Oil Changes

[Rogodin2]

IF you drove a POS (which most of you ATOTrs seem to be driving) then dino-but if you have a decent car that's turbo charged the recomendation in the users manual requires synthetic every 10000, I've found that after 5000 I begin to feel the effects of sludging-so I change every 4000. I don't like Mobil 1 (really a parafin based synthetic) nor do I like Castrol. I've been using a german synthetic (lubromoly).

Rogo

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Rogodin2
IF you drove a POS (which most of you ATOTrs seem to be driving) then dino-but if you have a decent car that's turbo charged the recomendation in the users manual requires synthetic every 10000, I've found that after 5000 I begin to feel the effects of sludging-so I change every 4000. I don't like Mobil 1 (really a parafin based synthetic) nor do I like Castrol. I've been using a german synthetic (lubromoly).

Rogo

NA V6 falls under POS? It's not turbocharged (obviously).

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
To simply say synthetic has no benefit is simply false IMO.

It is false to say that. Which is why I never said that.

I said that in a street-driven, naturally-aspirated, liquid-cooled car the benefits do not come into play within the reasonable expected vehicle life. I specifically excluded engines that are turbocharged or supercharged, as well as air-cooled engines and also excluded engines that are used in off-road (including racetrack) situations. For those cars, the benefits are there. You simply didn't fully read my responses, or chose not to represent them fully in your reply.

If you keep to the manufacturer's recommended oil change interval, any street car should go 200,000-300,000 miles easily on regular dino oil with no degradation in performance assuming that the above caveats are met.

I've run the numbers, you just don't recoup the cost of synthetic, even with the extended drain interval. Unless your car meets the exclusion criteria listed above, you're almost always better off to just buy a quality dino oil and the best filter you can buy and change the oil on the manufacturer's recommended interval. The very few exceptions out there (Porsche 911, Corvette, etc) are cars that are in an entirely other grouping and are clearly beyond the realm of discussion in this thread.

ZV

 

[Vette73]

^

I agree with MOST of that but there are plenty of car lines like the Toyota's that had sludge problems. One "fix" I saw in my shop and by others was to lower the 7000k mile service to 5000miles and use Syn oil.

So some engine that ARE street-driven, naturally-aspirated, liquid-cooled, etc... can get some benefit from syn as well. But just about all "dino" oils today will do 4-5K easy for most cars/trucks. Havoline is cheap and tested well for 1. Of course I have a Turbo Saab and Corvette so Syn goes in both of the cars.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: M2008S
whats wrong with fram filters?

i use acdelco or regular crap anyways. not worth the money in a 92 chevy V6 pickemup with 233k

Fram is a very cheaply made filter of low quality. You can get better filters at a cheaper price.

Here is a thread about a Buy 1 get 1 free for Syn oil and good (i.e. NON-fram) oil filters.


http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=1994422

i'm sure someone has a filter review site link, but i think supertech(walmart brand) was better than fram

http://www.oilfilterstudy.com/

 

[Vette73]

^

Supertechs are better then Frams. I was running those on my 2001 Corvette but advance has their filters buy 1 get 1 free sale so I am going to run that for now.

 

[cubby1223]

Sure you can change the oil yourself...

Last time I went to take oil up to a place to drop it off, the gallon or so of oil decided it wanted to spill on the way there. That sucked. It's far easier just to spend the $20 to have someone else change the oil.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Hmm, are there any benefits to synthetic though? If I'm changing my oil myself, I'll guess I'll be on the lookout not to get fram filters, how can I be sure JiffyLube or wherever doesn't do that?

At Jiffy Lube, you're lucky if they change your filter at all...doubly lucky if they also retighten the drain plug

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124
BTW, excellent information in this thread. The only con I'm seeing for using synthetic over dino oil in a NA engine is price. I drive for around 25 miles at 70-80 MPH cruising speed on the highway, then run into stop and go traffic that never tops 40 MPH for another 25 miles every day, and then do the same in reverse to get home; in Florida weather. I don't think my wallet will blame me for spending a little extra to keep my car happy.

