A 2001 Jeep Cherokee, Sport, mileage annually approx. less than 600 miles, I check the oil and other fluids... oil looks excellent color and see no particles, etc. Kept outside in Colorado, high altitude (so there is snow). If oil since last oil change looks good, when should I have another oil change? I am wondering if it necessary as frequently as those who drive much more. The trips I put on it are long highway trips - though totals less than 600 miles annually. So the engine does heat up as a trip to the nearest city are about 20 miles there and 20 miles back each trip. It's been two years - and oil looks well. Wait until next spring - making it three years since change or do now? I would appreciate guidance. Thank you. - Christine

 

I'd personally change it once a year no matter the mileage. You can still get contamination from the natural heating and cooling cycles of the surrounding environment. YOu can't really tell the contamination level of the oil by just looking at it. If you want to extend your change I'd at the very least pull an oil sample to send off for analysis and that will tell you 100 percent for sure if it's good to go or contaminated to the point it needs to be changed.

 

I'd wait till spring, I can't see a reason to change 2 year old oil with practically no miles on it. I'm sure people will be along who change their oil every fortnight but your money is better spent elsewhere. (like, have you done done the coolant in the last two years?)

 

I agree with downs.
I change my oil twice a year. Thinking that there is no more then 1500 miles on each oil change.
5W 30 in Octorber and 10W 30 in April. I just use conventional oil with a Napa Gold filter.
Since I drive the Jeep so little all maintenance is done using time and not mileage.
$18 is a small price to pay for a little peace of mind.

 

I agree with downs and Ralph. Age counts, too. Two years is a long time for oil, even with low mileage.

Oil is too cheap to risk and engine over it.

 

I'm kinda OCD about maintenance. What I do depends on whether it is an even or odd year and if it is April or October.

Regular maintenance gets done in April and October. Including detailing, I use that word loosely cause I am really not that good at it, both those times too.
I started sucking out whatever power steering fluid is in the reservoir in April every year a couple years ago to. Hey for the 12 oz of fluid it takes why not.
In an even year in April I swap anti-freeze, tranny, and transfer case fluid.
Hey we have drain plugs in the tranny pan. For the 5 or so quarts it takes again why not.

One thing I have been wanting to do is swap out my brake fluid.
I know it is not necessary, not the swapping of the brake fluid (I feel that is a good idea), but buying one of those MightyVac Brake Fluid tools.
I just want one. One of the fancier ones.

 

Nothing wrong with being a little OCD on maintenance... I am too and my vehicles last because of it....
With the oil... I really would change it once a year... it's not just contaminants in it...but over time it does start to break down... the first thing that will generally start to go bad before the oil though is the filter. It just sitting there and barely ever being used isn't great for it.

 

What I typically do is during every oil change, I suck the brake fluid out of the reservoir and refill it with fresh stuff. I just have a little hand pump that I use. Its not as good as a full fluid flush but will eventually get all the old stuff out and keep the new stuff new for quite a while as long as you keep repeating the process.

To the OP - change that oil! Its got a lot more junk in it then you think....

 

brake fluid on the other hand does go bad faster... as it has hydroscopic properties...meaning over time it will attract water/moisture in it.

 

Pretty much why I want to do it.


I kinda wondered about.
My thinking was that there is fluid in the lines. That is always there.
Now guessing you push on the brakes and more fluid is pushed in the line. You stop.
You release the brakes and that extra fluid that got pushed in goes back up in the reservoir.
I don't see that fluid getting mixed with what's in the lines already.
Hoping that makes sense.
You think it does?
It is not like it circulates in lets say like a power steering pump.

 

The heating and cooling of the brake system will naturally circulate the fluid thought he system, it's called convection circulation . If you have ABS then it makes it more difficult to flush the brake fluid as the pump really needs to be cycled to get it all out of there. But if you have dark fluid in the reservoir and swap it out with new clear fluid you will see it's dark again after driving it for bit. Suck it out and do it again and over time you will have new fluid throughout the system. It's really not hard to flush the system though even without a vacuum pump.

And brake fluid is something that needs to be replaced periodically. It absorbs water which will eat the system from the inside out over time if left unchecked.

 

Just changed it? Check with these guys in six months, take a sample and have them analyze it (or do a WIX analysis through O'Reilly) and see what is going on inside.
http://www.utilitylaboratories.com/

I drive my 1996 XJ on the weekdays, only put about 3k/yr on it these days, but I have 352,000 miles. Had the WIX lab check it last month, everything still looking awesome. Will do a test with the local guys in about 18 months and see how things are going. I run Mobil1 5w30 High Mileage Synthetic all the time now, with either a MOPAR or WIX filter. However, most of those miles were regular Mobil1 Synthetic with a FRAM filter.

 

by far the best thing imo to do is download the FSM from Cruiser54 website, and maintain it to factory standard

I dont have it open in front of me, but for my vehicle, a '96, I thinks its 7500M, or 12mth.

Having said that on low mileage vintage vehicles (with a LOT of oil). I do once per 2years

 

See I was thinking that it would not do that. Hence me wanting to buy a brake bleeder.
Well guess no need now.
Gee and I was so looking forward to spending money and getting a new tool to play with. LOL.

 

I would agree with downs and Ralph. An oil change is not that expensive nor that difficult. I would recommend at least once a year for an oil change with very low mileage (1000 or so). I personally follow the April and October method as well, changing oil regardless of mileage. Some of my vehicles will only have maybe 2-3 thousand miles, but it's mainly city driving, with a lot of stop and go. My Grand Maquis will usually go 6000 miles in 6 months, but that is almost all highway mileage.

Maintenance is a key part of vehicle longevity, and reliability.

Now, if you had an old pickup that was a beater, only used once in awhile on a farm, that was going to the junk yard soon, then maybe you can skip on maintenance a little bit.