Really low engine hours this season- oil/filter change necessary?

[Davidasailor26]

I wouldn't do it in the fall, but in the spring. Sitting is nearly as bad as city driving, for motor vehicle oil.

The traditional school of thought is to change it in the fall so any suspended contaminants get flushed out rather than leaving a chance to cause corrosion over the winter. I don’t know if having so few hours would affect that rule of thumb.

 

[LakeOntario270]

In the classic car world you never let your engine sit all winter in dirty oil.

 

[Charles Erwin]

Fresh oil or 100 hour oil - what is the difference when it comes to storage time? Thousands of boats in all climates leave the summer oil until spring. Lawn mowers, generators, pumps, tractors, and all manner of farm equipment experience extensive idle time. Can someone locate a documented motor failure that could be attributed to winter induced 'corrosion.'

 

[dLj]

I'm a bit more used to dealing with data, not anecdotal opinions. There are groups that actually take the entire question of oil, type, usage etc. and seriously evaluate what the real deal is. Here's just one snippet of the kind of data that one really needs to use when talking about these kinds of things.

Vehicle type: 2002 VW Golf ALH Engine
Oil type: Mobil 1 5w40 (previous 2 samples were german castrol 0w30 & m1 5w40)
Miles on vehicle: 89830
Miles on oil: 9910
Months on the oil: July 14 2006 to November 11 2006 (sample date)
Oil Sump volume: 4 L
Oil added: none
Air Filter: OEM paper, installed at 60,000 miles
Engine Mods: PP520 nozzles, CAT fuel filter (replaced at 60000 mi), Old Navy CCV device
Engine output: about 107 HP, 175 ft-lbs (from the nozzle supplier’s website dyno)
Fuel: first 6K B99, 6K to 105K- B20 + ulsd. Averaged about 48 mpg.
Driving style: daily 35 – 40 mile each way commute, mostly interstate at 0 to 80 mph (70 to 80 mph whenever possible). Climate: 35 to 95 F.

Sampling method: New bottle with 6 oz syringe, engine hot, new tubing inserted to depth of the dipstick for sampling with a 45 deg angled tip, rinsed sample bottle three times with engine oil then collected sample for lab (tdiclub sample spec compliant to the best of my abilities).

Iron: 29 50 36 (M1-5w40 GC-0w30 M1-5w40)
Chromium:1 1 2
Lead: 6 3 2
Copper: 3 2 3
Tin: 0 0 0
Aluminum: 2 3 5
Silicon: 3 14 5
Potassium: 2 1 2
Sodium: 0 0 3

Fuel: NoData Neg Neg
Water: Neg Neg Neg
Glycol: Neg Neg Neg
Visc @ 100c: 13.3 11.9 13.2
Soot: 126 (0.66%) 90 99
Oxidation: 47 38 47
Sulfonation: 31 0 0

"no problems, oil suitable for continued use"

Bold added by me.

This is only one post of many hundreds where folks are seriously looking at stability of oil under multiple engine configurations and use profiles.

Why are we, here in sail boat land, not stepping up and using real information? Real data to answer questions? That post above was from 2006, the thread is still going on, about 125 pages of real data on oil, usage, etc.

I gotta say, I quite agree with @Stu Jackson in his post #18

dj

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

While thorough research might yield some clarity to this debate, the ‘gravity’ of the issue whether or not to spend $50 to change the oil/filter once a year doesn’t seem worth the time most of us would seemingly rather prefer devoting to worthwhile endeavors such as debating this here.

Now back to the usual -what’s the best bottom paint - discussion.

 

[Rich Stidger]

While thorough research might yield some clarity to this debate, the ‘gravity’ of the issue whether or not to spend $50 to change the oil/filter once a year doesn’t seem worth the time most of us would seemingly rather prefer devoting to worthwhile endeavors such as debating this here.

Now back to the usual -what’s the best bottom paint - discussion.

Don, it's not just the $50, it's also the 4-5 hour and the associated mess. I did change the oil and filters in the end.

 

[capta]

The traditional school of thought is to change it in the fall so any suspended contaminants get flushed out rather than leaving a chance to cause corrosion over the winter. I don’t know if having so few hours would affect that rule of thumb.

I'd prefer to start an engine with clean oil after 5 months or so sitting.

 

[dLj]

While thorough research might yield some clarity to this debate, the ‘gravity’ of the issue whether or not to spend $50 to change the oil/filter once a year doesn’t seem worth the time most of us would seemingly rather prefer devoting to worthwhile endeavors such as debating this here.

Now back to the usual -what’s the best bottom paint - discussion.

The oil debate rages in lots of corners of the internet. The particular group where I took that info from simply decided that all the mis-information floating around the internet was ridiculous and a number of folk just decided to run actual data. They've been compiling data now for almost 20 years. I've been a member over there for close to 30 years. Great group and limited BS.

If one actually looks at data, decisions can be made that can be relied on rather than based on personal opinions or marketing folk that want to sell you more than you need. Fear mongering is rampant. I prefer making decisions based on real data.

dj