Saturday, October 17, 2009

Just How Committed Are We To Saving Oil?



My intentions were right but my research was wrong. Motor oil is a by product of the refinement process for gasoline and so we still need to focus on the ways to reduce our gasoline usage. Shucks!



A customer came in today and picked up their new car and while I was reviewing the service schedule with them I was struck as to like the teabaggers and the birthers many well intentioned folks have a difficultly in changing years old habits and are recalcitrant to change.

Ford recommends that you change your oil under most operating conditions every 7500 miles and it would be reasonable to think that this is a conservative view of just how long an engine today can go without changing the oil. Read this.

The reason I bring this up is that if everyone who bought a new car or truck started changing oil at 7500 miles instead of 3000, how much oil could we save. How about 10 million barrels a year. One days present usage. Not much in the scheme of things, but a start.

2 comments:

P M Prescott said...

I try to get an oil change and tire rotation every six thousand miles. The oil places drive you crazy trying to get you do it every three thousand.

One Fly said...

I would never go that long myself and those figures are the perfect case scenario.

At work intervals are shortened a bit because these machines work very hard under stressful conditions.

I have a B&S V-Twin with 5000hrs on it. That is amazing.

I agree that in many cases intervals could go longer and if not oil changed more frequently can be refined and rejuvenated to be close to "new" once again.