Is adding Oil to your car bad without changing it?

Question

Is adding Oil to your car bad without changing it?

Answer 1

Wow...some answers are chocked full of non-scientific opinions. Let me enlighten you on this topic. First it DEPENDS on your oil and your filter. All oils ARE NOT the same. You have conventional and synthetic and they are different for EVERY manufacturer...the additive packages that each manufacturer utilizes varies from one brand to another and they are NOT equal by any means. Oils have additives in them which do a myriad of different things. These additives cost $$$$$ so many conventional oils have varying amounts of these additives. Remember the companies are in business to MAKE money for the stockholders...period....NOT to keep your car running for you forever! These additives are typically acid scavengers, viscosity modifiers, surface modifiers, surfactants etc. Depending on your driving habits, speed, duration, acceleration etc those additives will wear out. Some oils quicker than others. Note that, typically, more additives are not necessarily better! It is the combined synergistic affects that provide you with the overall net result. Most European manufacturers allow 1 year oil changes in their autos with specific oil manufacturer synthetic oils and specific filters. Unfortunately the US lags behind in telling its citizens to move to longer oil change periods.....due to oil companies making HUGE amounts of money off of the "3 months or 3000 miles" advertising jargon ( and I mean JARGON) that has been ingrained in our minds. They would lose hundreds of millions of dollars in profits if people stopped doing the 3 month/3000 mile change and moved to 6 month or longer. Why do you think they advertise that still.... when Europe is on a 15k mile 1 year standard already??? American consumerism and advertising misinformation at its finest!!! You have noticed auto manufaturers moving towards 6 months/6k miles or even longer in some instances. Not only is this environmentally friendly but it makes sense from a chemistry standpoint also.



Filters are another issue also. Cheaper filters do not filter out smaller size particles which will damage your engine. Most filter manufaturers will NOT publish their filter's efficiency and performance standards as many are DISMAL at best! There are several that will publish their findings to the consumer like Wix, Amsoil, K&N etc. Basically it is a trade off....the better the filtration of smaller particles means higher pressures and slower filtration so a good filter must be made of quality materials to withstand the increased pressures as well as special coatings and manufacturing processes on the membranes themselves to provide optimum filtration. Inexpensive $3 filters don't have this technology! So filters will only withstand a certain period of time prior to clogging or the membranes will fail which means the oil will no longer be filtered.....so particulates will run free in your engine doing enormous damage to bearing surfaces and the like. Good companies will test their filters and can tell you in writing that this filter is guaranteed for XXXX miles to perform its filtration without failure.....If you don't get that then don't buy it!



Now that outlines some of the variables that you have to deal with. Your driving habits, speed etc will play into the additive life in your oil....How do you know what additives are left? Have your oil tested. They will provide you a report as to the amt and types of additives left in your oil as well as metals etc from bearings and related surfaces going bad. The report will tell you if the oil can still be used or recommend replacement. It will outline what they find such as water, gasoline, viscosity of the oil, copper, iron, zinc etc. All those numbers can be compared to the original oil in its new form that you used.....the report is kind of like a gas gauge for your "oil life". There are oils and filters that will go 15k/1 year intervals with out a change and by doing nothing more than testing at six months for the additives and adding any oil to keep the level topped off. The technology and the science has been around since the 70's to do this but it is not something the oil companies want to hear!



BTW oil color is not an indication of when your oil needs to be changed! Be aware that some oils....like a 10w-30 non synthetic and even some synthetics will not hold their published viscosities very long in your engine. You will be very surprised to learn that many 10w-30s and related will not be 30 weight very long. Most will drop quite quickly to 20 weight or lower from the shear and thermal oxidation decreasing protection that you bought and thought you had! Some of the best oil on the markets: Amsoil synthetic ranked #1 followed by Mobil synthetic....most others are not even close to these two and Amsoil is better than Mobil in several performance areas according to ASTM standardized testing.......NOT my or anyone elses OPINION. Science says it all via the standardized testing! Eventually your oil will lose its additives and your filter will clog or the membrane will rupture BUT there are long life, excellent oils and filters out there that will provide you with options if you like! Eventually, you will have to change both at some time.

Answer 2

There's nothing wrong with adding oil to a car between oil changes. If your car uses/leaks oil, you should add it to keep the oil at the right level.



Just don't let adding oil be a substitute for changing it. Some people think that because they keep adding clean oil, they don't need to change it. Oil changes are crucial though to clear out the sludge at the bottom of the pan that just continues to accumulate. Don't forget a clean oil filter too. You don't have to do it every 3,000 miles, but do it every 5,000 or so.

Answer 3

You should change oil AND filter every three to six thousand miles. The problem with not doing it is that oil gets dirty, even with a filter and the combustion process contaminates the oil with acid. Let it go long enough and the filter clogs so there is no filtration of dirt and metal particles and the acid builds to the level that it eats away engine components leading to early engine failure. If you are having to add oil frequently then you either have a leaky gasket somewhere or the acid and dirt have worn components to the point that your engine is burning oil. If you see a bluish smoke coming from your exhaust you are burning oil.

Answer 4

its not helping anything. you still have the dirt in the crankcase. to do it right, you have to change the oil and filter to get rid of the dirt.

Answer 5

Adding Oil To Car

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

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RE:

Is adding Oil to your car bad without changing it?

Everytime I check my Oil on my car, I just add in the oil into the engine. A close friend of mine said that its very bad for your car and that you must have an Oil change instead. Am I doing any harm to my car? Is an Oil change necessary?

Answer 8

I love you.

Answer 9

You are doing the right thing, checking the oil and adding enough to keep it full, of course. Everyone is afraid you mean to just keep adding oil without changing it when you should. You are right to check it frequently. And oil and filter should be changed every 3,000 miles, longer if you use synthetic oil.



Best regards,

Mike

Answer 10

You should be changing your oil every 3000 miles.



Just adding oil instead of regularly changing it is very bad for your engine. YES! YOU ARE DOING HARM TO YOUR ENGINE!



From your question, you have already done damage to your car as it is regularly using oil. If you kept up on your oil changes, you would not have this oil burning problem.



Regular oil changes are a relatively inexpensive way to get many miles from your car.



If you read and understand your owners manual, it should have 2 oil change intervals. Light duty and heavy duty. If your honest with yourself, few vehicles qualify as light duty.



Is your car used in hot weather? Is your car used in cold weather? Is your car driven in stop and go city traffic? Is your car used for short trips less than 10 miles? Is it driven at highway speed for long periods of time? If you answer yes to any of these, you should be changing your oil and filter every 3000 miles.



Both of my cars I bought new. A 1995 Pontiac Grand AM with about 145,000 miles on it and a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu with about 130,000 miles on it. Both cars get regular oil changes. I honestly believe that these cars would not be in the condition they are in without regular oil changes. Neither engine uses a drop of oil between oil changes.

Answer 11

It all depends on what engine oil you use ,if you use fully synthetic it will last 10000 miles but it is expensive, if you use normal oil you should change it at ever full service or 3,000 to 6.000 .

Answer 12

Depends on how much you like your car. Topping it off is ok. But you don't wanna let it go too far after 3000 miles cause you think its cheaper. Buying a new engine I hear goes for a lot these days.

Answer 13

depends on how recently you changed you oil...



I change mine when the "oil life" drops below 10% (cadillac feature)



about every 2000 miles i have to add a qt...

Answer 14

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