... the 3000 mile oil change has hung on and hung on for so many years now, multiple decades even past a time when the 3000 mile oil drain was needed. With modern cars the 3000 mile oil change requirement is simply a myth. The holdouts of the 3000 mile oil drain are only a few members of the quick-lube oil change industry and some dealership service departments. Even Jiffy Lube has recently abandoned their 3000 mile strangle hold though they still cling to the severe-service schedule.

Note: This DOES NOT mean that you drive your recent model vehicle until the oil change light comes on - and not check the oil level!! Oil life systems do not actually check the oil, it's a computer algorithm that monitors temperature, throttle position, rpm and many other factors that influence your oil life and base the result on generic oil that meets their specifications.

The average oil change interval for North American and Asian 2010 cars, (last year data is available) is around 7,800 miles. This is LOTS of time for normal oil consumption to lower the remaining oil volume to dangerously low levels. Keep the oil level topped off, use the correct oil viscosity and oil specification called for by the vehicle manufacturer and you can safely change your oil at the recommended oil change intervals specified in the owner's manual or when the car's oil life monitor light come on.

Older vehicles without an OLS, (oil life system) can also go longer between oil changes. Most driving is normal service, short hops of only a few miles, off-road, (dust) and prolonged idling along with trailer towing are about it for severe service applications, it's not hard to know what category you fall into, normal or severe service. If you have your vehicle manual, go by the oil drain recommendations.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: Until a few years ago with Amsoil you could buy only their best products with the longest oil drain intervals in the industry, which in most automobiles and light trucks was a full year or 25,000 miles, (40,000km) of oil drain performance. Today Amsoil offers 3 tiers of oil drain interval to closer match your driving needs. The OE Series matches what your vehicle manufacture recommends for distance and time between oil drain and matches the Oil Life System expectations that vehicle manufacturers calibrate them to. The XL Series, (10,000 mile/16,000km or 6 months oil drain) and the Signature Series products, 25,000 mile/40,000km or 1 year oil drain offer oil drain intervals well beyond normal oil performance. Amsoil Signature Series offers the longest oil drain interval available in the market giving the high mileage driver the option of not becoming personal friends with the local oil change people! Not that that's not a good thing, friends that is, just expensive and time consuming!

Why 3 tiers? From my experience, more than a few of my customers in the past bought Amsoil's very best oil and drained it as though it was a petroleum oil saying they really like what Amsoil does for their car/truck but they feel better changing oil often anyway. Now with the OE and XL Series oils, more people now experience the benefits Amsoil synthetic oil brings to the way their vehicle now performs and the added expense of the long drain capable Amsoil is not lost by those that change their oil more frequently. Now these customers can choose the oil drain interval that is comfortable for them and the way they drive.

Amsoil applications for European vehicles: European vehicle manufacturers unlike North American vehicle manufacturers are in charge of motor oil specifications... they are driving the motor oil performance envelope. More than anything else this is why European vehicles must use top-tier synthetic oil designed specifically for their vehicles. With few exceptions, none of the well known North American brands meet European vehicle oil specifications. Amsoil does, a few other oil manufacturers in North America do as well. Choose your oil well and do not skimp with a cheaper oil that doesn't meet your vehicle's specific specifications!

Always Follow the Severe Service Maintenance Schedule

- Motor Oil Myth

... if your car has an oil life monitoring system, the severe vs normal service question is a moot one. Follow your oil life monitor, (and don't let your oil level drop). Getting stuck in stop and go traffic doesn't automatically put you into the severe service category, if you're stuck in traffic litterally for hours a day, not moving or crawling forward with your engine idling, then your vehicle, (and you!) are in a severe service application and follow your vehicle manual severe service oil change interval recommendations.

-Taxis and emergency response vehicles can idle for hours at a time, this is severe service application.
-Short trips of a few miles is also severe service as the engine does not warm fully to drive off the condensation that builts up within the engine when you first start your vehicle. Condensation builds while the engine is cold and is then driven off when the engine temperature rises above the boiling point of water.

- Pulling a heavily loaded trailer and usually with small vehicles, a roof storage container changes your useage from normal to severe, check your owners manual regarding roof racks is my advice. Most vehicles, unless they are the lightest smallest vehicles don't even notice a roof rack and normal service oil drain intervals would be applicable.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: Severe service or normal service to Amsoil product doesn't really matter, change Amsoil matching the 3-Tiers oil drain performance you selected.

Amsoil applications for European vehicles: Same thing here, follow what your vehicle manufacture recommends for oil drain interval, you'll be driving for something like 18,000 miles between oil drains when you follow the oil life system built into your vehicle.

Change Your Oil when it gets black

- Motor Oil Myth

... Chances are you're looking at the oil on your engines dipstick when you look at your oil right? What general colour is your dipstick? Most dipsticks are not chrome or some bright colour, they're black or very dark grey, so chances are very good the oil that looks black on your dipstick is only slightly coloured from the nice ambur, gold colour it was when new. As your oil works is holds in suspension exceedingly small soot particles. It is these small soot particles that darken your oil in both gasoline and diesel engines. As an aside, some diesel engines immediately turn brand new oil black, as in as soon as you start the engine from an oil change that new oil will be jet black!

