Synthetic Motor oil deal ...

[DVad3r]

Originally posted by: thecritic

Originally posted by: DVad3r
I got a 2001 Lexus ES300 and use full synthetic 5W-30. I use the Quaker State Advanced Q one. My manual says I gotta change the oil every 8000 km but I go 10,000-12,000. I change the filter every oil change also and use premium gas. Good? Bad? Should I try something new?

That engine is extremely hard on oil. The 1MZ-FE is not very tolerant of people going slightly over the recommended service interval (which is why there were sludge complaints for a while), so I'd keep your intervals around 8,000 KM.

Take care of that engine, and it'll last you a very long time. I have a friend with 500,000 KM on his 1MZ-FE in his '00 Sienna.

Ya Ive read about the sludge problems. Hmm interesting. Many people have told me if I change the filter and get good oil along with premium gas I should be fine over 8k. I only did 1 such interval of over 8 k (did around 10) so hopefully I dident do any damage. But I agree with you and the engines durability, alot of people have told me it lasts forever if taken care of. I think many Toyota engines are pretty good, my dad has a 92 Camry 4 cyl and it has 420,000 km on it, and still runs, he does some minor repairs on it here and there but nothing over 400 bucks.

 

[imported_wonderwrench]

Originally posted by: BouZouki

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Any advice on synthetic oil for a 2008 Ford Focus? It's a 16V DOHC 2.0L I4, Duratec, I think it's a Mazda design. Currently has ~1500 miles on the oil it came with, getting ready to flush/fill with synthetic + some kind of decent filter.

Would love to hear recommendation. Was thinking Amsoil, but man it's hard to find.

Only 1,500 miles? I highely doubt the manual reccomends doing the first oil change at 1,500 miles, probably more like 5,000 miles.

The first oil change is very importent, do it at the right time as specified in the manual.

As for which oil to use, Penzoil Platinum has been popular lately as a pick over Mobil 1. (Both are good otc oils).

If you can find the German 0W-30 Castrol at Autozone, that would be good too assuming the Ford reccomends a 30 weight oil; I really don't know.


Your not going to find Amsoil at any stores, your only option is online.

Why would you want to run the first change out to the limit? No manufacturer as far as I know uses break in oil. I do not care how well the factory cleaned all the parts before assembly there is still going to be left overs plus metal from break in. Unless the manufacture states the engine has break in oil or not to change the oil early I would always do a oil and filter change by 1500 miles. They can also kiss my ass on 7500 mile change intervals. They just want maintenance costs to look lower.

Something I just thought of. Next time your doing an oil change take a lint free cloth dampened with parts cleaner and carefully pass it inside the threaded area on the filter. Then press your finger against the cloth and turn the filter counter clockwise off your finger. You will find metal shavings on almost very filter from every brand. Why? I have no clue, maybe they want you to have engine wear or the manufacture is to cheap to clean the threads after cutting them. I'd guess the latter. I have yet to find a filter that did not have this problem to some degree. It may take repeated passes to remove all the debris. I also recommend holding the filter with the threads down so metal shards do not get into the filter while you are removing them. Please post your results.

 

[imported_wonderwrench]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Any advice on synthetic oil for a 2008 Ford Focus? It's a 16V DOHC 2.0L I4, Duratec, I think it's a Mazda design. Currently has ~1500 miles on the oil it came with, getting ready to flush/fill with synthetic + some kind of decent filter.

Would love to hear recommendation. Was thinking Amsoil, but man it's hard to find.

Since Fords factory filter is very good and you can buy them cheap at Walmart they are a good option. IMO WIX and Purolator are also good choices. The better the filter the more restrictive its going to be, atleast to some degree. The only reason to use a filter that filters smaller partials would be for extended drain intervals like using Amsiol with 25K drain intervals. In this case I'd still use a normal full flow filter and add a quality bypass filter. Keep in mind Ford may not like this so I would not do anything like this under warranty.

