No Need to Change Oil

[jschunke]

A dealer salesman said for Caddys one does

not have to change the engine oil after the first

thousand miles. Same with the rear differential

fluid. Says, in fact, it's better to keep the little

bits of original metal floating around in the oil

to help break things in. Sounds like hogwash to

me.

[epricedright]

A dealer salesman said for Caddys one does

not have to change the engine oil after the first

thousand miles. Same with the rear differential

fluid. Says, in fact, it's better to keep the little

bits of original metal floating around in the oil

to help break things in. Sounds like hogwash to

me.

That's a new one. Was his oil change guy on vacation?

[Ranger]

I seem to recall the Guru saying basically the same thing, that the days of changing oil after the first 500 - 1000 miles on a new car are long gone.

[JimD]

Exactly.

Engine oils, oil additive chemistry, and oil filters are light years better than 30 years ago.

[epricedright]

I find this statement hard to believe:

"it's better to keep the little

bits of original metal floating around in the oil

to help break things in."

Is that statement true? Why does your oil need metal shavings in it to break things in? Wouldn't it break in just fine with no metal shavings, and just the oil? Seems like it would do more harm than good to have metal shavings grinding away at everything.

[jschunke]

Here's a pic of an opened oil filter (my chevy

silverado (5.3 L)) after 800 miles. Bottom is pre-

filtered, top is filtered side. The shiny things are

pieces of metal trapped by the filter. The filter did

well in trapping those pieces of metal, but some

got by for sure. The drain plug magnet caught

quite a few filings as well. Won't know what the

new caddy filter looks like since the dealer's doing

the first oil change.

[Ranger]

Consider thet fact that in post #1 jschunke said that it was a "salesman" who said "it's better to keep the little bits of original metal floating around in the oil to help break things in". That in itself speaks volumns. That said, the filter catches it as shown above. I doubt it does any harm or most engins would fail shortly after delivery. How many miles on the Silverado now? I suspect it is still running strong with no problems.

[Cadillac Jim]

CHANGE THE OIL AT 500 MILES, AND REGULARLY THEREAFTER

It sounds to me like that salesman figures on bringing the car down in four years so he can sell you a new one. He would never give that advice on a leased car. The service manager would probably wring his neck if he knew because Service is going to bear the brunt of the consequences. Uh, also... would you believe me if I told you that I think that it's possible, no -- likely, that GM profiles service warranty work in its dealers?

JASPER'S ADVICE

When I got my Jasper, the installer told me to go 1,000 to 3,000 miles before I changed the oil the first time because I use Mobil 1, so I called Jasper, who stipulates 500 miles in their literature. They said that they wouldn't void the warranty if I waited for 1,000 miles but that their experience was that the best compromise for generating the filings and collecting them in the filter and magnetic drain plug and getting them out of the engine was 500 miles. So, I changed my oil at 500 miles.

One lifter occasionally wanted to stick for a minute or two on cold starts. It started about a week after I got the new engine. It is very slowly getting better, and at nearly 5,000 miles it isn't really noticable any more. This was almost certainly caused by a tiny piece of metal that got in the lifter. Northstar lifters only move when that particular lifter is on a cam lobe when the engine is shut down and it bleeds down overnight, then pump up on cold start, so it takes a long time to wear in a sticky lifter. My installer suggested I call Jasper and ask about an additive or something. But, the engine is marvelously quiet after warm-up, with only the whirr of the alternator audible with the hood up -- and you can't hear even that if the A/C is on and the fans are on low. I'm leaving it alone.

Now, why would I want tens of these little vandals searching around my oil passages for bearings or someplace to leave score marks, or even worse get between the piston and walls or in the rings -- or in another lifter? Give me a good oil filter, a magnetic drain plug, and a good 500-mile oil change. I'll overlook one slightly sticky lifter that is wearing in.

OLD WAR STORY ABOUT USED CAR WITH NO OIL CHANGES

When my wife and I got to CA from New England in 1986, all the GM and Ford dealers wanted $2K over sticker price going in. That's not the way I do business, and not having time to fly to Las Vegas to pick up a car, we found a 1984 Tempo in the paper. It had Shelby wheels and a handling package, and was for sale by the first owner, a woman who was part of an empty-nest couple.

In inspecting the car, I saw that the oil was very dirty and the radiator water was very rusty. But, the car had just under 30,000 miles on it so we took a chance and bought it.

After we paid for the car, the woman opened up a little, and expressed her opinion that things like oil changes, anti-freeze, wiper blades, and such were scams to fleece the public. Her long-suffering husband saw my deer-in-the-headlights look and gave us a break to just leave, saying "enjoy the car." It had never ever had

• New car service such as tightening the head bolts.
• An oil change.
• Anti-freeze.
• Grease job.
• Wiper blades.
• Etc.

We gave the car a lot of service including a radiator flush and new belts and hoses. The engine was on the ragged edge of an oil-burning kamikaze the whole time we had it; it would start to smoke and guzzle oil if we went more than 2,000 miles or so on an oil change. But, with careful maintenance, it was a very good car for four years and a whole lot of miles. It was in about the same shape as when we bought it when we traded it in on a 1990 Pontiac.