is 5000 miles too long to wait for an oil change?

[Absolutely Red 12]

Originally Posted by bronsin

I think the oil change intervals are longer because of FI. WHen engines had carbs you were warned not to idle the engine. I think thats because the mixture in a carbed engine at idle is too rich. And imprecise at all speeds in general. I know changing the oil in my 74 VW Beetle every 2k miles the oil smelled of gasoline.

With FI the mixture is very nearly correct for all rpms. When I change the oil in my FI cars at 6k miles the oil smells like it did coming out of the bottle.

Also in general an engine that is driven longer distances between startup and shutdown is less hard on its oil than one that is driven short distances. The longer your drive interval the longer you can go between changes. Short distance driven vehicles, like my Yaris, need more frequent changes.

Absolutely correct!!