Oil changes are based upon two things, mileage between oil changes and the time between them.

You forgot the oil temperature.
Perhaps the most important factor for oil changes.
The higher the temperature the oil will degrade faster.
Synthetic oil last about 3 times longer than mineral oil.
Since cars are not used 24 hours per day it's difficult to base oil changes per mileage and time between them.

All wrong. Only correct way is to send the oil out for laboratory spectroscopic analysis. Wouldn't bother on a car engine, should be done on an aircraft engine.

, so I get to pay $331.80, which is what I wrote the rent check for, it will pay for everything, except the electricity this month, and that is out of My hands. It's lower than the $451.89 that I'd predicted, all cause of YEM(Yes Energy Management) wanting to transition from 3 different billing systems to 1, so this month I'm so far saving $120.09, though it doesn't seem right.

Just keep in mind that if you don't pay it this month, it will probably be added onto next month's bill, making your rent then more like $570.

I'll see what happens next month. Since that $331.80 is the bill for this month as far as the manager is concerned. The park got a discount for the errors He told Me.

So I got the oil changed, the headlights cleaned, bought some groceries, got some supplies for the blood and urine samples in the morning, and I bought some gas for the car.

I have to fast from midnight to 10am.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Not strictly true. In essence, the oil also needs to reach it's optimum temperature, at which impurities in the oil, mostly caused by fuel dilution are burned off, or reduced. This is the primary reason why journeys that are short and don't allow the engine to reach it's normal operating temperature can actually cause more damage to an engine, than entering the 'M25 Grand Prix'! Having said that, fuel dilution is more likely to be seen in higher mileage engines, in particular where there is excessive wear to the cylinder walls, piston rings and pistons (we made those, too......Hepolite and Wellworthy).

That's true that the primary reason why journeys that are short and don't allow the engine to reach it's normal operating temperature can actually cause more damage to an engine, than entering the 'M25 Grand Prix'!
But I very much doubt it's because by fuel dilution are burned off, or reduced.
No, because the oil needs a certain temperature to have the right viscosity to avoid wear.
Without wear there will be less impurities and so on...

I grew up with the old mantra of 3 months or 3000 miles, whichever comes first. I pretty much stuck with it (except for my mother's car when it wasn't being driven much any more, until my car died and I started driving hers) until my current car, which apparently calculates its remaining oil life based on the driving pattern. On-star would tell me that in my monthly report, but I let Verizon talk me into a Hum along with my new phone and dropped On-star. Recently, the change oil light came on for the first time in the nearly six years I've owned it.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Oh and I almost forgot, the Yellow text reads "Service Engine Soon", the code is P0171 or the engine is lean, the mechanic thought it might be a vacuum problem.

My 3rd or center brake light will cost Me about $50 to have done, the bulb is dead.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Changing lights is something I still do myself.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Changing lights is something I still do myself.

Good for you David, this one is behind the back seat, an area that I can't get to.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Changing lights is something I still do myself.

Good for you David, this one is behind the back seat, an area that I can't get to.

Yeah, I suppose that would be a problem.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Fuel dilution of oil is a major concern on some new engines until the rings and bores have mutually honed each other to shape - hence the short first oil change interval.

My current vehicle displays a message "service xxx", where xxx is the number of days to next service, based on your average daily mileage - this can get very confused if, like me, I either do 4 miles a day, 40 miles or 400 miles. Currently says "service due 100" - which is more or less what I guessed, and will mean about 21,000 miles since last service!

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

The higher the temperature the oil will degrade faster.
Synthetic oil last about 3 times longer than mineral oil.
Since cars are not used 24 hours per day it's difficult to base oil changes per mileage and time between them.

Modern synthetic oils are designed to cope with higher operating temperatures than mineral oils. 3 times life is debatable. It is not difficult to calculate service intervals.
My BMW Z3 has an electronic computer controlled service regime which computes 3 factors. Firstly the time since the last service. Secondly, the type of driving that the car has been subjected to. Thirdly the mileage driven. The first warning light is an "Oil service", the second is an "Inspection 1, the third is an "Inspection 2". Given the age of my car (1998) and minimal mileage, my man gives it a "fluids" service every two years. OIl, filter, brakes, radiator, etc.

