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well did my first oil change today. fram hd6607 filter "its a bit longer than the stock hence more filtering i hope" every thing went smooth as glass.one thing i did notice thoe i let the oil set for a time then drain the oil out of my catch pan into my waste oil can " did this slowly" when it was just about empty saw some f.o.d. so added some gas and worked like paning for gold .wow more than alittle metal in there. mostly alum guess from the mechining of the engine. so ran alittle oil threw it to wash out anymore.nice to see the screen was connected to the plug thoe.i think ill change again at 7500 to see what i get!
I am working on getting more information on the engine oil intervals etc. I am going directly to Mitsubishi using a Japanese contact. I will let everyone know what I learn.
So far I can tell you in their cars they recommend changing the oil every 7500 miles no more than that. In heavy stop and go they informed me they suggest no more than 5000 miles at most.
I find it curious that the smart has one of their smallest engines yet it is suggested by smart to do a 10,000 mile oil change... (I smell something fishy)
My gut is telling me to do oil changes every 5000 at most on the smart.
I will share if I learn anything new. Translation from Japanese to English and back can be a challenge. Something just doesn't feel right about the intervals that smart suggests.
5000 is what I plan on. My Dad worked all his life for Valvoline Oil and was in on a number of tests on oil and how often it should be changed and it's affect on engines. 25 years of testing always had one thing in common.....while brand was important to them...changeing your oil was the most important thing you can do. True...todays syn oil is different than 1960's era oil I'll stick with the 5000 mile change...cheap insurance to me.
I changed my oil at 5,500 actually and I can't believe that I am already up to 8,000 miles on the car. I like the idea of every 5,000 miles for an oil change.
When I switched to sync oil years ago, like 15, I pretty much doubled all my oil changes. All my mercs now say 7500-10K. Why would the smart be any shorter? I know it's a mits, but isn't it the oil that matters?
I drive very, very little, using mostly my bike for transportation or walking. So, when the smart recommends oil changes every year or 10,000 miles how seriously should I take that? At the end of a year I will have about 500 miles on my smart. Has the oil really gone bad in that year just from shelf life? Of course my salesman said I definitely had to follow the one year guideline.
If you don't make the milage interval within the time interval, change the oil at the time interval. Oil, even synthetic oil, absorbes water from the air when the crankcase expands and contracts from heating and cooling. That moisture combined with the sulphuric compounds created in the engine produces acids. The oil if in a pristine environment would be fine but in an engine, NOT!! Change it annually if that is your declination.
Yup, short trips where the engine doesn't get up to temperature long enough to burn off the condensation is considered "severe service" and warrants more frequent oil changes.
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