my buddies car
 

to make a long story short, my friends got a 09 ford focus..he doesnt get his oil changed as he should. he was due for a change in december, and still hasnt gotten it changed. its been so long his change reminder sticker is peeling off.
what affects is that going to have on his engine, i know about the sludge. but his oil reminder light never comes on.

its kind of sad and i just hope im not with him when it breaks down. because it will happen. i told him to run synthetic and he has a better chance of doing what hes doing (or isnt doing lol)

his last oil change he went 10k over the miles. i just dont see how someone doesnt maintain a vehicle that hes still paying for.

oil its self does not break down - but thinning by contaminates and particles of dirt, grit and such makes it lose it's lubracating propertys - sludge as you said and excessive wear - as you know the cheapest and best thing you can do for your vehicle is preventive maintance - cost less in the long run .....:icon_hyper:

Honestly, 10k miles is nothing... If he were to take a sample of that oil, sure, its dark brown, but if sent for anaysis it would come back in the 90% range still.

My company changes the oil on our trucks every 45,000KM thats about 20,000miles, and they are severe duty diesel engines on a large fleet of big trucks that can be in +40C Osoyoos one day and -35C northern Saskatchewan the next and the Humidity of Vancouver Island the next...

On my own pickup truck, car, and blazer, I use synthetic oil, and I only change the filter every 3 months regardless of milage put on, and I dump the oil once a year... The blazer hasnt run in about 3 years now, and I will use that same oil thats in it when I get it going again as its only had one filter change on it.

Another example, the generators at the power station my dad worked for 35 years for NEVER had the 0W berring oil changed... And they dont have a filtration system. Once a year the oil was manually run through a filter type thing and put back in the machines. Mind you they dont burn anything to contaminate it... But those generators turned 364 days a year for the 35 years he was there. They leaked a little, so top ups was all they got.

The 5000km/3000mile thing is just a myth by oil companies to sell more oil and a standard by dealers and oil change places to see your $50 regularily and sooner.

Another interesting fact, there is waaaaay more moving parts and waaaay more friction inside an automatic transmission than there is inside of an engine, but for some reason you dont have to change the transmission oil every 5000km.... Its more like 100,000km

If you dont beleive me, take a sample, go to a truckstop, and pay the $25 for analysis of that 10k mile oil and see just what Im talking about.

You may also be interested to know just what happens to that old oil that is collected... It goes into big drums, then a big truck comes and gets it all, then it goes to a place that recycles it and cleans it, and it goes back into bottles for you to buy again.

The only problem your friend is going to have is when it comes time for a warranty repair and the dealer wants proof of maintenance, which he does not have, he is going to be Sorta-Outta-Luck...

If you are worried about a little sludge, dump a litre or two of diesel fuel in the oil filler and drive that bad boy around for half and hour before you dump the oil, it will be clean as new in that engine. Diesel is a lubricant and is loaded with detergents... Its not gonna hurt anything, and a litre of the stuff is a tenth the cost of a chemical flush bottle that doesnt work as well and doesnt lubricate.