Do you change your oil after heavy wheeling?

So, I checked my oil today after wheeling really hard on Saturday. Mud and water in every little nook and cranny. So bad that I had to get a new air filter.

The oil just didn't look right to me. Didn't seem like it was full of mud, but it didn't look great. I check my oil often, and it was noticeable different than a week ago.

Just to be safe, I changed it. I know people who track their cars change their oil after a track day, so maybe we should do the same?

 

Interesting... I never do because I would have had to change my oil ever 3 weeks in New Mexico. I went wheeling a lot over the course of 4 months and changed it after all of that and it looked normal. Maybe you just got a little mud behind the filter....

 

Strange. I dont know, but if my oil looked like shit from contamination i would change it and do it again a week later. The solution to pollution is dilution.

 

Judging by the pic I saw of your air filter, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to do so.

 

Yeah, I hope it was just a coincidence.

 

If you have contaminated engine oil from a wheeling trip, you need to find out what is not sealing properly. As long as you aren't doing deep water crossings, what could wheeling do to a motor that doesn't happen any other day? Your motor was built to rev. That doesn't dirty the oil.

 

When your air filter is completely clogged with mud...

 

I don't DD mine anymore... But, I change the oil once a year and it's looked fine for 4 years. And my definition of "heavy wheeling" is 12 hours + a day for 3 days straight or more 4 times a year. I've had my air filter so clogged with mud and snow that my truck died because it couldn't breathe on several accounts. Hell, I even hydro locked it once, sorta... Had to pull plugs to push water out.

 

I think it's past time for a snorkel.