MarkG

What are the suggestions for when to get the first oil change??

DJ

widely debated. do it when it if/when the car starts running slightly "off"...or 5K mi.

TM

Sorry for my tone but please define your terms. Slightly off? What the #@!! is that? Bottom line... oil is oil and it tends to get a tad warm in these blown, high-rpm four bangers. I might bite on the 5,000 mile change interval... maybe... but taking the heat and rpms into consideration and 3,000 miles is ideal, albiet a bit more costly. Cheap insurance I say. 7,500 miles for the 2.8... no way, Jose. Remeber who sets the service/oil change intervals... the folks that want you to come back and buy that new Audi in three years!

I'll be doing mine every 3k with a new filter and Mobil 1 evert 3k, thank you very much. More than 5,000 miles... nope. What in the wide wide world of sports does running slightly off have to do with an oil change?

JSC

TM, not to be curt, but I posted a couple of months ago about my extensive data from oil analysis info over the first 16,000 miles on my 2.8: The oil analysis of the factory fill after about 5,000 miles, and then Mobil 1 (15W50 summer, 10W30 winter) showed absolutely no difference in oil condition after 3,000 miles, 5,000 miles, or 7,500 miles: the 7,500 mile analysis was essentially the same as after 3k for Mobil 1.

On a turbo, I'd say 3-5k between changes w/ Mobil 1 or other good synthetic (15W50 year round). On a 2.8, 7,500 seems clearly to present no risk if you use a good synthetic oil (Mobil 1, Red Line and Amsoil, for ex.). I used to change every 3k til I started doing this process... I'd say do it if it makes one feel comfortable, but probably not a necessity.

As to when to change at first, there is some reliable anecdotal evidence in favor of waiting til at least 5,000 miles. The oil analysis done on my factory fill at 5k showed it was fine.

TM

Wish I could dig up my source but (and this may be totally consistant and in agreement with your philosophy and findings on oil changes) an automotive engineer who has been around the NASCAR scene for more years than he cares to admit says the useful life of a motor oil, synthetic or otherwise, is more of a function of time than miles. He suggested everyone would be better off putting a hobbs meter on their cars and throwing away the odometer. He came up with a good number (in terms of hours as opposed to miles) for the life of motor oil. I will try to give him a call tonight and see if he can refresh my memory. You can bet money that he will chastise me for bringing up the miles issue again and go into his time triad... of course, driving conditions, styles, etc. are also a factor in oil change intervals... 5k oil changes in a car used primarily for short trips (and seldom gets up to temp) would dramatically shorten the motor's life... the same car driven on an expressway, no dirt roads, and allowed to reach operating temp. every day could probably go 5 to 8k between oil changes... (don't beleive me... take a car driven in the short trip scenario described above and smell the oil after about 1,000 miles... I'll bet you'll smell gasoline!)

Hey... 3K makes me feel good...

DJ

What I meant by "slightly off" was this; if the negine was running rougher than normal, if you could feel the engine hesitate/sputter/cough/surge/stutter or run rough under any condition when it did not previously occur. If the mileage dropped below expectations. If the oil level dropped. If preformance dipped. If when driving the car there is a noticeable difference in engine driving characteristics (idle, power, engine roughness) that it would seem to be taking away from the overall experience of driving ones car.

Find a car - drive it enough to get very used to it (race it, take it on long trips, etc.) and tell me if you wait until after the regular interval to change the oil if you notice any difference in car behavior similar to that of when you push the limits of your engine consistantly and wait even a little bit too long to change the oil. Then does it seem "slightly off?"

potty mouth.

My further apologies for the grade-school German.

slack

It's in Audi's interest to make a car that self destructs in three years? Pardon my German, but thats a load of crap.

It's in Audi's best interest to make the car last as long as possible, If my audi bites the big one in three years BECAUSE I followed oem recommendations for maintenance, and fell into the clever trap laid by those wiley German lubrication engineers, I sure as hell will NOT be buying another Audi.

FWIW
slack
99.5

alan t.

Most normal drivers, even experience ones, will never notice any change due to dirty oil.

JSC

I agree with your friend to a great extent. Time & type of usage is as --- or more -- important than mileage.

My use on the A4 is primarily short trips (6 miles one way to work), with some long ones in every now & then, so the oil analysis showing no degradation of Mobil 1 at 7,500 miles is pretty impressive.

My other empirical experience with oil analysis is my friend/Porsche tech's race car, a 911 built for the track. He uses Amsoil Series 2000 and did oil analysis after every track event. As a result he was able to keep one fill of that oil (Amsoil's premium) in there for a long time, doing 3 oil changes in 2 years with heavy track use.

Based on that, he recommends 6 months max. for Mobil 1, or 12 mo. max for Amsoil (even the local Mobil 1 rep admitted to him that Amsoil uses a superior base stock [and Red Line may, too] that allows longer time between changes and resists TBN degradation due to acidity, etc.. I am now changing oil on all 3 cars (89 Saab 900, A4, 73 Porsche 911) based on time since none goes more than 7,500 miles in 6 months, and the 911 goes about 2,500 a year (annual change w/ Amsoil in that one).

Once the A4 is out of warranty I will probably go to annual changes with Amsoil on that one, too, with oil analysis at around 7500-10k to check on it.

But if 3k makes you happy, it's relatively cheap peace of mind.