Oil change intervals?

Technical Area Routine Servicing
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Changed it in April

My journey to work is very short, 10 minute drive, but I try and get a couple of decent runs in at the weekend

Is it due another now?

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That’s nearly 5 months.

How many miles has it done since that change?  How many miles on the clock?

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What is the recommended oil change interval in the handbook? It will quote a mileage or time interval. Stick to that and you can’t go wrong. Change oil more frequently than that at you might be wasting money on oil, but you can’t do any harm.

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not sure of milages, maybe 3000?

 

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 If you are changing the oil yourself - and can afford it - and really worried this is what I would do:

1.  Change the oil and filter now.

2.  Six months later just change the oil.  There will be some “old oil” remaining in the filter but as it is only 3000ish miles it will not matter that much.

3.  Six months after that change both again

4.  Repeat

Or you can follow Mazada’s recommendations and stick to what they say.

 

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ok, cheers

only bought it this year so I think 'll change it now

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Probably best to change it soon! 

I have a very low mileage (5000) Mk3 and I do a mixture of short runs and long runs. I did not want the cost of uneccessary oil changes, but all the service peoples I have spoken to, including Mazda, recommend that I change the oil every 12 months regardless of the low mileage.  Apparently, even with synthetic oils there is deterioration, especially if you do short journeys (less than 10 miles from cold) as oil breaks down faster when it is cold. I’m no expert, but I would rather pay for an annual oil change if that is what service experts recommend, than have premature engine wear or seals going sometime in the future.

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pre-1994 cars had a 6000 mile change, in 1994, Mazda decided it could be 9000 miles. Same oil though used in 1994 as 1993. The 9000 mile change was introduced to reduce the cost of ownership for the 1st or 2nd owner, the only owners likely to grace a Mazda dealership. After that, a cynic would say they don’t care (hint, 9000 miles is too long).

1 Like
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A cynic might also say the 6,000 mile service was artificially short to increase service revenue, especially as the customer’s expectation of maintenance costs used MGs as the benchmark.

But then another cynic wouldn’t believe that.

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Another cynic might also say those who change at 3000 miles are mugs. But I’m not one of those.

So you are suggesting that Mazda is a charitable organisation, who really do want people to save money?

The line that has been trotted out to me over the years is that extended service intervals are possible due to new synthetic oils, that suit constant high rpm running (eg. highway driving), which I can buy for Mondeo or Vectra driver, since manufacturers now often specify their own branded longlife oils. But I don’t think the general pattern of usage for MX5 owners has changed all that much over the years, and they probably use their cars in much the same way as MG, Triumph, A-R owners did of a generation earlier. The oil grade specified in 1994 cars, as far as I know, is the same as in 1993 cars.

 

[Mg Midget Mk3 service intervals; every 3000 miles, change oil if using monograde oil, every 6000 miles if using multigrade, at least BMC acknowledged new fangled oils, rather than pretending 1993 10W30 = 1994 10W30. I dare say the difference in performance between a monograde and multigrade oil was as much a jump in performance as going from a conventional mineral/semi-synthetic multigrade to modern mass market full synthetics]

Cue Oilman.

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As somebody who worked for many years in the Lubricants division of a major oil company all you need do is stick to the grade of oil recommended for your car and the drain intervals as recommended.
The oils are tested to destruction and have lots of ‘safety margin’ built into the specifications.
As suggested above synthetics and semi synthetic are often, but not exclusively, used in variable service interval cars such as BMW and Audi. In some cases there can be very specific reasons to stick to a grade/brand e.g. My ‘other’ car is a Jaguar XF which requires a ‘low ash’ oil which is only produced by about 2 or 3 oil companies.
Some people like to use synthetics etc. in their engines even when not specified. It shouldn’t cause any problems but equally there is a degree of overkill so it’s not really necessary but “you pays your money and you takes your choice”.
Oil will degrade over time but not within twelve months usually. How do you know that the oil you are buying from Halfords etc. is not already six months old when you buy it? What degrades it is usage so low mileage over 12 months is not necessarily a bad thing…unless it is specified to change the oil every 12 months by the car manufacturer. In this day and age I cannot see any need to change oils at 6 months unless, of course, you have done a high mileage in that period in which case you will have exhausted some of the oil’s protective properties.

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My twopeneth:

 

I change at 6000 miles or Yearly whichever comes first.

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Sorry, missed this - no, I was suggesting that Mazda cynically recommended more frequent service intervals than was needed in order to make more money for servicing, then increased this later in the model cycle to improve new car sales (but without having to invest anything at all in engineering or tooling).

My way round they don’t risk increased warrentee claims, but they do make more money in accordance with a pre-arranged business plan.

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I remember seeing a post about a tool to remove the oil filter

can anyone remember where it is?