Price IS the only con. Hey, if it makes you happy, go ahead, you certainly won't hurt anything. But ZV's got it right--it's not really worth it for most cars under most conditions.

 

[loic2003]

Fully synthetic for my superbike. I plan to change it every 2000 to 2,500 miles, but change the filter on every service. Worth the moeny for sure. Splash out on good oil.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: Insane3D

Originally posted by: OS
word on the street now is mobil 1 has gone "fake" synthetic like syntec (no GC), etc. all the other retail brands.

On my Mobil 1 bottle I just bought, it says explicitly "Fully Synthetic Motor Oil". If it was not true synthetic, wouldn't they violate truth in advertising laws? Why would they do this after many years of being highly regarded among synthetics?

Do you have any more info on this other than the "word on the street"?

Edit:

I'm reading a bit about it now on the BITOG forums, and it's really hard to tell exactly what's going on. The biggest thing people are howling about is the fact they changed to Group III, but it seems there are so many people on that forum obsessed with oil, that they are very set in their ways. Some seem to bash M1 because of it's new classification, some seem to like the new Penzoil Platinum, some will only use Redline or Amsoil. A lot of them though are looking for high oil change intervals of 10k+, where I imagine these differences are more important. Personally, I'm going to be changing at such a low interval (3k-ish) that I'm not particularly worried about using Mobil1.

they make a big fuss over there when an oil goes to group III.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: cubby1223
Sure you can change the oil yourself...

Last time I went to take oil up to a place to drop it off, the gallon or so of oil decided it wanted to spill on the way there. That sucked. It's far easier just to spend the $20 to have someone else change the oil.

I don't trust those places. My brother always goes to one near his house and whoops, one day they forgot to put in 3 quarts of oil when they were filling it up. I've heard way too many stories like that. Why expect any more from the people that work there?

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: Insane3D
The MS6 comes with a syn blend from the factory. I'm having the dealership do the first change @ 1k miles to get all those break in metals out of there, then @ 3k I'm switching to Mobil 1 5w-30 and doing them myself. The interval in the manual is 5k miles because I meet some of the harsh driving conditions...short drives and I live in an environment where salt is in use. I'll probably just change it every 2500-3500 miles since it's a turbo car, and the peace of mind is cheap IMO. It's like $25 for 6 quarts of Mobil 1, and another $6 for a Mazda cartridge filter...

I keep my cars for 10-15 years, so it's worth it to me...

I'm probably going to be keeping my Altima for a while too, so I'm trying to do the most I can to extend its lifespan. If I want to avoid FRAM filters like the plague, are there any safe brands of filters to choose or safe places to find them?

Yes. use the OEM Nissan filters.

Where do I get those, the dealer?

BTW, excellent information in this thread. The only con I'm seeing for using synthetic over dino oil in a NA engine is price. I drive for around 25 miles at 70-80 MPH cruising speed on the highway, then run into stop and go traffic that never tops 40 MPH for another 25 miles every day, and then do the same in reverse to get home; in Florida weather. I don't think my wallet will blame me for spending a little extra to keep my car happy.

sounds like typical driving to me.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: Insane3D
The MS6 comes with a syn blend from the factory. I'm having the dealership do the first change @ 1k miles to get all those break in metals out of there, then @ 3k I'm switching to Mobil 1 5w-30 and doing them myself. The interval in the manual is 5k miles because I meet some of the harsh driving conditions...short drives and I live in an environment where salt is in use. I'll probably just change it every 2500-3500 miles since it's a turbo car, and the peace of mind is cheap IMO. It's like $25 for 6 quarts of Mobil 1, and another $6 for a Mazda cartridge filter...

I keep my cars for 10-15 years, so it's worth it to me...

I'm probably going to be keeping my Altima for a while too, so I'm trying to do the most I can to extend its lifespan. If I want to avoid FRAM filters like the plague, are there any safe brands of filters to choose or safe places to find them?

Yes. use the OEM Nissan filters.

Do you know who makes OEM Nissan filters? I ask because I do not know about Nissan, but I do know that Honda's OEM are made by Fram in Canada.