How important is it to change oil in your car?

So my 2006 Ford Explorer just had the oil change light come on. I am going on a trip in it this Friday-roughly 160 miles each way-and was wondering what harm I would be doing if I don't get it changed before going. I really don't have time to take it to get changed. Thanks for the help.How important is it to change oil in your car?if it is a small red glowing oil 'lamp' type thing. you should really not drive it anywhere besides your closest mechanic to look at it. your engine can have a catastrophic failure if your red oil lamp is lit!How important is it to change oil in your car?it is very important. if the light came on, it is probably low. you will be ok on your trip, but make sure you check your oil and add if it needs it.How important is it to change oil in your car?Are you kidding? Check the oil level before you drive it anywhere, you're gonna burn out the engine. And yes, changing the oil is pretty freaking important.How important is it to change oil in your car?Regularly changing oil of car is most important thing as it increases the life of the car. It should be done on regular basis.How important is it to change oil in your car?be sure it's the oil Change light and not a check engine light or oil pressure/oil level light.



If it's really just an oil CHANGE/maintenance minder/oil life monitor light, then it's not going to be a huge issue if you drive the 400miles or so over the light. Just check to make sure the level is OK before your trip.



If it is a check engine light, or Oil Pressure issue then don't drive it, you need a repair.



Check your manual, it may say something like: light comes on then will go off after 1minute when you have 10% %26quot;life%26quot; left. Only when you are at 0% life will it stay solidly on.

Regardless, the monitor is not actually monitoring the oil, it is just tallying up from the last reset, so there is always a good amount of buffer that the engineers built in (more so if you've used a high quality oil (e.g. synthetic) last change).How important is it to change oil in your car?Most likely, no problem.



Oil needs changing because of the build up of particles and (most importantly) acid (which comes from the combustion process). However, the actual amount varies depending on several factors. If the engine is reasonably new, is lightly used and is operated in clean (dust-free) conditions, the length between services may be extended. On the other hand, if the engine is old (with a lot of blow-by), hard used, and operated under dirty conditions then service intervals should be shortened. Devices used to indicate service interval are unlikely to take these factors into account.