No need for oil change anymore?

Im a local driver for a beverage company and just found out that our mechanics are NOT doing oil changes anymore. They are taking samples and sending them to a lab. Then they will only change it if absolutely necessary. Is this common for larger fleets because this is the first time I've ever heard this?

 

id say most don't even do that i worked for a company that changed the filter and ad a gallon till they unload them between 4 and 500 thousand

 

Yikes

You've been-----\/\/\/\-----Thunderstruck!!!

 

It is a cost cutting measure, and the more expensive oil gets, the more money there is to be saved by not changing the oil until it needs to be changed. Running a regular oil analysis lets them know if the oil still has the lubricity, viscosity, additives, etc. it needs in order to do it's job. It also lets them know if it is contaminated with soot, metal particles from engine wear, or if the pH is off.

In other words, they are basing their oil changes upon the condition of the OIL, not on engine hours, vehicle miles, or calendar time.

 

There are several fleets that get into this. There is more to it. Chemicals have to be added to keep oil from foaming, able to absorb soot, neutralize acid and so on. Most fleets also don't keep their equipment for too long either. For the average o/o a regular oil change is still the way to go.

 

The newer engines develop less carbon and therefore less carbon and soot in the oil. This is the same oil change model the Army has used since we started the war. It does save money, impact on environmental. If it were older trucks I would be concerned with the soot in the oil and damaging rod bearings that splash around in the oil and pick up debris, otherwise good business practise. Keeping up with samples is the key and having immediate results helps also. I have seen engines fail right after a sasmple was pulled and before the owner got his results in the mail. The truck was in our shop when the mail came with the bad results.

 

I'm running a bypass filter and that's how I do it. I got 160K miles on my first synthetic oil change and only changed that b/c I felt bad about leaving it in so long... the samples were still coming back good.

 

The United States Military Army has been doing oil samples for 30 years. The only time they ever change oil is when there is a bad sample.

 

The key is running the oil samples and changing the filters. As long as the oil samples test fine, there is no need to change the oil. The test will show the wear metal content, soot content, the viscosity index, and the TBN (additive package) level.

Nothing wrong with changing sooner, but it only makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Does not make a difference to the engine. Keep in mind, that even though the claim is that someone is not changing their oil, they are adding new oil to make up for filter changes and consumption. They are just not draining the pan. Some bypass filters like Gulf Coast require up to 3 gallons of new oil for a filter change. Doing that every 10,000+ miles, one could reasonably go to those great oil change intervals. You have to look at the whole picture.

 

Roadway never changed oil when I was there, just replace the filter and add oil, of course they were using detroits that leak, use, and burn oil at an alarming rate.

Infact they put tubes in the fuel tanks that allow so many drops of oil per minute to drip into the fuel. They used so much oil that when you got back from a 10 hour drive, they would have to add so much it was like getting it changed anyway, what a piece of garbage.