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My Mazda3 service intervals are 7500 miles

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Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Originally posted by: randomlinh
mazda3's are pre-filled w/ motocraft semi-synthetic, just to throw out there.

and anyone following the "Dealer's schedule"... drop it. follow the book.

on that note, I use mobile 1 5w30... ~6k on changes and the oil analyis comes back great still, that includes auto-x in there. Using Extended performance for the hell of it now.
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I use Mobil Clean 5000 5W20...which is the weight the manual recommends.

Why do you use 5W30?
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as stated above, not a real big issue. 5w30 is spec'd for non-usa.. but just to let you know, mobile clean 5000 is not synthetic... it's a normal dino oil. clean 7500 is a semi. Not saying it's bad, just just putting it out there. Mobile's 5w30 synthetic is actually pretty thin for a 30, it's nearly a 20.

when they (all manufacs) use 5w20, they are squeezing out every few bit of numbers they can EPA wise.
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Gimmick? Please clarify.
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They did it to boost their Cafe numbers up so they would not have to pay as much to the goverment. As randomlinh said, outside the US they still spec 5w30. Its only the US they push the 5w20 everywhere.
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
So I should switch to a 5W30 semi-synthetic? I don't really care for synthetic oils personally.
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Yea I would. Look at the Mobil7500 oil. Very good and can be had for less then $3.
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
So I should switch to a 5W30 semi-synthetic? I don't really care for synthetic oils personally.
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if you want to go w/ semi-syn, the stock motocraft is actually pretty good and cheap to boot. I auto-x and am paranoid. heh, so I went w/ mobile. That plus I can't find motocraft around here for some reason.

keep in mind tho, even though that's the stock fill, not all dealers have it (if you go to them).

You're on the mz3forums aren't you? Search the maintenence thread for posts by sixx.. lots of oil info. heh.
 
Why go synthetic, an import (Honda, Mazda, Toyota) will go 200k without any major problems and probably 300-400k with regular oil @ regular intervals before the engine starts having problems.

I don't get it.


Tom
 
Originally posted by: shortylickens
My Mazda 5 is 5000 miles.
Its been running fine for 46 thousand now.
I do exactly as the manual says. No problems.
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how long have you had your Mazda5? I didn't realize they have been out for long, or you must drive a lot of miles
 
Yeah, I was a bit shocked by the 7,500 oil change intervals on my 3s as well when I read the manual. But, fine by me. Less time my car has to spend in the shop.

Besides, I feel that Mazda engineers know their engines better than a bunch people typing on an internet forum so I'll follow their guidelines. That and I'll probably won't have the car long past its 4 year warranty is up.
 
My Civic manual recommends 10k for regular driving, 5k for severe driving. I use synthetic and change it at the recommended interval (used to be 10k, now I got a new job with a local commute so it's 5k)
 
Originally posted by: Budmantom
I remember a while back FW had a car maintenance thread and a few people pointed out that getting regular maintenance (every 3k) can shorten the lifespan of your car, it just increases the chance of them forgetting to put the oil filter back on etc...


Tom
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that's a way to increase the life of your car because you will be getting a free new motor!!!
 
Originally posted by: toekramp
my bmw z4 is every 15k miles
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Don't believe the BMW recommendation if you're plan on keeping your BMW after 50K miles. The reason BMW recommend 15K oil change interval because BMW does so call "Free Maintenance" for free first 50K miles. Many BMW owners have reported sludge in their engine around 80K miles after following BMW oil change interval of 15K miles. Also many BMW owners have reported of transmission failure with never changing out their lifetime transmission fluid. I change my oil on my BMW E39 every 5K miles and transmission and differential every 40K miles.

 
Just to add, definitely read the manual. You will find that you more than likely have to follow the severe schedule, especially if you live in a big city. The standards for 'severe' are actually pretty normal.
 
Originally posted by: Amused
3000 mile oil changes are a scam.

It's amazing how brainwashed people are.
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WINNER! We should also drink 8-10 glasses of bottled water a day.

GTAudiophile - Synthetics are supposed to be a little more slippery. But too slippery can be a bad thing. Ford F-150/Expedition rear ends requires a friction 'enhancer' as normal transaxle oil caused the limited slip to 'slip'. 😀

I do believe in changing the oil at 1k and 3k, then following the mfgr recommendation (unless they say 3K or there is a little black horse on a yellow field on the car - I have my superstitions - deal with it 😉 ). The first two changes are to remove any pieces of debris, that the filter should have caught, floating around from mfgring.
 
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