I haven't changed our riding mower oil in maybe 7 years since we got it. Runs fine.
My Zero Turn riding mower was almost $3k so I take care of it.
I haven't changed our riding mower oil in maybe 7 years since we got it. Runs fine.
My Zero Turn riding mower was almost $3k so I take care of it.
I do too. But unless one has 10 acres to mow...
Not telling you what to do at all, but TIME does not affect oil life. Only actual miles. I always go by miles, even if it takes 2 or 3 years to get there!
Try oil analysis after a year & after less than recommended miles. You'll see.
Most OEMs and oil companies would disagree with you as would oil analysis results upon which the recommendations are based. Time does matter. Combustion products cause acids to form over time. These do damage to metals.
Here's a fairly recent article on the new Diesel Oil's, this may make you reconsider the Diesel oil in the Ryker
https://tech.drivenracingoil.com/buyer-beware-diesel-oil-changed/
Time with miles. NOT time w/o miles!
Acids form due to COMBUSTION byproducts. An engine simply sitting, obviously not running does NOT built up acids! So If your oil change interval is 10,000 miles, and you put 2,000 miles per year on it, you need to change after 5 years. This is plain and simple, an easy to understand basic truism.
I had an RV that must have had a bad oil ring. It took a quart of oil every 500 miles. The normal oil change interval was 5,000 miles for 10 quarts of oil. This meant every 5,000 miles it got 10 quarts of FRESH oil. Consequently, I NEVER changed the oil!!! I simply changed the filter every 5,000 miles.
There is NOTHING unique about my method. Some big rig trucks do the same; they have an oil reservoir, and periodically they dump a certain amount of oil into the fuel system for burning, add fresh oil, and oil is literally NEVER changed! Just periodically filters are changed.
BTW: With my big rig Volvo truck (which REQUIRED 20,000 mile oil changes w/conventional oil), once I went 130,000 miles w/o a single oil change! I accomplished this using a high quality synthetic oil, periodic oil analysis & changing the three (3) oil filters every 30,000 miles.
My Volvo truck had over 1,000,000 miles when I sold it.
The acid build up occurs over time ONCE THE COMBUSTION BYPRODUCTS HAVE CONTAMINATED THE OIL. .
Agreed, the owner/operator manual is very vague on the maintenance intervals, and the info is spread throughout the manual instead of being condensed into a traditional table format. Another thing to note is that you need to refer to the online manuals as the de-facto reference, and NOT the printed version that came with the bike. You can find the updated manuals here: http://www.operatorsguides.brp.com/Index.aspx Click on the top-left menu and select "Roadster", and then drill down from there.
My shop agreed that the 6000 interval listed in the manual is a little bizarre. I always change the oil in my new bikes long before the first "official" interval... usually around 300-800 miles, depending on the engine type. After that, it's every 3K for larger motors, and 1.5-2K for smaller motors.
I sent mine back to the dealer to have the sway bar installed, and I asked them to go ahead and do the first oil change at ~600 miles. I will return at 3000 and then every 3K for the next few changes (while under warranty). After that, I will be doing all of the maintenance at 3K intervals.
One thing to note about the oil changes. My Rally stunk of burning oil like crazy after its first change. I took it back to the dealer the following day and asked them to fix my stinky bike. Apparently, the tray under the motor can catch a LOT of oil spillage during the maintenance, and mine had almost a half-quart or more slinging around under there. The tech that did my service didn't realize that there was a lot in there, and it was blowing up onto the manifold and lower engine case... smoking and stinking like crazy. They had to pull the lower tray and completely degrease everything under there. It still stinks after another 600 miles, but it's tolerable.
Here is the breakdown of the oil service parts and fees:
$ 3.59 420552280 O-RING
$ 2.59 420950141 RING-SEALING
$14.39 420956123 FILTER-OIL
$41.36 779133 OIL 4T 5W40 SYNTH BLEND QT (x4)
$ 9.99 420230920 O-RING
--------
$71.92 Parts total
$74.80 0.8 hr SHOP LABOR
====
$146.72 TOTAL
--
QM
But ABRUPTLY STOPS when an engine is NOT running for a hour, for a day, or for 6 months. Yes, the acid comes from combustion. But NO NEW acid is add hence pH of oil stops changing whilst engine is not running.
I keep it simple and at a minimum go by what the manual says: Miles or Time (which ever comes first). But I admit I change out the oil and filter much more frequently on all my engines - but then again I like doing the services myself.
Take off 2 bolts under, take off filter, Drain Oil, Put bolts back on, put new filter on, add oil (See Manual for amount).
That's fine if it makes you "feel good". But you are wasting time & money, and being environmentally unfriendly in the process.