Oil Change or Not...What would you do?

[GreenF8]

So I am driving the '19 Laramie to Canada and back for a fishing trip June 16-24. 1400-ish miles round trip. Truck info says my oil life is at 35% today; likely between 30-35% by next Friday. If you were me, would you change it before the trip, or wait until after. The new filter and synthetic oil are sitting on the garage shelf. Thanks

 

[PolarisCobra]

I generally change mine at around 25% on the oil life gauge. Might as well get it done now, and look everything over before the trip. May find something else that needs attention, easy to take care of it now, and have an uninterrupted vacation.

 

[brian42]

I didn't change my oil until less than 5% (PUP). Since you're using synthetic I wouldn't change the oil before the trip unless it was at 10% or less IMO.

 

[TotallyHucked]

Forget the percentage, how many miles are you on this oil change? If you won't be over by much and you don't beat the snot out of your truck, you'll be fine to wait till after. I typically change mine just somewhere around 5k. It's not a big deal if you're over by a few hundred or even 1k miles if you're using quality oil and not running the truck super hard.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I change mine the week the "Change Oil Soon" light comes on.

 

[Tom Davis]

Running synthetic I would guess you should be fine. But if any doubt at all, or having to question it, I would change it as it wouldn't hurt anything to do so.

 

[Jane S]

So I am driving the '19 Laramie to Canada and back for a fishing trip June 16-24. 1400-ish miles round trip. Truck info says my oil life is at 35% today; likely between 30-35% by next Friday. If you were me, would you change it before the trip, or wait until after. The new filter and synthetic oil are sitting on the garage shelf. Thanks

Forget the guage.

Mileage and idle hours is the metrix.

 

[REDinAZ]

So I am driving the '19 Laramie to Canada and back for a fishing trip June 16-24. 1400-ish miles round trip. Truck info says my oil life is at 35% today; likely between 30-35% by next Friday. If you were me, would you change it before the trip, or wait until after. The new filter and synthetic oil are sitting on the garage shelf. Thanks

I either go by too much time elapsed since last oil change, or a quickly accumulated mileage amount (meaning it's certainly getting changed from that). the "oil life" suggestion the truck gives out doesn't ever interest me. so I would first ask, how many months (6-8 months it's getting old) has that oil been in the crankcase? and if it's old are there a ton of miles on it too?? I don't like old/higher mileage oil churning thru an engine on road trips (but that's probably just my superstition). YMMV.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I either go by too much time elapsed since last oil change, or a quickly accumulated mileage amount (meaning it's certainly getting changed from that). the "oil life" suggestion the truck gives out doesn't ever interest me. so I would first ask, how many months (6-8 months it's getting old) has that oil been in the crankcase? and if it's old are there a ton of miles on it too?? I don't like old/higher mileage oil churning thru an engine on road trips (but that's probably just my superstition). YMMV.

Changing oil just because of age is wasting money; oil doesn't really have a shelf life. Hours of operation is what I have always gone by. I sold a boat with a Mercury outboard on it in 2020. The manual said to change the oil at 50 hours, then every 100 hours after that or annually, whichever came first. I bought that motor in 2007 and it had about 120 hours on it in 2020. No way was I going to change the oil on that motor every year with only 10 hours since the last oil change. I changed the oil twice in those 13 years - once at 50 hours in about 2012, and again in 2019 just because.

 

[JayLeonard]

Interval is just a target. I'd run it and get it changed when you get back. You engine won't faail because you put an extra 1000 miles on it.