When do you change the engine oil?

[Rubce]

Hi All

When do you change the engine oil each year assuming you've not done a mid year change due to mileage.

At the end of the year so the engine is sitting with fresh oil in it over winter?

Or

In the Spring when the car comes out for more regular use?

I usually do the latter as I am thinking the oil gains condensation over the winter and i can get rid of that by replacing the oil in the Spring.

Your comments please

Regards

Bruce

[mole42]

If I were to lay up a car I'd change the oil at the beginning of the lay-up so that the engine isn't subject to all those contaminants over the winter. The first long run after lay-up should get rid if any water contamination.

However, my Stag gets used summer & winter and has two oil changes per year - roughly every 5,000 miles which is slightly more often that the book recommends.

[Goldstar]

I don’t lay my car up but if I did I wouldn’t give it any thought, seems like overthinking it to me

[Rubce]

Both our cars get used over the winter but a lot less than the rest of the year.

Was just pondering.

[Lingen]

When you can't see through it on the dipstick?
Mike.

[022Dave]

I generally change mine in the spring, when the flowers are out, and the birds are singing, and I have high-hopes about using the Stag more than I did during the past year. To be honest, recent mileages on my MoT certificates imply that I’m probably chucking away perfectly good oil, but it’s a prompt to check other bits of the car before its spring MoT test, and I can also p1ss-off the spiders that have nested in my tools over the winter.

Dave

[NeilR]

Change mine annually (3k a year max), usually over the xmas period for something useful to do (fed up with tv etc.....).
Same applies to antifreeze, except bi - annually.

[jakesmig]

haven't done so many miles over the last few years so I change the oil every other year, but put a new oil filter in before every MOT