# Oil change how often?



## KingJacobo (Jul 6, 2011)

I changed the oil on my Pontiac (Bonneville, not GTO if it has any significance) on Feb 1 of this year. I'm going back to college in a few days and was planning on changing the oil every 6 months on my baby (which would mean change the oil now). A few details:

-car is not a daily driver, only driven 1-2 times per week (weekend cruiser :cool)
- driven less than 20 miles or less on said cruises

The owners manual says something along the lines of every 3 months, but that was back in the day of poor quality oil. I have Pennzoil high mileage in there now and have Castrol high mileage part synthetic waiting for the next oil change. 

Should I do an oil change every 6 months given how little the car is driven or can I go longer? Not willing to take any chances gumming up the engine but if it is unnecessary I'll wait until I should do an oil change. 

So, change the oil now or later, and if so, when?


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

I do it twice a year whether it needs it or not. I run a NAPA Gold line filter and the Valvoline Racing 20w-50, has the additive for the flat tappet lifters.


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## pontiac (Mar 6, 2011)

"The owners manual says something along the lines of every 3 months, but that was back in the day of poor quality oil."

Actually oil quality has not changed since the car was built. Multigrade oils (non synthetic) are still the same as always. Oh, there are more choices, but the oil has only changed to meet manufacturers \ government specifications. the oil change interval is based on oil getting dirty, not about it breaking down, unless you are driving on an endurance run or race track. For the older cars, emissions specs have changed the oil composition more so for flat tappet cams, so actually the older oils are better.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

I go by mileage, not time. And always have. Oil won't degrade just sitting there. It will degrade with a lot of start up's to move the car without really warming it up by driving it several miles. I generally change my oil about once a year on the '67, and about every other year on the '65 (3000 miles). The new oil has indeed changed, it no longer has the needed amounts of zinc and phosphorus needed to protect your camshaft and lifters. So, you need a specialized oil as mentioned or you need a ZDDP additive.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

I change it in the spring before the start of the "season," and put a new filter on it. I put maybe 2K miles on the car during the season.


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## KingJacobo (Jul 6, 2011)

So would you guys say I should wait until I hit ~2000 miles to do my next oil change? I've only put on ~1000 since the last oil change and never run the engine without warming it up for a few minutes.

And I've done some research on that ZDD additive, how much of you guys add an oil additive? I had never heard of this until now. My engine has 227k on it and I don't believe it's recently been rebuilt. The websites stress the 'break in period' but I have long passed that. Soo...still a good idea to add the additives?


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## SANDU002 (Oct 13, 2004)

The best way is to just pull the dipstick and see if the oil looks clear. If it is, no need to change it, but when you do be sure to also replace the filter.


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

Changing the oil more frequently will do no harm at all and I agree with basing it on mileage and how the oil looks- some thing to be more concerned about these days is gas with ethanol in it (basically all gas) if this stuff sits in your tank for 3 months it WILL absorb water and degrade significantly - causing rough running problems, water in the fuel line etc,etc. best thing to do is drive the car ,use the fuel and add a fuel stabilizer when storing for a long time


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

I checked my oil level after about 1500+ miles was a quart low the oil looked as fresh as it did when I installed it. Waste of money to change it again.


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