Oil Change

[gabe1475]

How often do most pepole perform oil changes? Someone told me not to wait for the 10,000 Miles, but to do it at 5,000 or at a minimum 7500. Also what viscosity do people use in warmer climates? Already starting to warm up here, by next month we will be in the 80's durring the day.

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by gabe1475

... Someone told me not to wait for the 10,000 Miles ...

Addressing that only, it is 10,000 miles or 1 year, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.

And be knowledgable of the different requirements for "normal service" and "severe service," something that smart fails to tell us about.

[jimvw57]

If you use the reccomended Mobil 1 Synthetic oil, you shouldn't have any problems. It is rated to go 10,000 miles on an oil change or 1 year, unless you are doing any extreme driving like pulling a LARGE trailer, or operating in a dirty environment. I would think you would have other problems before the oil would break down.

You can change it every 1,000 miles if you want, but that would be a waste of good oil. Some change the oil after the first few hundred miles to make sure there are not any leftover debris from the motor building process. Not a bad idea, but that is what the filter is for.

[ulflyer]

I think I read on here somewhere that the 08's came with dino oil so when I bought my used one with 1850 mi on it, I changed it right away to Mob1 syn oil and filter. If I lived in AZ I'd use 20-50 in summer and If its fairly dusty out your way I'd change every 5-7K.

[gabe1475]

Originally Posted by ulflyer

I think I read on here somewhere that the 08's came with dino oil so when I bought my used one with 1850 mi on it, I changed it right away to Mob1 syn oil and filter. If I lived in AZ I'd use 20-50 in summer and If its fairly dusty out your way I'd change every 5-7K.

I was going to say the same thing. Very dusty here!

[Old smart]

To describe my decision as logically and mathematically as possible:

There are two cars that use the Mitsubishi 3-cylinder, 3B2x engine: the 999cc 3B21 (both normally-aspirated and 3B21T turbo) in the smart, and the 660cc 3B20T turbo in the Mitsu i-Car (also a non-turbo in the Japanese “k” cars).

M-B publishes the ROW oil change interval for the 3B21 engine at 20,000 km.
M-B reduces the OCI for the 3B21T to 16,000 km, 80% of 3B21. (20k x 0.8 = 16k)

Mitsu sets the OCI of the turbocharged 3B20T at 6,000 miles.
Therefore, by the same logic above, the OCI of the normally-aspirated 3B20 would be longer. (6,000 miles / 0.8 = 7,500 miles {Ta-Dah!, Mitsu’s and most other manufacturers’ common recommendations})

So, Mitsu leads us to a 7,500 mile OCI in normal service. Severe service generally requires a reduction of the normal service OCI to 2/3rds (7,500 miles x .67 = 5,000 miles). My use is severe service, so that is what I do – a 5,000 mile OCI.

M-B admits that they have extended the OCI to make the maintenance program seem more palatable. I trust Mitsu a bit more when it comes to their own husbanding of their engines.

[Jeff C.]

My own personal feeling is that while you CAN --and it is entirely permissable to do the 10,000 mile oil change interval.However,if you expect your toy to be able to perform WELL PAST the typical life of these little cars(however long that is),it would be in your best interest to service your car in what would be considered a severe maintenance schedule.Treat your ride as if it is something you appreciate.That is my council.

[Padawan]

Just did Smoky's first oil change today with roughly 6,950 on the odometer. Used OEM filter and 0W-30 Mobil 1.

[SuperGeek]

There's enough debate on the topic to make a politician happy. I changed mine at 6,000 / 10 months at the dealer. I'm now at 15,000 mostly short-trip miles, 11 months later (2000 of those miles put on in two weeks). Since I'm 300 miles from the dealer, I plan to change mine this weekend. I feel like for short trips, 10,000 is too long and I should have done this earlier.

I bought Mobil 1, 0W30... probably could have done 10W40 for this area, but I'm sticking with the general consensus. I also got a Mobil 1 M1-108 filter.

My first ever time changing oil... hope I don't break anything.

[Smart Enuf]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

There's enough debate on the topic to make a politician happy. I changed mine at 6,000 / 10 months at the dealer. I'm now at 15,000 mostly short-trip miles, 11 months later (2000 of those miles put on in two weeks). Since I'm 300 miles from the dealer, I plan to change mine this weekend. I feel like for short trips, 10,000 is too long and I should have done this earlier.

I bought Mobil 1, 0W30... probably could have done 10W40 for this area, but I'm sticking with the general consensus. I also got a Mobil 1 M1-108 filter.

My first ever time changing oil... hope I don't break anything.

Unlikely to break anything, but have a breaker bar ready for that oil pan drain plug. It can be pretty tight.