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No idea when last oil change was. Help please.

I recently bought a '97 Mountaineer AWD. It has 185k mi. It's in great running condition.

I have no idea when the last oil change was. When I check the dipstick the oil that is in there now is blacker than Wesley Snipes and is a little bit grainy.

My question: Should I just change the oil and filter as normally? Or would there be a benefit to trying to flush the system, perhaps by running a couple of quarts of new oil through it before sealing her and filling her?

Thanks all!
 

O'Rattlecan

Redneck Prognosticator
26,687
797
Belton, MO
It sounds to me like you should have 2 oil changes in your near future if you want to be cautious. One now, and one in about 1000 miles.

They make an oil additive that you can use, if you feel brave enough. It's designed to loosen up the dirt and congealed goo in the oil pan and bottom of the engine. What you do is add it to your oil, then run the engine until it's warm, and then drain the oil while it's still a little warm (before the goo recongeals). I did it once on my 1994 when I was still in high school and it didn't hurt anything. In hindsight I probably wouldn't do it again, who knows what it'll loosen up.

I'd just do 2 short interval oil changes.

Ryan
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
34,919
1,124
outside your house
Change the oil move on. Repeat in a couple hundred/thousand miles if you're worried about it.
 

Beach66Bum

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
I would do two oil changes like mentioned in above posts. Once I had one of those Minute Lube places do a "flushing" of the oil, yea, bad idea. Probably would be OK with a new engine, but mine had high mileage and it burned blue as soon as I left.(never did before the flush!)
 

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