Check out this info on why it’s critical to follow recommended service intervals.

Check out this short video on following recommended service intervals.

You’ve been hearing a lot about higher oil change intervals these days. Maybe you’re wondering: What are the key issues?

Some new vehicle manufacturers are now recommending much higher oil change intervals than they have in the past. As much as 5,000 to 8,000 miles or more. This practice came under scrutiny when four of the largest new car manufacturers announced that owners were experiencing engine damage resulting from these higher oil change intervals.

The manufacturers’ standard oil drain service for particular vehicles was scheduled at around 7,500 miles. People following these recommendations were experiencing engine damage. It turns out that oil sludge was building up. This caused small oil passages to clog and engine parts to fail.

Skipping an Oil Change

What causes oil sludge? It’s a factor of time and mileage. There are hot spots in every engine that cause oil burn off that leads to sludge. Also, water from normal condensation can build up in the oil. This water also creates sludge. Severe driving conditions lead to more rapid sludge formation.

Severe driving includes short trips under four miles or trips under ten miles in freezing conditions. The engine just doesn’t get warm enough for the water in the oil to evaporate.

Severe conditions are at the heart of the problem. Stop and go driving, towing, dusty conditions, heavy loads, very hot or very cold temperatures, a car top carrier – these are all conditions that would suggest that the severe service schedule should be considered.

The severe service schedule has much shorter oil change intervals. People just need to honestly evaluate how they drive to determine if they should change their oil closer to the severe service schedule, or to the standard schedule.

Some cars give oil change reminders. But it’s important to know how that reminder is determined. For some, the reminder simply comes when the standard mileage interval has rolled around. Others use a computer algorithm that takes into consideration the number of cold starts, trip length, engine temperature and so on. It’s programmed to approximate where on the standard/severe service spectrum you fall. Some more expensive vehicles actually have sensors that test the cleanliness and effectiveness of the oil.

For the rest of us, better safe than sorry should be the guiding principle. Talk with your service advisor and work it out together. Find out what kind of oil the factory sends out in your vehicle. Sometimes it’s a premium grade that costs more than standard oil – but it may be what’s needed to meet a higher factory recommended interval.

If you’re realistically conservative, standard grades of oil will take care of you year after year. If you want to push the limits, ask for a premium grade oil to give you extra protection.

So, what happened with those manufacturers with the problems from higher oil change intervals? They ended up extending the engine warranty for parts that were affected by oil sludge. But they had a stipulation – they lowered the oil change interval and the vehicle owner had to provide proof of oil changes at the new lower interval to keep the extended warranty.

And don’t forget to check out our other great auto video tips online at http://autonettv.com/video-library

Read your owner’s manual for maintenance intervals - watch this video to see why.

A short video on following recommended service intervals.

Your owner’s manual has a long list of service intervals - do you know them all?  Watch this video and see if you do.

Watch this video on service intervals to be safe.

Nothing in your engine workers harder than your oil.  With hundreds of moving parts, and thousands of explosions every minute, it’s no wonder that engine oil needs to be changed frequently!

You’ve probably heard the old rule of thumb: Change your oil every 3,000 miles/ 5,000 kilometers or 3 months, whichever comes first. But some car manufacturers have introduced extended oil change intervals.  They figure that a modern vehicle driven under the right conditions can go for 5,000 miles/8000 kilometers or more between oil changes.

The key phrase here is “under the right conditions”. If you look at your owner’s manual, you’ll see two different maintenance schedules: one for “normal” driving conditions and one for “Severe Service”.  Severe service driving conditions include stop and go, short trips, towing, hauling, hot, cold, and dusty driving. That’s why at AutoNetTV we often refer you to the severe service schedule in your owners’ manual, because, for most of us, that’s the way we use our cars in everyday life.

Recently, four of the largest auto manufacturers in the world have extended engine warranty coverage for engine damage caused by oil sludge resulting from longer oil change intervals.  They found that real-world conditions require more frequent oil changes than the 7,500mi/12,000 km interval they were recommending.  They subsequently recommended more frequent oil change intervals and proof of timely oil changes in order to qualify for the extended warranty.

Oil sludge is the culprit. Sludge is oil that has turned to a thick, jelly-like consistency.  Sludge can block passages in the engine, preventing oil from lubricating vital engine parts.  Parts wear more quickly and may fail prematurely.

Sludge is caused by several factors.  The first one is simply – time. The engine oil is contaminated by exhaust gas that eventually leads to sludge. That is where the recommendation to change your oil at least every three months comes from. Sludge can also come from oil that gets contaminated by water from normal condensation. A few minutes of driving at freeway speeds allows the oil to heat up enough for the water to evaporate. The problem is we often run errands or take other short trips that don’t allow the engine to warm up enough for the water to evaporate.  This is especially true in winter. Sludge also forms when the engine gets too hot, causing the oil to breakdown.  Stop and go summer driving, towing and hauling are all prime conditions for creating harmful sludge.  And every engine has hot spots that create sludge.

Given all of these factors, estimating when to change your oil is pretty complicated.  A couple of manufacturers have computer programs built into their vehicles that record the number of cold starts, how many times the cylinders fire, engine temperature and other factors.  From that, the computer estimates when you should change your oil and flashes a warning.  But what if you do not have a vehicle with this feature? How do you know when to change your oil? We’re not sure you really can.  Which is why it is better to be safe than sorry.  3,000 mi/5,000 km or three months – whichever comes first – talk with your service advisor and see if that’s a good recommendation for the way you drive.

Sometimes we hear people say, “What’s up with all this maintenance stuff?  Modern cars just don’t break down.” While it is true that today’s cars and trucks are extremely reliable, they are also becoming increasingly complicated and use more exotic materials than ever before.  All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most folks don’t realize how high tech automotive fluids have become.  Fluids like, engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.