Bottom line: Black oil still has plenty of life left in it.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: You'll find Amsoil oil staying cleaner longer. This is due to the added performance ability of Amsoil synthetic oil to not break down.

Once you use Synthetic Oil You Always Have to Use it

- Motor Oil Myth

... You can freely go back and forth between petroleum oil and synthetic oil with no effect other than the loss in performance and longevity synthetic oil provides.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: You're free to go back to petroleum oil at anytime. The question I have for you is once you've experienced the improvement in how your vehicle operates is, "why would you?"

Amsoil applications for European vehicles: With a high performance European vehicle you have no choice, don't use the very best synthetic oil on the market for your vehicle... you will damage your engine.

Synthetic Oil Causes Oil Leaks

- Motor Oil Myth

Back in the day when petroleum oil was severly lacking compared to synthetic oil performance deposit formation within an engine using petroleum oil was common. Deposit formation from degradation of the petroleum oil plated every internal surface of an engine. Further, petroleum oil oxidized almost readily, these oxidation byproducts actually attack seal material integrity, reacting with the seal material to change the seal rubber performance negatively. Add in heat from the running engine and the seal became brittle, cracked and shrunk somewhat.

The seal attacked by broken down petroleum oil and heat should now leak but it didn't... why? The inability of the petroleum oil to keep the engine interior clean allows deposit formation to build up plating all interior surfaces of the engine forming a liquid slurry seal between the seal and a shaft for instance. If the engine in this condition now saw rapid petroleum oil changes, (fresh petroleum oil does clean), this liquid slurry seal would by dissolved away and the seal would now leak.

The myth that synthetic oil causes oil leaks came from the fact that the cleaning ability of synthetic oil was well beyond petroleum oil cleaning ability and introducing synthetic oil into an engine that already had ruined seals and plated interiors from petroleum oil inability to perform as I've described above resulted in leaking seals. Clearly the issue at hand now that you know what went on before the synthetic oil came along is not a synthetic oil issue, it's the petroleum oil caused issue from not frequent enough oil changes that set up this failure mode to occur.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: Seals operating with Amsoil synthetic oil remain supple and clean, they're not attacked by the synthetic oil, as the Amsoil synthetic oil is not breaking down remotely close to the same rate as a petroleum oil, nor, depending on the Amsoil performance tier you selected degrading at the rate of a competing synthetic oil either. Expect engine seals to last and last, likely for the entire life of the vehicle while you own it, while subsiquent owners own it and on right until the body falls off and the vehicle is finally scrapped, body rottted away with the driveline still functioning fine.

Aftermarket Oil Additives Improve Motor Oil Performance

- Motor Oil Myth

So, adding in a bottle of xyz oil additive will provide performance beyond what the oil company that carefully formulated the oil product in the first place... right? Emm... No.

The motor oil already has a balanced and matched set of additives. At best you upset this balance reducing the effectiveness of the oil, at worst, you really upset this balance. Engines have been lost due to oil changing to goo or even becoming solid in unexpectantly quick fashion.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: Don't even think it... Amsoil has tested hundreds of aftermarket oil additives with their products, a sum total of zero of them have had any positive effect with Amsoil. I'll say this another way, the very best performance an aftermarket additive has done when tested by Amsoil is nothing, the worst is to have turned perfectly good Amsoil quickly in to a black highly viscious goo.

Amsoil applications for European vehicles: Don't even think it... Your vehicle's engine is even more stressed generally than other vehicles, the negative effects of aftermarket additives simply occur faster.

Synthetic oil is better for your car's engine and synthetic oil improves your fuel economy

- Motor Oil Myth... or is it?

Depends... today we have petroleum oil with the addition of a small percentage of synthetic additives being called 'synthetic oil' to fully formulated from scratch man-made synthetic base stock, (PAO and Diester, Group IV and Group V) synthetic oils all being lumped together under the same name when their performance envelope is almost as far apart as petroleum oil is to the fully formulated man-made synthetic. In North America, this is the issue.

Knowing which oil company products are entry level synthetic to the full meal deal is the problem. Most brand name synthetic oil is the former. If the oil you are considering states it is not licensed for use outside of North America... you've found an entry level synthetic.

Amsoil offers 3 tiers of synthetic motor oil performance. All of them are better for your car's engine and all of them improve your fuel economy.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: Definitely with Amsoil synthetic oil your car's engine will perform better and improve your fuel economy.

Amsoil applications for European vehicles: You have again no choice, you must run the very best synthetic oil's available or your engine will suffer for it. Amsoil European synthetic oil is one of very few that excell in this very tough motor oil application.

Thicker is Better

- Motor Oil Myth

The reason motor oil viscosities, like 0w-20, are thinner now a days is that bearing clearances have become smaller. Using thicker oil in a modern engine will interfere with oil flow and the oil pressure will increase. In a worn engine heavier oil makes sense as the bearing clearances have become larger and a thicker oil in needed to keep oil pressure up.

Amsoil applications for North American and Asian vehicles: The high temperature performance of Amsoil synthetic motor oil is such that you can actually run what looks outwardly on the bottle to be thinner oil. When motor oil gets really hot, Amsoil synthetic oil thins too, though it thins a lot less than a petroleum and most other synthetic oils as well

Amsoil applications for European vehicles: Nope... match exactly the viscosity your vehicle manufacturer recommends.