My point is: The average American driver drives 12,000 miles a year, so that is four oil changes a year. At $25 an oil change, that's about $100 a year to have your cars looked over and make sure things are A-OK.
但是也有人說Car and Driver測試過紐約的計程車每6000mile換機油,及果發現換下來的機油還很好。 Car and Driver tested New York taxi cabs under a test that changed oil at 6,000 mile intervals and found the oil to be near perfect after 6,000 miles of taxi service.
Here’s what to do: Check your owner’s manual and follow the manufacturer’s recommendation. If it says change the oil every three months or 3,000 miles and you haven’t traveled 3,000 miles in that time, change it anyway. But, I think you’ll find that the recommendations are much longer than that. For instance, Acura suggests that I change the oil in my car every 7,500 miles or one year. (Acura甚至建議每7500mile或一年更換機油)
The most common factor in sludge buildup is mineral oils combined with a lack of maintenance by the car owner combined with harsh driving conditions. But this isn't true in all cases. For some reason, a 2005 Consumer Reports article discovered that some engines from AuXX, ChXX, SaXX, ToXX, and VolkXX appear prone to sludge almost no matter how often the oil is changed.
當然在嚴苛的駕駛條件下,如果20000mile或是12個月換機油,不是以上廠牌的引擎還是會有油泥的。(點進連結有一個例子) In this example, the consensus was that the sludge buildup was caused by an overheating engine, oil that hadn't been changed for 20,000 miles of stop-go city driving, a lot of cold starts and a period of about 12 months in storage without an oil change.