Now what should you do? At a minimum use a quality conventional oil and a good filter.
Say Castrol GTX 5w-20 and a Motorcraft filter. If you want to go synthetic Mobil 1 has never let me down. I have used it in every engine I have owned for over 25 years. I use the OE filter unless I can't find one at the time.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: wonderwrench

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Any advice on synthetic oil for a 2008 Ford Focus? It's a 16V DOHC 2.0L I4, Duratec, I think it's a Mazda design. Currently has ~1500 miles on the oil it came with, getting ready to flush/fill with synthetic + some kind of decent filter.

Would love to hear recommendation. Was thinking Amsoil, but man it's hard to find.

Since Fords factory filter is very good and you can buy them cheap at Walmart they are a good option. IMO WIX and Purolator are also good choices. The better the filter the more restrictive its going to be, atleast to some degree. The only reason to use a filter that filters smaller partials would be for extended drain intervals like using Amsiol with 25K drain intervals. In this case I'd still use a normal full flow filter and add a quality bypass filter. Keep in mind Ford may not like this so I would not do anything like this under warranty.

Now what should you do? At a minimum use a quality conventional oil and a good filter.
Say Castrol GTX 5w-20 and a Motorcraft filter. If you want to go synthetic Mobil 1 has never let me down. I have used it in every engine I have owned for over 25 years. I use the OE filter unless I can't find one at the time.

Thanks, that's exactly the advice I was looking for. Mobil 1 is cheaper than my other two choices, Royal Purple and Amsoil, and going with the OEM filter will make things easy.

 

[imported_wonderwrench]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: wonderwrench

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Any advice on synthetic oil for a 2008 Ford Focus? It's a 16V DOHC 2.0L I4, Duratec, I think it's a Mazda design. Currently has ~1500 miles on the oil it came with, getting ready to flush/fill with synthetic + some kind of decent filter.

Would love to hear recommendation. Was thinking Amsoil, but man it's hard to find.

Since Fords factory filter is very good and you can buy them cheap at Walmart they are a good option. IMO WIX and Purolator are also good choices. The better the filter the more restrictive its going to be, atleast to some degree. The only reason to use a filter that filters smaller partials would be for extended drain intervals like using Amsiol with 25K drain intervals. In this case I'd still use a normal full flow filter and add a quality bypass filter. Keep in mind Ford may not like this so I would not do anything like this under warranty.

Now what should you do? At a minimum use a quality conventional oil and a good filter.
Say Castrol GTX 5w-20 and a Motorcraft filter. If you want to go synthetic Mobil 1 has never let me down. I have used it in every engine I have owned for over 25 years. I use the OE filter unless I can't find one at the time.

Thanks, that's exactly the advice I was looking for. Mobil 1 is cheaper than my other two choices, Royal Purple and Amsoil, and going with the OEM filter will make things easy.

Amsoil will now let people become dealers with no minimum order amount. Cost is $20 per year and you get dealer pricing. So you can save money and more easily get their products. I have thought about doing this my self but have not yet done so.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: thecritic

Originally posted by: Gillbot
Speak for yourself. I have access to a full oil analysis lab and we routinely test oils and filters for all types of industries.

Fair enough, though may I ask what you consider to be restrictive?

Are you an oil filter engineer? Champs makes a lot of filters for AC Delco and I'm quite certain that they are aware of OEM requirements for oil flow.

I am not an oil filter engineer, I am a Reliability Engineer. Kind of like a catch all for lubrication and filtration for industrial applications which can include combustion engines.

I also never said it didn't meet the OEM requirements. However, due to the excessive amount and density of the filter media within ALL of the Mobil1 filters we tested, we found that the flow when compared to similar filters was far less than desireable for the minimal gains in filtering capability. We also found that many of the "lower branded" filters such as the supertech (at least the old style, we have not yet tested the newer designs which have been rumored to be fram knockoffs) were IDENTICAL to the typical Champion Labs filters. Our testing showed the higher end champion filters (such as the K&N) gave us the best balance of flow and filtration.

 

[alkemyst]

Link 1 from StreetCommodores.com

Link 2 from StreetCommodores.com