I just wanna get a good estimate of how often I should change the oil/ oil filter. I can finally do it myself now and want to know the good times to change it. Last time I changed mine was 7/6 (2006 of course) how 'bout you?

 

when u first buy an atv they say after the first 50 hrs then 100 hrs then next 100 hrs. I probably do mine every 4-6months. I know im not going to have no 100hrs on it, but better safe than sorry you can't change your oil to much.

 

I change mine every 500 miles, that takes me about 3 to 4 months.

 

It is only with some reluctance I tell people how often I change the oil in my various vehicles. I'll stand by to get hammered as being "misguided." I've worked in and around the oil industry most of my life and have a lot of experience. Yeah, I'm old.

I use Mobil One in everything because it's snythetic. There are other brands of equal quality, I'm not particularly loyal to Mobil 1. Synthetic does not lube better per sea than dino oil, but is way better at getting to where it needs to be and doing its job under significant thermal stress - hot or cold. Oil itself never loses its ability to lube, but the additive package is consumable.

In my cars and trucks I change oil every 10,000 miles. I now have 170K miles on my 2000 V8 Explorer 4x4, it doesn't use oil and gets 21 MPG on trips. In fact I got 22.5 a couple of weeks ago on a two day trip to Salt Lake. In February I happened to run across my old '92 Explorer and talked to the now third owner. When I sold it I had 142K on, he's put on another 100K (using dino oil at 5K change) and was getting ready to tear it down - not because it was using significant oil (~1 qt/1000miles - valve guides probably), but he wanted to modify the engine. He completed the Rubicon last summer! In my two quads (as I did in my previous quads) I change once a year, but only use them from May to November, putting on about 1200 miles on each. Those I change in November, just prior to putting them away for the winter. The first oil change in a new vehicle is done pretty quickly as I want to flush any remaining crud left over from machining and its build.

There's a pretty good article on oil changes intervals in the July '96 issue of Consumer Reports. Yes, it's 10 years old, but clearly oils have gotten better since then. In truth we all change too often. Yeah, it's cheap insurance, but think about this. When was the last time you heard about a car engine that was stock "blowing up," or losing a rod, or a serious mechanical issue that could be related to oil. If you can think of one, now think of a second. When I was a kid it was considered normal to overhaul an engine at 65,000 miles. If that happened today we'd all be screaming at the mfgr, wanting a new motor - for free. I'm not an eco-nut, but it's also better for the environment when we change less often.

 

I use amsoil filter and oil, in my differentials also. I change my engine oil every 500 miles, and my diffs every 750.