DIY Oil Change Worth It?

[BRZnut]

ya...I did my first change at the dealer but once I heard they use Castrol , I started doing it myself. As I have with all my other cars in the past.

[2point0]

Originally Posted by BRZnut

...once I heard they use Castrol , I started doing it myself...

Hey, nothing wrong with Castrol...


...just as long as it's German 0w30.

[Whitesoul]

Has anyone used Kendall GT-1 Synthetic Blend oil? If so, is that healthy oil for the car. Of course 0W-20!

[Knshro13]

Nothing like a good feeling after completing an oil change on a car you love. That, and car washes.

[Canibalistik]

Originally Posted by N1rve

I'm not a "professional tech" anymore...former Toyota Technican years that's been out of the garage for about 5 years. I'm an IT Engineer and this is what I know.... I could be wrong, but I highly doubt it.

My Subaru dealer charges 54.95 for an oil change currently (promotion), and my Toyota Dealership charges 99.99 for a Scion FRS oil change. Both with 0W-20 oil.

You can get a 6 quarts of oil for about 4 dollars per quart, you're at 24 dollars. The filter is like 6 bucks and the washer is like 50 cents.

The total is around 31 dollars to do it yourself. The math explains if it's worth doing it yourself.


Now onto "not following the factory recommended interval"... People have performed an oil analysis and there are reports of the oil being in good shape at 7,500 miles. People who change it at 5k miles get recommendations of extending their oil change interval. In this case, it would only harm your wallet to change it earlier than necessary.

You don't baby the engine for the first 500 miles, you keep the engine at varying speeds and under 4000 RPM for the first 1000 miles. Why? Because the engineers built the engine and put this in the manual. It can be debated if the lawyers put it in there, but if they felt 500 miles is enough, they would had put 500 and not 1000.

No where in the manual does it state to change the oil early at 500 miles. Factory fills have more moly which helps in the break in.

Switching from synthetic to conventional doesn't cause any oil problems or leaks. If the car is leaking oil, it's because the seals are bad. The way conventional oil flows is different from synthetic. Conventional motor molecules vary in size as synthetic motor oil molecules are uniform.

Due to a different flow, the crevices that the previous oil didn't flow through now has oil flowing through it, hence "leaks" but as I already explained it's because the car already has a oil leak.

If it's low change the oil? Why would you do that? Some cars naturally burn oil. Some more than others. If the car is burning oil at an alarming rate, I would check the piston rings and not change the oil because the car is low on oil.

Where do you get GTX full syn for 4.00 a quart?! Hook me up with that place! I never said you couldn't buy cheap oil...I just mentioned what I always ended up doing. On top of this, with a coupon, my Toyota dealer is like 35.00 out of the door, so 31.00 + my time, is more valuable than 35.00, so with cheaper oil, I'd just let them do it for me, yeah?

Also, I wouldn't follow recommended oil change intervals, I also drive hard, on the regular, not only racing, etc. I drive in 105 degree heat (F) that with the head index and humidity is more like 110. My personal experiences with previous vehicles is all I was going on. I never claimed anything I said to be fact...just what I do. I'm not looking to troll people on the net...I was just adding my input, vs. finding pictures on the net to explain things I already did. Yes, I could of worded the leak issue a little better, however, if the seals are already leaking, they might show up, or seem more prominent WITH the full syn. because of the way their molecules react to temperature...that's all.

You could find a better use of your time can't you? I mean...really, "varying speeds under 4,000 RPM?" I said all that jazz you had to look up with "babying." Under 4k...is babying an engine...I.E. NOT tacing out redline etc. Not going out and racing right off the lot, etc.

Onto the burning oil at an alarming rate. Most people, if not for the lack of know-how, or what they're looking at/for. I recommended it for the sake of maintaining the amount of proper oil in the vehicle, to protect it from catastrophic failure. This is actually common practice...my Toyota dealership has recommended changing oil at 3,000 miles for engines burning oil at higher rates. To those who cant either A. afford a new/used engine replacement. or B. cannot pay for the diagnostic, and inevitable fixing of their engines.

Again, not saying anything of what you've said is wrong...I agree with a lot of it...I just talk here because the community seems cool. I'm not on this forum to troll, or to come off cocky or seem like an asshole for no reason. Next time you want to seem like a smarty pants or spend some time looking a bunch of really informative stuff on the net...maybe don't start with "I may be wrong...but I doubt it."

Sorry everyone for wasting your time either reading or overlooking this post.

[Canibalistik]

Originally Posted by finch1750

Do you have data to suport this? The UOA i just did along with others on the board have run engines hard (auto x/track/canyons) and are fine with 7500 intervals. Hell, they told me to run to 9500 next time.

Nope, just based on personal exp with older cars I've driven...sorry should of made it clear it wasn't strictly based on the FT 86 platform. Thanks for the heads up on the interval changes, I'll keep an eye on what mine does with my driving conditions and go from there...I'm locked into doing mine on a strict schedule due to free oil changes and lifetime warranty on my engine and trans. I'd like to keep that warranty valid yaknow? (lol can't beat lifetime!)

Also, I have just broken 650 miles on my FR-S...so...no...I've not even done the first of oil changes on it!

I did my aforementioned set up with my EJ25 engine in my WRX...and also with my MX-5...both never had any issues.

[choi0706]

Originally Posted by Whitesoul

I don't know how to do an Oil Change; but would it be worth learning and more so the money I could save? a Good Oil Change is around $30-$40 where I'm from.

thats cheap.. very cheap if its syn oil..

[Whitesoul]

That was a Synthetic Blend..a Full Synthetic cost me $67...