Car oil question? Appearance and smell. Is brown, not blackish and burnt-smelling, OK?

Question

I'm a chick with an 85 Chevy truck and I try to maintain and replace faithfully. I only put about 7,000 mi. per year on it, if that. A neighbor told me if the oil looks dark brown and smells kinda burnt I need an oil change. So I did that then. Currently the oil is kinda medium brown. Those '3,000 mi' or 3 mo.' rules of Jiffy Lube seem a little extreme to me, plus they try to sell me everything in the shop, including a radiator flush that totally blew my radiator apart. So, sometimes I use a Jiffy Lube to change my oil, sometimes my car mech neighbor. Can someone tell me the real scoop on car oil-- what should acceptable oil look like? Do I follow the 3 month suggestion even if I've only driven 1400 miles in 3 months?
PS The truck doesn't burn any oil. 128,000 orig. mi.
Thanks!!!

Answer 1

Myrmidon ... Jiffy Lube is good at one thing: selling everything they can to you in a jiffy.

As another answer said, start with your manufacturer's recommended maximum mileage as a starting point. For example, if your manual says change the oil when you've gone 7,000 miles, try to not exceed that limit. Going over a little is not going to kill anything. HOWEVER, review these additional considerations:
• If you make lots of short trips, you will build-up condensation inside your engine. Take the truck for a long drive (at least 20 minutes) every week, if possible, to eliminate the moisture build-up. If you cannot take this long drive once each week, consider yourself as a "heavy service" driver and change the oil by the 3,000 or 4,000 mile point.
• If you don't drive the truck much, change the oil after 4 or 5 months whether you've driven 7,000 miles or not.
• Other heavy service conditions also mean you should change the oil after 3,000 or 4,000 miles. Heavy service means lots of stop-and-go city-style driving, dusty environment, towing a trailer or other heavy loads.

No, I'm not a mechanic. Just someone who's able to keep his vehicles for over 200,000 miles with the car still starting first time, every time!

Also, do you listen to the radio program "Car Talk" on National Public Radio? Well, Tom and Ray are a thousand laughs, but they know about cars. See my link below which I think is good, plain English advice on oil changes. Yes, you can find a million web sites that talk about the science of lubricants, but I know you just want to know how often to change it; you're not trying to PRODUCE it.

Good luck, Myrmidon.

Answer 2

Try taking a sledgehammer and smashing your engine into small pieces. You'll get the same result as taking it to Jiffy Lube, and save a lot of time. It's kind of hard to understand why you'd still go there if they wrecked your radiator.
Oil gets dark pretty quick. It's usually good for 7 or 8 thousand miles. One thing that could be making it turn brown is if you take a lot of short trips, If you never get the engine hot enough, you never burn out the condensation that collects in the oil, and your exhaust system will rot out.

Answer 3

like everyone has said, try to stick with a general oil changing routine. If you're not putting on that many miles (unless you're driving on a lot of dirt roads) you should be alright with getting your oil changed ever 3,000 - 5,000 miles.

Also, make sure you're getting the same oil every time. If you're using a regular 5w-30, stick with it (brand name and all).

If you're using a oil geared for higher mileage vehicles, or a synthetic stick with that.

you're hurting your engine more if you aren't consistent with the oil then if you never got the oil changed.

Answer 4

Get your oil changed about every 3,000 miles. I don't think it is necessary to have it changed every 3 months regardless of the miles. I think your oil is o.k. if it is brown and I wouldn't be concerned about the smell.
You should learn to change the oil yourself as it is not difficult.

Answer 5

Simply go by your car owner's manual. If it says to get an oil change at 5000 miles, then do it. Your taking good care of your car, and that's what's important. If you don't get to 5000 miles in one year, then have your engine oil changed anyways.

Answer 6

yes follow the 3 months oil runs the car burnt,brown, smell means you did not get it changed make ad model does not apply I could say more but thats all you need just do it

Answer 7

are you using the right oil? it should be 10W30 and yes you should change your oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles.

Answer 8

yep your neighbor is right ,chick,if it looks and smells burnt,then its high time it needs changed,and filter too.