In the past, I changed oil and filter annually; This past year I only drove 400 miles. Always used Mobil 1. Would it be ok to stretch it another year?

 

Opinions differ but I've done 2 years a number of times with 1000-2000 miles.

 

I'm in the same boat, will change the oil this month with 24 months and 3,000 miles (Mobil-1 High Mileage 5w30). OLM says 72%, but it does not have a clock. (newer GM vehicles do) Anyway, I'm not concerned, but will do Blackstone oil analysis just for fun.

 

I see a $40 oil change as a cheap date so I would lean towards doing the oil change.

 

The oil guys claim low mileage cars need the change because moisture and whatever impurities build up. Whereas, frequent use at operating temps vaporize those impurities.

There’s probably some truth to that…. On the other hand, we’ve seen videos of cars being fired up after sitting for years, even decades.

 

As with most things, the answer is - it depends. Mostly, it depends upon how the car was driven. Were those 400 miles accumulated five miles at a time, where the engine never (or rarely) got up to OT? If so, I would change the oil. If, on the other hand, the miles were accumulated mostly while engine was at OT, then I think you are fine to go two years. YMMV.

 

Personally, I change it once a year no matter what. In your case, it probably won't hurt anything to wait. However, I would change it if it were my car.

 

I put very few miles on some of my vehicles but I change the oil yearly. I purchase Mobil 1 oil at Walmart and WIX XP filters at RockAuto. My buddy's shop changes the oil for a measly $10 so it's less than $50 total. Cheap for a piece of mind.

 

Nobody here can answer for sure. The safe answer is to follow conventional wisdom and change at the required mileage or one year.

If you want to know for sure, send it out to blackstone and tell them it was two years old. They do interesting paragraph long narrative write-ups on the results so they could tell you how much life may or may not be left.

 

I always changed mine yearly (I did not put a lot of miles in the car each year). Unless your car is covered by some sort of extended warranty that mandates following the factory maintenance requirements, the choice would be yours, but if it were my car, the oil would get changed every year at a minimum.

 

Wow only 400 miles in one year. I sometimes put that on my Corvette in one week.

If you put 400 miles on your car by making two or three 5-mile trips per week then storing it for 4-5 months, then you should change the oil imo.

I drive mine daily and was once attacked by several Corvette Forum members for changing my oil at around 4,000 miles because I was "wasting resources". Most of the members here drive their Corvette 1-2K miles per year and change the oil once per year and the tires every 6 years with only 5-10K miles on them and I am accused of wasting resources. I do not make any accusations like that and my suggestion to the OP is that I wouldn't leave oil in the crankcase for more than a year especially on an engine that rarely sees operating temperatures for any length of time. Better safe than sorry for a 30-dollar DIY job. Recycle your used oil and everyone is happy. I always recycle the fluids that I replace.

 

the owners manual says to change the oil by the indicator on the car or once a year.

I think that clear enough for me, printed operating instructions you can take to court if they cause harm, unlike some free advice. While the oil molecules never wear out, in my very limited understandings, the additive packages ( oxide? vaporize?) are no longer meeting spec after one year.

The additive packages are very important today, because modern oils are now designed for a less extreme rotating environment, to save gas, and no longer run the additive packages used when the LS1 was new. The mobil 1 consumer line advised me to switch to high milage because it has an additive package more like the old C5 days, but that information is now so old, they might have changed the high milage formula in the passing years.

I wasn't that crazy about the suggestion because I didn't need a seal conditioner the bottle advertised, but am not going to sweat it beside making sure I have updated buying information. I could always go to the bob is the oil guy site to find what the Porsche guys, who also need that additive package , are buying in the states, but whatever they were recommending last time I checked wasn't around where I shopped.

 

I do it once a year. It’s a cheap way to keep your car in good condition. An ounce of maintenance is worth a pound of cure.

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The oil is fine - send it to the lab to verify - I bet no issues 🙈. Waste of time and money to change so early IMO

 

I also suggest once a year and conducting a Blackstone test every couple of years. Good idea to check out the magnetic drain plug as well.

 

Our local Corvette Club has been honored thru the years to have some of GM top engineers give talks to our club, From Dontov to Kellermeyer to Heinracy to the present we have had them talk at our monthly meetings. They all agreed to change your oil and filter just before you put your Corvette up for the winter and to bleed the brakes and add fresh fluid every spring before you put the Corvette on the road. Since i only put 1000 to 3000 miles a year on mine I consider those items as maintenance items and do it every year.

 

Totally agree. If it was 1975 regular old oil, I'd say yes, change it. It's not 1975 oil, and the engine will never know the difference so NO, run it for another 2,000 miles, and change it then.

 

If your only going to drive it another 400 miles there's probably no point in changing it. I would look at the oil on the dipstick and if it's like "new" I would just drive it for.another year.

 

Bleed the brakes every year?

 

Not a bad idea. Brake fluid will collect moisture from the air, regardless if the brakes are used or not. Bleeding the fluid removes water-saturated fluid and replaces it with fresh, dry fluid.

Speaking of collecting water-- to answer OP's question regarding oil. Synthetic oil won't degrade over time like conventional oil will. The problem is if the car sits cold for LONG periods of time water can accumulate in the oil, especially in humid climates. What happens is that water vapor in the air will get into the engine, condense during temperature changes, and then collect in the oil. Normally this isn't a problem because when the oil temp gets above 212F/100C the water in the oil will harmlessly boil off. That's why it's important to start your car and allow it to get up to operating temperature from time to time, even if you're not going to drive the car.

I'm not sure how long it takes for a problematic amount of water to collect in the engine, and there are a LOT of variables in play such as weather, storage conditions, etc. I'd say if the car has sat for a year with limited to no use it's probably a good idea to change the oil. It may very well be overkill and unnecessary, but it's a lot cheaper and easier to change the oil vs change bearing that got killed by water contaminated oil.