Oil Change Interval

[#BrownRoush]

Quick question. My Roush isn't my daily driver anymore, and I put very few miles on it between oil change intervals (typically 6 months). I use Motorcraft 5w-20 and a Motorcraft filter.

However, since I put in a tone fo new work on it, I obviously want to get it back out on the street, and back into autocross.

My question is if my oil is just sitting in the crankcase most of the time, does it go 'bad?' I mean, it's not like milk or something.

I ask because its about time for me to change the oil, and I have barely driven the car. Am I just wasting money at this point, or should I still change the oil even if the car is just sitting?

 

[01yellercobra]

IMO the oil is still fine. As long as you weren't doing the start and let it warm up then shut it down thing. I kinda forgot about the oil change on my Cobra and it ended up being about 18 months between changes. But the mileage was within what I normally do and the oil looked good when I drained it.

 

[delling3]

IMO the oil is still fine. As long as you weren't doing the start and let it warm up then shut it down thing. I kinda forgot about the oil change on my Cobra and it ended up being about 18 months between changes. But the mileage was within what I normally do and the oil looked good when I drained it.

+1 on this. Assuming that the car has pretty much sat, or was driven a reasonable distance when it was driven, you should be fine. Too many folks feel the need to start the car when it sits for a long time. Nothing good comes from this. Exhaust blow by and water vapor combine together with the oil and can begin attacking the internals of the engine. Unless you are gonna start the car and really drive it - not to the local 7-11 and back but really get it good and hot, don't start it! When the engine gets up to temperature, a lot of the contaminants are burned off by the engine temperature.

 

[#BrownRoush]

great advice guys! I am planning to hit up a local car show and then a long drive to a specialty alignment shop. I'm not good at 'short drives' in this car