Did you know that a modern engine would not run for more than a few months using motor oil formulas from 30 years ago?  Today’s automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle’s components from premature wear and corrosion.  Time and miles march on for all of our cars. Please don’t think we’re using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance – but here are some personal stories from AutoNetTV staff members to emphasize the importance of getting things done when they are due. Names are withheld to avoid embarrassment to those who should know better. Even though they should know better, it usually comes down to real life: time and budget.  But they are tales of a stitch in time saves nine.

The first comes from a staffer who bought a used pick-up truck for his son.  The oil was clean and all the fluids were topped off.  A short time later, the truck overheated on the highway and shut down.  The repair shop diagnosed the problem: the radiator pan was corroded and dumped the coolant. Even though the coolant level was correct, it was clear that the coolant had never been exchanged – just topped off from time to time.  While this kept the engine cool, all of the anti-corrosion additives had worn out; the coolant became acidic and ate through the radiator pan. The cost: hundred of dollars and four days in the shop. This demonstrates the need to get your coolant exchanged on schedule.

Another story involves the true cost of skipping an annual inspection.  Our staffer took his SUV in for the state safety inspection to renew his registration.  At the inspection station, he learned that the law had changed and that his newer rig only required an inspection every two years.  He was very happy to save the $45 bucks. The problem was, his rear brake pads were very worn.  Two months later, it was bad enough that he could hear the grind – over the radio, DVD player and the kids.  He took it in to get the bad news. Both of the rear brake rotors were damaged.  The left one could be resurfaced.  The right had to be replaced.  So saving a few bucks on his safety inspection turned into an extra $500 over what brake pad replacement would have been. Moral of the story: don’t skip your annual inspections.  The irony is that many service centers would have done a brake inspection for free.

Next: a teenage daughter and a curb.  Daddy’s little princess smacked a curb when she turned into a shopping center and popped the tire.  The problem came when Dad didn’t get an alignment.  The impact was hard enough to ruin the tire – so it was hard enough wreck the alignment.  But instead of an alignment after the first tire, Papa ended up buying a second tire a few months later – and then an alignment.

Situation: son and wife with cars from the same manufacturer with essentially the same engine.  Our staffer checked the son’s maintenance schedule and saw that it needed a timing belt replacement at 90,000 miles/145,000 km.  He had it done – it cost several hundred dollars. His wife’s car had about 60,000 miles/97,000 km, so it should be ok for a while. Right? Wrong. The problem was that the wife had the turbo charged version.  Its belt was scheduled for replacement at 60,000 mi/97,000 km.  At 63,000 mi./101,000 km, the belt snapped on the interstate.  The valves all crashed down into the cylinders at high speed and the entire head was shredded and had to be replaced. The cost: several thousand dollars.  Does he wish he had checked the maintenance schedule?  You bet he does – every time he passes a big-screen TV.

We’re talking about taking care of little things before they become big things.  And when you take care of the little things, your car runs better and is more economical to operate. Remember to save those maintenance records.  It’ll show potential buyers that you’ve taken care of your vehicle and it will help you get a better price. Or when you buy a used car, check those records.  If there aren’t any, assume that the maintenance hasn’t been done and take it to your service center for an inspection.  Take care of unperformed maintenance sooner rather than later.

A lot of our viewers have asked whether or not they should use their severe service maintenance schedule, which is listed in their car owners’ manual.  It can be confusing.  Let’s clear the air on this subject. Cricket Killingsworth is from QMI/Heartland, a manufacturer of automotive products and fluids. She’s been in the automotive business for 20 years and is a speaker, a trainer, and a writer.  Cricket says there’s so much confusion on this topic because, “Most owners’ manuals actually have two maintenance schedules.  Sometimes these are called ‘regular service’ and ‘severe service’.  Sometimes they’re simply called Schedule 1 and Schedule 2.  A severe service schedule recommends that things like oil changes, air filter replacement, and transmission service be done more often:  either in fewer miles or in less time.”

Manufacturers create these specific schedules for each vehicle they make.  So there isn’t one generic schedule that applies to all cars.  In addition to your owners’ manual, service centers subscribe to information services that provide the maintenance schedules for every vehicle – so they can help you know when to take care of needed services. Below is a typical definition for severe service.

• Most trips are less than four miles
• Most trips are less than ten miles and outside temperatures are below freezing
• You drive in very hot weather
• The engine is at low speed most of the time (not on the highway)
• Stop and go driving
• You operate your vehicle in dusty or muddy conditions
• You tow a trailer, regularly carry heavy loads or carry a car-top carrier

It’s common sense:  Just a few minutes at freeway speeds allows the moisture in the oil to evaporate.  Very short trips, or trips of less than ten miles when it’s very cold, don’t allow the engine to heat up enough to get rid of the water.  And water in the oil leads to damaging sludge.  Also, towing and heavy loads raise operating temperatures and cause fluids to breakdown more quickly.  Dusty and muddy driving means that more dirt will get past the air filter to contaminate the fuel system and engine oil.

The bottom line is that you need to decide for yourself if the regular or severe service schedule is right for you, based on your driving.  Look at your owners’ manual, or talk with your service advisor who can help you know which schedule to follow.

Here is what a fleet manager said recently:  “Since city miles are generally tougher on vehicles than highway miles, we use the manufacture’s serve service schedule as the basis for our preventative maintenance program.  We massage those schedules over time, increasing or decreasing the service intervals so that they make the most sense.  There is a little bit of art to go along with the science.”

Make an honest evaluation of your driving habits.  Unless you do mostly highway driving in moderate weather, you’ll likely have a fairly good amount of severe service mixed in.  Some people just want to play it safe and follow the severe service recommendations, rather than analyzing how they drive each month.