Oil Change for Beginners

> Driving in temperatures over 90 degrees F.


> Extensive idling or long periods of stop-and-go driving.


> Towing a trailer, using a car-top carrier, or driving in the mountains.


> Driving on muddy, dusty or de-iced roads


Notice what's first: Short trips, particularly in cold weather. Engineers will tell you that that's just about the harshest duty cycle for engine lubrication. Consider this: In the morning, start it up and go five miles to work, then shut if off. Four hours later, for lunch, start it up, go two miles to a restaurant, then shut if off. About one hour later, start it up, go two miles back to work, then shut if off. Another four or five hours later, start it up, go five miles to home, then shut it off. It's been driven 14 miles, never once given a chance to get fully warmed up, and had four cold starts. The oil has never been able to get rid of the moisture that forms from condensation or the residues of combustion processes that would be burnt off with heat, everything turns to a thick sludge, and if you don't give it more frequent oil changes you're in for expensive trouble. That sludge can eventually clog the oil pump screen, lubrication gets shut off, and a connecting rod ends up going through the side of the engine block. Buying a new engine gets kind of expensive.