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redidbull

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2018
Messages
754
Location
South West CT
My Wife's Mustang oil has not been changed in about a year. It probably has 2k on the oil and has 6 quarts in the 4.6L. Should I change it or is is still OK? I can see both sides, yes because of maybe condensation in it to no because it a good drive will burn the condensation off. I wouldn't think there would be breakdown. I know it is cheap insurance but I take this one to the shop because it is so low and tires are too wide for ramps and I'd rather not go there quite yet. Thanks for any info. Jim
 
Drive it and forget it, until it really needs a change. (I change at mileage intervals like OI said.)

Like many of us here, I have several vehicles and probably always will. (I've had some that didn't turn a wheel for a year or more.) I don't worry about the oil's age and I never will, just make sure it's full. :p

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Drive it and forget it, until it really needs a change. (I change at mileage intervals like OI said.)

Like many of us here, I have several vehicles and probably always will. (I've had some that didn't turn a wheel for a year or more.) I don't worry about the oil's age and I never will, just make sure it's full. :p

.

Don't think the oil knows how many months,yrs it's sat on the shelf...:rolleyes:
don't remember seeing an expiration date on the jug :D[S
 
I change the oil in my truck after winter storage. In fact, any of my vehicles get an oil change after any long-term storage. Most experts will agree that you should change the oil yearly if you don't get to the mileage interval in the year. So yes, you should change it. It's extremely cheap insurance.

Since the climate in Connecticut is pretty temperature, you can probably stretch to over a year without much concern but I'd still change it.
 
I was told that oil fouls quicker with occasional startup, needs to be driven at highway temp once in awhile because of condensation.
 
Thank you all. I will keep an eye on it for now. There are no plans to take it very far in the coming months anyway so the new oil will just be sitting in there. Even without the lock down this is a pretty slow driving time of year for us. Jim
 
On a carbed vehicle I'd be more worried about changing the oil after one has been sitting than on a FI one. Carbs sometimes leak down the cylinders, FI doesn't unless you have a leaky inhector. I always smell the oil in my lawnmowers before starting them every year, if it smells like gas, it gets changed.
 
I'd let it slide. If it's a lot of short trips I would change more often than if all highway miles. As far as condensation concerns, The best way to change oil is when it has been heated up so as to get the condensation out. Drive and get it to full temp and enjoy it.
 
On a carbed vehicle I'd be more worried about changing the oil after one has been sitting than on a FI one. Carbs sometimes leak down the cylinders, FI doesn't unless you have a leaky inhector. I always smell the oil in my lawnmowers before starting them every year, if it smells like gas, it gets changed.

I need to check the mower today. I am not a mower oil change person and really should be. I think it comes from over the years of having junk mowers. One time I was mowing with a $10 mower and it started to slow then just stopped. I went to restart and it wouldn't pull. Opened the oil cap and there were smoke signals. Grab the blade wont turn. Go to the shed get some oil, not mower oil, just what was in there. Pour it in grab the blade. Spin it until it is freed up. Mower stats and runs. Only reason I got rid of it, years later, is the deck rotted. Brigs 3.5HP. Jim
 
My Pa in law bought a generator and some other things off a truck a few years back, brand new, wrapped in plastic stuff, supposedly US made, but had China engines on all of it. I think it was just assembled in the US with the China parts. Anywho, we filled the generator with gas, and oil, it fired right up. He used it two or three times that year, then it sat unneeded for a year or two. We were expecting some bad weather recently with possible power outages, so he decided to fire the generator up and get it ready. Well, it wouldn't start at first, dead battery. After a while, he called me to help him. I assumed he had done the basics, fill the gas, check the oil, check the gas shutoff valve. He hadn't.

To make a long story shorter, in about 5 minutes I had it running. After running about 5 minutes, we had the rod out the side of the block!:eek: I then checked the oil, thought he had done that earlier but hadn't. it overran the port and poured out, and smelled like gas. Last time he had ran it, he didn't cut off the gas valve, while it sat gas slowly filled the crankcase. I had heard of this happening, but the first time I ever actually had it happen. That is why my small engines get the smell test now before I try to start them.
 
My wife's car (2009 Dodge Journey) gets a lot of short trip use, not too much of any distance on a regular basis. These modern cars have some sort of computerized gizmo built in to tell you when you need to change the oil. Other guys on the Journey site have asked about if they should change the oil yet already - 13K since the last change, and still no oil change alert. Ours goes 2 - 3 K and it's complaining. I think someone once told me that every cold start counts for about 500 miles on the oil. So it adds up quick. I put it off, going by if the oil still has a clear color & good viscosity (the stretch a drop of oil between a finger & thumb deal).
 

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