How Often Do You Change Your Oil?

With our cars being direct injection, this poses some minor concerns that were otherwise not present with port injected motors of the past.

Users have noticed that with lots of city driving, your oil level will read HIGHER then before on the dipstick. This is because the oil is subjected to fuel shear (fuel from the injection system mixed with your engine oil which breaks it down or shears the oil, resulting in less engine protection. This is one reason why your oil should be regularly changed.

Another reason is that since these are DI motors, they are sucseptible to carbon buildup on the intake valves. The less often you change your oil, the more buildup will occur on your intake ports due to the contaminated oil. This is another reason why oil should always be changed on time.

With these two considerations in mind, I recommend changing your oil every 5000 Miles.

In Austrialia, the owners manual recommends the following oil weights:
- 0w20/30 for fuel efficiency, cold weather operation. Ideal for conservative drivers in mild climates

-5w40 (5w30 was not even mentioned!) this oil is essentially the happy medium between too thin or too thick. Good for a variety of weather conditions and driving styles. This is what Ive been using for a while now and the engine runs quieter and smoother then before.

-10w30, 10w40, 10w50. Now I will admit that these oils are too thick for most driving conditions, but those who live in hot climates, especially driving aggressively will want to consider an oil this thick. 10w50 is more reserved for track use however.

Due to the concerns that a DI motor may cause, I recommend a tough oil that is resistant to fuel shear and also has some sort of detergents, like a diesel oil (Part of the reason why Diesel engines need detergents is because of the DI system that is shared with our engine)

Ive used many different oils, and the only two I found that were truly tough and able to provide protection at 4000+ Miles was shell rotella t6 5w40 and Motul, which is an incredibly strong and protective racing oil.

Im looking to see when people change their oil on average and what sort of oil weight is used.

6k then 6k then 7k all the way. I use MZD moly oil which is expensive from what dealership sells as std synthetic oil. I want to settle at 8k. Modern Toyotas run 10k per oil change. MZD oil change is 50% expensive than theirs.

5k. It's just easier to do oil changes and tire rotations at the same time.

NelsonLewis said:

5k. It's just easier to do oil changes and tire rotations at the same time.

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+1

Here in Oz:

Between 6.5 & 7.5k..mostly highway and don't beat the snot out of it..0w20 castrol runs like a well oiled machine likely because it is

Kaps said:

6k then 6k then 7k all the way. I use MZD moly oil which is expensive from what dealership sells as std synthetic oil. I want to settle at 8k. Modern Toyotas run 10k per oil change. MZD oil change is 50% expensive than theirs.

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For a direct injection motor, you dont want to be pushing your oil changes intervals that far. I still think 5k is optimal.

Monterra said:

Between 6.5 & 7.5k..mostly highway and don't beat the snot out of it..

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For mostly highway driving, thats a good interval

5k for the first change. 7.5k for the next 2 changes and intend to continue that unless my driving conditions change. Have used and plan on always using Mazda moly. I have the Flexible Oil Maintenance Setting turned on but only use it as confirmation that I'm not going past the life of the oil. Mostly highway driving (40-60 mph). Typical trip length is 15-20 miles and 25-30 minutes long so the engine always gets completely warmed up.

5K miles.
0-20 M1 AFE.

GJ, you're at it again. You tell people that they should not be letting their oil run to the recommended interval and should not be using the recommended oil. I think you are perfectly entitled to do what you want with your own car but should not be making subjective suggestions for other people on a public forum. Mazda WANT their customers to use these oils for the specified periods to get the best from their cars.

Always up to the individual owner to do what ever they want to do

Anchorman said:

GJ, you're at it again. You tell people that they should not be letting their oil run to the recommended interval and should not be using the recommended oil. I think you are perfectly entitled to do what you want with your own car but should not be making subjective suggestions for other people on a public forum. Mazda WANT their customers to use these oils for the specified periods to get the best from their cars.

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Naw man, it's a conspiracy. Listen to your oil, man. She whispers in your ear like the goddess

On the Speed3, every 5k miles with Pennzoil Platinum. On the CX-5, every 5k miles with whatever the dealership has. Maybe in the future I'll also switch to Pennzoil Platinum for the CX-5, but as it is not performance car, I'm not too worried about it.

Every 5-7 thousand miles. 0-20 full synthetic.

I use the flexible schedule on the on board computer to give me oil life. Generally when it gets down to around 20% or lower I start thinking about changing the oil. Others have discussed on here the results from oil analysis from Blackstone labs and others have had discussions with Mazda's racing engineers that say the oil life expectancy is quite good on these cars and have no problem going 7500miles or more between changes.

To sit here and say that one should oil other then what is recommended by mazda at intervals other then what is recommended without any hard data proving why is just pointless. Your car, you can do what you want but I'm going to have to agree with Anchorman that you're just shouting from a soap box for no apparent reason.

So me oil analysis results that prove your claims about fuel in the oil and the lack of protection after certain a mileage and I'll start to listen. These aren't race cars being pushed to the limits day in day out.

GJ-Molestor said:

For a direct injection motor, you don’t want to be pushing your oil changes intervals that far. I still think 5k is optimal.

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Call me old fashioned but if I can spend 60 bucks changing oil for a Toyota and it runs for 10 months 10K miles, switch over to MZD where I already spend 90 for an oil change and on top of it do it twice - $60 vs $180 -- I think Mazda is upscale than Toyota but sorry not willing to put it in the Lexus league quite yet. Gas being so cheap - for many oil change costs are quite close to gas cost. Maybe in future if I do my own oil changes I can do every 5 K. Till then - 7K or 8k is good enough for me. Plus I do moly - moly which is highly regarded here and on a few other brand forums as well - BMW etc.

Ride92 said:

To sit here and say that one should oil other then what is recommended by mazda at intervals other then what is recommended without any hard data proving why is just pointless. Your car, you can do what you want but I'm going to have to agree with Anchorman that you're just shouting from a soap box for no apparent reason.

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Ride92. Performance motor or not, some of us plan to keep this car for a long time and want the engine to last as long as possible.

A. Oils up to 10w50 are recommended in the Australian owners manual, meaning 5w30/40 are well within the manufacturers specifications.

B. Fuel dilution has been recorded on this very forum. It is a known issue with Direct Injection motors

C. There is absolutely nothing wrong with recommending shorter oil change intervals, especially on a direct injection motor.

D. Since everyone is too stubborn to try an approved oil weight, everyone still thinks Im crazy when I say the engine runs smoother and quieter.

GJ-Molestor said:

Ride92. Performance motor or not, some of us plan to keep this car for a long time and want the engine to last as long as possible.

A. Oils up to 10w50 are recommended in the Australian owners manual, meaning 5w30/40 are well within the manufacturers specifications.

B. Fuel dilution has been recorded on this very forum. It is a known issue with Direct Injection motors

C. There is absolutely nothing wrong with recommending shorter oil change intervals, especially on a direct injection motor.

D. Since everyone is too stubborn to try an approved oil weight, everyone still thinks I’m crazy when I say the engine runs smoother and quieter.

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No...people call you crazy because somehow in your mind the bolded constitutes "data" "evidence" and "hard proof". This seems to be a trend in most of your threads.

Still waiting on those oil analysis reports, and other such actual data points to support your arguments. Oh...was also on tirerack this morning, and those Yokohamas are rated like s***.

(screwy)

I do 5K because it is easier to remember.
In USA, it is either 5k or 7.5k depending on the driving conditions.

Changing my oil tonight to get the synthetic lucas additive out before it turns to gunk haha. Got my car back with a used transmission and thanks to a mix up transfer case as well..