Oil Change - How often?

[firstmazda]

How often should we be changing our oil?
Is it enough to have it changed at each scheduled service or with intervals in between?

(I\'m concidered a \"spirited driver\" btw)

[majic]

i\'m used to changing oil every 5K.. dealer says every 8K.. with my mom\'s accord we do 8K b/c she drives 90% of the time and she doesn\'t HIT IT! ;)

i think i will be changing every 6K i haven\'t decided yet.. i think u can go a bit longer once u swicth to synthetic

[bluntman]

I\'m doing it as per Mazda, every 8000km. I\'m also adding in a can of Molyslip everytime I get the oil changed for that little bit extra protection.

[mEtH]

I do mine every 6K because they recommend 8K but I don\'t drive it for the best mileage on a daily basis, if you know what I mean ;)

I\'m afraid to see how it is around 7K or 8K because its quite dark already at 6K.

[miggiddy]

I\'ll try sticking with 8000. I\'m pretty easy on the engine...well most of the time.;)

[billyfo]

8k or 4 mths is recommended, but I stick to 8K, sometimes even longer:p

[majic]

Originally posted by billyfo


8k or 4 mths is recommended, but I stick to 8K, sometimes even longer:p

it\'s whichever comes first.. so if you do 16K in 4 mths u should have changed your oil 1ce already and go for another :p

[RedRaptor]

I\'m going to do mine every 4000km. I have my first one in two weeks and my car will have 3000 km on it by then.

[majic]

Originally posted by RedRaptor


I\'m going to do mine every 4000km. I have my first one in two weeks and my car will have 3000 km on it by then.

every 4K??? isn\'t that a tad excessive.. i understand 5K like in the old days but 4? are you going synthetic anytime soon? b/c that\'ll get expensive.. or was that a typo? first early oil change ok.. but then u can ease off a bit..

[RedRaptor]

majic,

No I\'m not going synthetic, but if I was, then it would be really expensive. I\'m going to aim for every 4k but I am sure it will be around 4.5k or 5k. I just believe in frequent oil changes to keep the engine in good shape and since an oil change is $30, it isn\'t too expensive to have it changed often.

[majic]

ic ic.. b/c a synthetic oil change would make this much more expensive.. but the good thing about synthetic is that you can go a little longer.. in any event i will aim for roughly 6K maybe more often once i get all the stuff (jack/stands/oil stuff) to change it myself.. and depending on how long it would take whether it\'s worth my effort or not..

[bluntman]

Or you can do what one lady (I think in Ontario) did with her Toyota Tercel. She never changed her oil...ever. After her engine siezed she sued Toyota claiming that in the owner\'s manual it stated that \"...(Toyota) suggests changing the oil every 6,000km or every 6 months...\". Her beef was with the word \"suggests\" and that it wasn\'t mandatory to change it at that interval, but a mere \"suggestion\". She sued and Toyota did not back down.

It just goes to show how stupid some people can be!!!

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by majic


ic ic.. b/c a synthetic oil change would make this much more expensive.. but the good thing about synthetic is that you can go a little longer.. in any event i will aim for roughly 6K maybe more often once i get all the stuff (jack/stands/oil stuff) to change it myself.. and depending on how long it would take whether it\'s worth my effort or not..

if the oil filter is still the cartridge one in the 2005, you will quickly see that the time and effort involved in a DIY oil change on the 2.3L isn\'t worth it...for me anyway, that\'s how i feel now. the shield at the bottom is the biggest deterrant for me, along with replacing the o-rings on the cartridge holder. don\'t get me wrong, however, i love doing that stuff (just changed the oil on the mom\'s integra this weekend) but if that damn hole in the shield lined up perfectly with the filter, DIY oil changes would\'ve been MUCH quicker.

unless you are meticulous about the procedure, it\'s cheaper to have a good dealership do it.

[majic]

Originally posted by MajesticBlueN



Originally posted by majic


ic ic.. b/c a synthetic oil change would make this much more expensive.. but the good thing about synthetic is that you can go a little longer.. in any event i will aim for roughly 6K maybe more often once i get all the stuff (jack/stands/oil stuff) to change it myself.. and depending on how long it would take whether it\'s worth my effort or not..

if the oil filter is still the cartridge one in the 2005, you will quickly see that the time and effort involved in a DIY oil change on the 2.3L isn\'t worth it...for me anyway, that\'s how i feel now. the shield at the bottom is the biggest deterrant for me, along with replacing the o-rings on the cartridge holder. don\'t get me wrong, however, i love doing that stuff (just changed the oil on the mom\'s integra this weekend) but if that damn hole in the shield lined up perfectly with the filter, DIY oil changes would\'ve been MUCH quicker.

unless you are meticulous about the procedure, it\'s cheaper to have a good dealership do it.

1) i HEARD (unconfirmed) that thge 05s were coming with spin-on filters can anyone cofirm this?
2) someone has a write up to convert from cartridge to spin-on
3) priolly will be too lazy (too cold in the winter too) to bother with it
4) buddy works at speedy and can do the oil changes for me (he has a 3 as well so he knows what he\'s doing)
5) cartridge sux..

[bluntman]

Originally posted by majic


1) i HEARD (unconfirmed) that thge 05s were coming with spin-on filters can anyone cofirm this?
2) someone has a write up to convert from cartridge to spin-on
3) priolly will be too lazy (too cold in the winter too) to bother with it
4) buddy works at speedy and can do the oil changes for me (he has a 3 as well so he knows what he\'s doing)
5) cartridge sux..

1) I wouldn\'t see why not, they switched over mid-season for the 04 cars.

2) Here you go! (http://www.mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=6983&highlight=spinon)

[majic]

nice.. for once i didn\'t feel like searching :p thx

i think i saw another one on msprotege.com in the how-to area

[teambedlam]

Well you learn something new everyday. I never knew my car had the canister type. Or even that there was something other then the spin ons.

[Dudeit]

The dealer says 8000km, but the oil will be dirty and cooked by that time, what I do is
change my oil myself at 4000 km, without changing the filter, then have the dealer change it at 8000 km including a new filter.