Servicing infrequently driven cars

[TheOtherLeft]

I have to do a service on my girflriends car soon. It only gets driven about 2000km a year which is nothing.

I was going to change the engine oil but is it really necessary to change the oil filter as well?

[want33s]

You are wasting your time changing the oil if you don't change the filter as well..... Never put new oil through an old filter.

Look at any cars' service schedule and you'll see the services need to be done at XX,000km or every 6 months as oils deteriorate as soon as they are contaminated IE. Pouring new oil into your engine contaminates it instantly by mixing with a bit of the old oil.

[chimpboy]

You are wasting your time changing the oil if you don't change the filter as well..... Never put new oil through an old filter

I agree, personally. However for years the practice of a heck of a lot of people was always to replace oil every service, and filter every second service. So it is probably not completely silly.

I would let oil go more than 6 months without any hesitation at all on a vehicle that was doing only low kms. But I don't know the science of it all so I could be wrong.

[coxy321]

For the sake of a $12 filter, why wouldn't you replace it?

Probably wouldn't hurt to check the battery terminals for corrosion, and also the radiator pipes incase they're starting to harden up.

[chunks]

Replace the oil and filter, and do it every 6 months otherwise you will end up with a majorly sludged engine.

[Yom]

Find the service manual for the car. You can't go wrong going with what they say. You might find that all the other fluids (Brake, steering, coolant) require changing every 12 or 24 months regardless of use too.

[joshy]

You are wasting your time changing the oil if you don't change the filter as well..... Never put new oil through an old filter

I agree, personally. However for years the practice of a heck of a lot of people was always to replace oil every service, and filter every second service. So it is probably not completely silly.

I would let oil go more than 6 months without any hesitation at all on a vehicle that was doing only low kms. But I don't know the science of it all so I could be wrong.

In the nissan service manual they say to change the oil every service and filter every second unless in extreme conditions. But like others have said i just change it everytime i change the oil.

[BeNoS]

if you read most service manuals you will find almost all conditions for extreme driving are met in oz just by driving down to the shop on a summers day.
ie high temp, stop start traffic driving, short drives, long idling periods.
all of these are considered extreme driving conditions. and all are quite hard on oil and as others say for the price of a filter why not change it at the same time. your just flushing your new oil into the old oil left in the filter and its possibly blocked already so no more filtering can be done.
id change it.
also mostly coolant and brake fluid should be changed every 40000kms or 24 months whihc ever comes first. that covers most vehicles without long life coolant.
also just make sure when you go to drain the oil make sure she is nice and warm first. this will get all the impurities floating in the oil so when you dump it it all comes out with the oil and not just left in the bottom of the sump.

[want33s]

In the nissan service manual they say to change the oil every service and filter every second unless in extreme conditions. But like others have said i just change it everytime i change the oil.

That is something I'd like to see.

[falco80]

In the nissan service manual they say to change the oil every service and filter every second unless in extreme conditions. But like others have said i just change it everytime i change the oil.

That is something I'd like to see.

Thats the same as my cruiser. Filter every second oil change. I personally change the filter everytime i drop the oil, but i have heard people say that a used filter can filter down to a finer level. I dont like the idea of it anyway.

In a Petrol vehicle that is infrequently used i'd change the oil/filter every 12 months, but i wouldn't leave a diesel go over 6 months.