How to know when its time for an oil change?

[davey]

I know each car, well at least each manufacturer has a recommended period or distance in which to change the oil but what about if you bought a car that the previous owner has changed the oil?

I’m only talking about my little ford fiesta, but i do a lot of miles in it and at the moment i can get 4 litres of oil and a filter from a national car part centre for less then £10 (sorry i dont know the us conversion!) The previous owner said he had changed the oil, and to be fair there was a receipt in the glove box which stated oil had been bought but no evidence of it actually going into this car. The oil filter is rusted which tells me it hasnt been changed recently, and this oil change was apparently in august of this year.

Say it has been changed in August, can it really hurt if i was to change the oil again? As i say i do alot of miles and i want to keep it running as efficiently as possible especially with an upcoming MOT!

Topic

[metaled05]

The first thing I do is change the oil. Ive never had a new car off the lot, so I dont know how long its been since the oil was changed. Make sure your buying the correct oil for it!

Plus its like a new bonding experience with the car. 🙂

[davey]

Oh yeah it’s the correct oil, its just the shop i having a huge sale and i can use my trade discount card… so i think i will be doing just so tomorrow!

Yeah I am just the same, the car drives and runs superb so i have debated it hence the thread.

[college man]

since your the new owner.change the oil.This way you know
the mileage and the date when it got done.now you can track
the mileage for your oil changes.

[Charles]

After you change the oil, monitor the level often till you determine oil consumption, if any. Once you determine consumption, change the oil at manufacturer recommended intervals or when the level reaches the add mark. Which ever comes first. My old car with high milage uses one quart every 1000 miles so I change the oil every 2000, when the 2nd quart is due. When the rings are loose and oil consumption is high the oil gets dirty faster.

[Jeff Banfield]

Yes I agree with these guy’s changing your cars oil can be probably one of the cheapest most important
things you can do to your car. It is great bonding experience you can share with your car. Think of it like changing a babies diaper…..wait dont do that, anyways you get the point. Cheap+Easy= Awesome!! banana:

[DieselMan]

yes def. go ahead and change the oil and filter and I would also go ahead and look at the condition of the trans (or dif.) fluid.

[davey]

thank you for all the replies, i have now gone ahead and got myself some oil and a filter to change within the next day or so. i recently replaced the passenger side driveshaft oil seal as the gearbox was leaking from there and i have since changed the entire gearbox fluid and she straight away changes gear much easier 🙂

[Edwin]

If you don’t know when the other fluids were changed, I’ll add it’s a good thing to change all of them.

You will now know when they’ve been done, and it definitely won’t hurt the car. The only possible exception is automatic transmission fluid; if it hasn’t been changed in a LONG time.

[EricTheCarGuy]

You can’t hurt anything by changing the oil ‘too much’. When in doubt, change the oil. Just make sure you use the correct oil of the correct viscosity. I often change the oil when I first get a used car just to set the ‘reset’ button.

[Author]

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