I just put Jet-hot LT's, ORY, borla, and a 160 stat and now I have a change oil light on and its got Mobil 1 that has maybe 1200 miles on it. I checked it and its little high but its not anywhere even close to being low... should I drain some??

 

I just put Jet-hot LT's, ORY, borla, and a 160 stat and now I have a change oil light on and its got Mobil 1 that has maybe 1200 miles on it. I checked it and its little high but its not anywhere even close to being low... should I drain some??

And I should probably add that when installing LT's I had to take off that little oil thing that is right next to the oil filter and lost a little bit of oil so I added about the same amount when the install was complete.......

 

Was the oil light reset 1200 mi ago at the last change?

 

it comes on every so often, if your oil is basically new then just reset the light.

turn the key to the ON posistion with out starting your car.... hold the TRIP reset for 30 seconds. then start the car.

 

Comes on every 3k miles or so, by default.

 

I thought it was every 4500 miles by default.

 

actually it doesnt go by miles. it will come on after so many rpms....i dont know how many but it will vary due to how the car is driven. i always reset mine when i change the oil but it seems to go longer then i care to let the oil go unchanged so mine never comes on unless i forget to reset it.

 

Now, why would you want to change your oil more often than the manufacturer recommends? You know that whatever they recommend is still conservative enough that they're not going to have to worry about warranty engine repairs.

Modern oil isn't "your grandfather's oil". Modern oil can easily run 6,000 or more miles without losing it's effectiveness. Many new cars have oil change intervals of 7,500 to 10,000 miles. Places that advertise or recommend changing every 3,000 miles aren't doing it to protect your car - they're doing it to sell more oil changes.

It's like people putting premium gas in cars that call for regular because they think it's "better". They're just wasting money.

Disclaimer: obviously, if you are hard on your oil (race track, dusty conditions, etc.) then you should change it more often.

 

If you're running a good synthetic, there's no reason at all you can't go 6k miles/6 months or more between oil changes. I change my oil every 6 months (I'd be lucky if I drove 5k miles a year), once before drag racing season, and once after. I use Amsoil XL 5w30, doesn't burn a drop, and the oil always still looks great coming out. I'm sure it could go longer (1 year drain interval for me) but I get twitchy if I go too long without working on something on my car.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention that low mileage cars should have their oil changed based on time rather than mileage. This is to prevent oil contamination from condensation. In cold climates, every six months is a good idea. Here in Florida you could probably get away with once a year because the temperature doesn't change drastically between seasons.

Also, there's always the "I need something to do" syndrome.

 

its not the oil breaking down anymore, its the filter that starts to fail after x amount of time.

 

Any quality filter should last at least 5K-6K miles. Many people who run synthetic oil for longer periods will change the filter only (and top up the oil) between oil changes.