Autos that tell you when to do the oil change?

[dennishoddy]

IDK man, if anyone is telling a big fish story, I'd think it was the ones who have told us they're "lubed for life" and brought us suspension components and u-joints that never need grease.

I went to a bearing failure analysis class once put on by a Japanese bearing manufacturer as part of getting a cert for vibration analyst at a plant I worked for once. They produced a lot of sealed bearings that were advertised as lubed for life.
So, I had to ask the question, how long is the lifetime expectancy? His response with a smirk was until they fail.

 

[Shadowrider]

I went to a bearing failure analysis class once put on by a Japanese bearing manufacturer as part of getting a cert for vibration analyst at a plant I worked for once. They produced a lot of sealed bearings that were advertised as lubed for life.
So, I had to ask the question, how long is the lifetime expectancy? His response with a smirk was until they fail.

Haha. Yea, I hear that.

Way back when I worked in machine shops we had a horizontal CNC machining center. Hitachi Seiki. Very well made and reliable machine that we ran every single day. Several years in, it needed the spindle bearings replaced, so we had them send a service rep to do it. They had a fairly large presence in the U.S., had service centers and all support parts, etc.

I got to work with the Japanese guy they sent to do the replacement. We tore it down and cleaned everything up. The new bearings arrived (from Japan) with a small 35mm film canister like container of grease that had maybe a teaspoon full of grease in it. It was completely unmarked and looked a whole lot like vaseline. He said that's definitely not what it was and was very expensive stuff. He applied a light film very, very meticulously over each individual roller ball and on the mating races, put the seals in and we installed them. And that's it. He probably used half of what they sent and he sent the remainder back! The bearings were in no way packed at all. He said that would increase heat from "interference restriction". Whatever it was, it worked. I worked there for a good time after and ran that machine a lot. It had zero issues out of the spindle bearings. These were state of the art precision, high speed, HD bearings. Not cheap at all.

 

[dennishoddy]

Haha. Yea, I hear that.

Way back when I worked in machine shops we had a horizontal CNC machining center. Hitachi Seiki. Very well made and reliable machine that we ran every single day. Several years in, it needed the spindle bearings replaced, so we had them send a service rep to do it. They had a fairly large presence in the U.S., had service centers and all support parts, etc.

I got to work with the Japanese guy they sent to do the replacement. We tore it down and cleaned everything up. The new bearings arrived (from Japan) with a small 35mm film canister like container of grease that had maybe a teaspoon full of grease in it. It was completely unmarked and looked a whole lot like vaseline. He said that's definitely not what it was and was very expensive stuff. He applied a light film very, very meticulously over each individual roller ball and on the mating races, put the seals in and we installed them. And that's it. He probably used half of what they sent and he sent the remainder back! The bearings were in no way packed at all. He said that would increase heat from "interference restriction". Whatever it was, it worked. I worked there for a good time after and ran that machine a lot. It had zero issues out of the spindle bearings. These were state of the art precision, high speed, HD bearings. Not cheap at all.

We bought about 20 MC 5H Okuma machining centers and a half dozen LC 40 lathes in the 80's at a machine shop I worked at as a CNC maintenance guy. Biggest buy Okuma had at that time, so they were all over us with training classes, etc which is where I went through that bearing failure analysis class. One thing they did emphasize was to not pack a bearing for the same reason you mentioned. Too much grease would create heat which would cause early failure of the bearing in high speed applications.
Later in the 90's, worked my way into being a purchasing agent for the maintenance department. I had a spindle and a set of spindle bearings (big spindle) that were only made once a year on order and was being shipped to the US.
It was sitting on the dock to be loaded when a major earthquake hit that port and was lost. Had to wait another year for another spindle/bearings to be built.

 

[caliberbob]

I always trust the oil change meter on the cars. I’m more careful about the actual oil I put in it.

 

[JoeUSooner]

I'm a strong believer in preventive maintenance.

Ever since I purchased my first car well-over half a century ago, I simply change the oil every 5,000 miles (when it turns over precisely at even increments... 5,000 - 10,000 - 15,000 -20,000 etc). Simple system, and never have to worry about odd/uneven or hard-to-remember mileage numbers. [Splits the difference between the owners manual's recommendation of 7,000 and the oil producers' recommendation of 3,000.]

System works nicely. My current vehicle is 16 model years old, with over a quarter-million miles, and it still runs perfectly. I'll drive the beast 'til "the wheels fall off"!

 

[turkeyrun]

I use 100% Synthetic
I like having the reminder, though.

 

[Raido Free America]

I do not trust the oil life indicators. Had a 2014 Mustang Track Pack and the oil life indicator stopped working at 70,000 miles, changed the oil every 5,000 miles with the Factory Recommended 5w 50 Synthetic. 8.5 Quarts at $15 per quart was quite a bit of money each change. at 75,000 miles was told by the oil life indicator that stopped working I still had 100% oil life. Sold it at 85K miles. Other fluid changes were done at 1/2 the recommended interval.

The newer Mustang (a 2019) takes 10.5 Quarts oil, always change the oil at 5,000 miles. Sometimes it will be at 20% life left, others at 69% life left (lots of easy highway miles.)

My wife's car gets the oil changed every 5K miles, supposedly it can go 10K, Oil life indicator has always been between 15% and 30% (Turbo Motor 2017 Ford Escape 1.5 liter.)

Always use synthetic. Planning on keeping both to about 80K miles. Get the best trade in or sale value that way, harder for cars to be financed at good rates beyond 100K miles. If electric vehicles are only available and they haven't ironed out all of the issues they have, I will keep them as long as gasoline is available, or when my wife gets sick of hers. That may be sold to get a Real Bronco or Jeep.

I retired from a oil refinery, that canned motor oil. 116 different brands at one point. This was before synthetic oil, I didn't work in that area, but knew people that were very knowledgeable in this area, and picked up a little info. from them. According to them, motor oil doesn't wear out, it gets dirty, and the grit in the dirty oil causes the engine wear. In fact some old timers never changed the oil, they just changed the filter, and added a quart. We have our vehicles serviced by the manufactures schedule, by the dealer, We have two JEEPS now, the main driver is a 2010 Wrangler, with 150,000 miles, and it don't use any oil all, The last time I had this Jeep serviced I walked over and looked at a new Wrangler. After I woke up from fainting, at the sticker price, $92,000.00, I stopped and bought stuff to detail the old Jeep!

 

[Shoot Summ]

I use the oil life monitor, have been for about 20 years, no issues.

 

[mrhite65]

Service light on our Avalon comes on after 5000 miles and that's what I use when doing an oil change.

 

[Camo]

Mine is a 2002 so is miles only. I go by my 5000 mile increments so I dont worry about what the light says.