Computers are always helpful:)
Looks like the BMW Z3 monitor the engine temperature over time and number of engine starts and then recalculate the next needed oil service.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/BMW-Z3/106-BASICS-Service_1_and_2_Explained/106-BASICS-Service_1_and_2_Explained.htm

Service intervals and maintenance items are based on mileage driven, elapsed time since the last service, fuel usage, engine temperature and number of engine starts.

I grew up with the old mantra of 3 months or 3000 miles, whichever comes first.

Ye gods man, that was with vegetable based oils in the 1960's!!

I learned it in the '80s.

Pretty much every place you go for an oil change still puts a sticker on the inside of the windshield telling you your next change should be at 3 or 3000. I start thinking seriously about it when I get to double that. I don't use synthetic.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

My 3rd or center/middle brake light will cost Me about $50 to have done, the bulb is dead.

I also have a third rear high level brake light as well. $50 to change a bulb?? You are being ripped off! a ten minute job.

If you can reach the bulb, fine, go ahead and change yours, I can't even get near the housing, remember this is a coupe, and I'm a big guy, even if I am slowly losing weight, and My joints make Me feel older than I am.

The brake light in question is behind and above the rear seat, at the rear windshield.

This thread made Me remember what it was that cost $100.00, a serpentine belt for the car, plus labor. I'd asked how much both cost at Lube Express.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Vegetable based oil - ahh, that brings back memories of one of my Cooper S. The smell of burning Castrol R in the morning brings tears to my eyes (as it did then...).

(The rate that one burnt oil it was more a case of filter change every few weeks, just keep it topped up every day)

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

On some cars bulbs can be a right royal pain to do - one of the VWs with a V6 in the front end requires a lot of dismantling to change a side/headlamp bulb - front bumper, grill, bonnet rail, battery & battery box all have to come off as we discovered one day when we attempted to do one in a lunch break - Local VW specialist said "£150 mate, its a four hour job", local VW dealer said "£600 mate, its a four hour job" - and it really did take four hours (excluding resetting the alarm, radio, immobiliser and ECU as they were very unhappy at having had the battery removed).

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Yikes.........great engineering at work, eh?

The headlamp bulbs in my '90 Cutlass Ciera can be a pain to change. But I figured out that if you jack the front up and go at it from underneath it is just a tad easier.
No engine removal required.......LOL.

Meow.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

On some cars bulbs can be a right royal pain to do - one of the VWs with a V6 in the front end requires a lot of dismantling to change a side/headlamp bulb - front bumper, grill, bonnet rail, battery & battery box all have to come off as we discovered one day when we attempted to do one in a lunch break - Local VW specialist said "£150 mate, its a four hour job", local VW dealer said "£600 mate, its a four hour job" - and it really did take four hours (excluding resetting the alarm, radio, immobiliser and ECU as they were very unhappy at having had the battery removed).

Same with the Audi A3. It did take 4 hours.

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We had a slipping clutch in a Landrover I once owned, and we'd inherited a spare brand-new clutch plate in the boxes full of cast-offs that came with it.

So, having successfully changed all four road springs ourselves, we thought we'd give it a try, and looked in the manual.

First, take off the roof...

(so you can hoist the gearboxes vertically out of the way)

We let the garage change it...

I used to have a Bonneville SSEI. I had to replace the water pump once. It would have been easy, except for one metal tab that was covering one bolt. It was engineered that way on purpose, as the tab served no function except to prevent the easy replacement of the water pump. To remove that tab, required me to remover the alternator, the alternator bracket, and jack the engine up a few inches. It took two of us two full days to change a water pump. I haven't tried to repair a car since then. That was about 15 years ago.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

We had a slipping clutch in a Landrover I once owned, and we'd inherited a spare brand-new clutch plate in the boxes full of cast-offs that came with it.

So, having successfully changed all four road springs ourselves, we thought we'd give it a try, and looked in the manual.

First, take off the roof...

(so you can hoist the gearboxes vertically out of the way)

We let the garage change it...

Thank God for manuals. I have bought the factory manual for every car I have owned. Saves a world of grief.
Meow!

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Well my car is 14 years old and i never had to change a bulb :)
Not on all 4 cars i`ve driven in 37 years.
I had 2 oil changes and no other damages so far on my actual car.

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With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.