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Pat Goss: Ask The Expert

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2003 Washington Post Articles:

Dollars Saved? Dollars Wasted?

Many drivers don’t fully understand the long-term consequences of their vehicle maintenance actions. As vehicle prices climb some drivers actually do less maintenance. There’s a paradox, common sense dictates that higher vehicle prices should encourage better preventive maintenance. After all, the more expensive an item the longer it must last to be cost-effective. As a driver you should realize, vehicle life is controlled by maintenance.

Extending service intervals presents associated considerations, topping the list is oil changes. I’m not in favor of extending them but some people don’t see the harm. Others even publicly suggest that regular oil changes aren’t really necessary. But this can shorten engine life and cause higher operating costs. Long oil change intervals also place abnormal stress on related components like oil filters and cooling systems.

Oil filters are designed to meet the requirements of reasonable change intervals. Excessively long intervals can over-stress a filter, as was the case with one late model luxury vehicle. It was towed to the shop with an illuminated oil warning light. The sticker inside the windshield indicated the car was a year past and double the mileage of the longest allowable oil change interval. Uh-oh!

Diagnosis revealed a blocked oil passage leading from the oil filter. Removing the filter linked the blockage directly to the neglected oil change. The terminally overworked filter had self-destructed sending chunks of filter material into the engine, restricting oil flow.

The embarrassed owner confessed to following advice from an Internet article touting extended oil changes. Seems the “expert,” aren’t they all, claimed that changing oil before two years or thirty thousand miles was a waste. A few dollars saved, many wasted. Fortunately our driver shut his engine off when the light came on avoiding serious engine damage, at least damage that could be readily identified. But only time and miles will tell the true tale.

If you’re thinking of extending any service interval consider other components that will be affected by the change. Because oil filters aren’t built to withstand extreme service intervals they will Commercial Three Baybably require replacement before the oil. Alternatively, you could invest in a special filter but either negates any oil change savings.

Another area affected by infrequent oil changes is the cooling system. Because oil is used to help augment the radiator in keeping engines cool, dirty oil can lead to more cooling system service. The dirtier the oil the less ability it has to conduct heat away from the engine. This transfers more cooling load to the radiator and coolant, reducing their usable life.

Mechanical parts have a duty cycle or usable life. This is determined by how much work the component or system has to do and how long it does it. In this case the dirty oil makes the cooling system work harder for a longer period of time and shortens the life of the coolant and eventually cooling system parts, like the radiator.

This illustrates a couple of many possible consequences of over-extending service Commercial Three Baycedure intervals. Vehicles are composed of highly inter-dependent components that form complex systems. Altering a part, a system, or its maintenance, can adversely affect other parts or systems.

© Copyright 05/09/03 Pat Goss all rights reserved.

Date Updated Friday, May 09, 2003

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