a vehicle is not driven in harsh conditions such as extremely hot and dusty areas and is not used to tow heavy loads, the transmission fluid should be changed approximately every 50,000 to 100,000 miles.
Please reference our other articles on types of oils and the process to change oils.
