Synthetic oil?

[Eli]

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
my dad just put in 10w-30 mobil 1, and some filter (not sure what) in our avalanche. he changes his oil about every 3 weeks (yes, that is 3 weeks, or 3000 miles!!!!!!) i dont know if hes seen an increase in MPG but he says he is just doing it to keep the engine better lubricated, its the first car hes used synthetic in, our other car, a 99' tahoe had 97,000 miles on it when he sold it a month ago (shows how many miles he puts on in a year). nothing was wrong with it. 10w-30 all year round i believe, and we live in northeast ohio. he always lets his car warm up before he starts driving though to let the oil get around.

MIKE

Sorry to break this to you, but your father is throwing away money and shortening the life of his engine at the same time. The days when engines required 3K oil changes are long gone - along with carburators. He is literally throwing his money out the window by doing it at 3K instead of 5K and 7.5K especially if he's using synthetic.

Also, letting your vehicle warm up actually increases engine wear as it take much longer for internal componants to warm up when the engine is idling, rather than just driving away. This increases engine wear significantly. Don't worry, your engine has full oil pressure within seconds of start up, then you should just drive away easy. This is what all the manufacturers recommend now.

He may be wasting his money, but he's not shortening his engine life by changing the oil too often. You can never be too conservative when it comes to fresh, clean oil. It isn't going to hurt anything but his wallet.

 

[CFster]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
my dad just put in 10w-30 mobil 1, and some filter (not sure what) in our avalanche. he changes his oil about every 3 weeks (yes, that is 3 weeks, or 3000 miles!!!!!!) i dont know if hes seen an increase in MPG but he says he is just doing it to keep the engine better lubricated, its the first car hes used synthetic in, our other car, a 99' tahoe had 97,000 miles on it when he sold it a month ago (shows how many miles he puts on in a year). nothing was wrong with it. 10w-30 all year round i believe, and we live in northeast ohio. he always lets his car warm up before he starts driving though to let the oil get around.

MIKE

Sorry to break this to you, but your father is throwing away money and shortening the life of his engine at the same time. The days when engines required 3K oil changes are long gone - along with carburators. He is literally throwing his money out the window by doing it at 3K instead of 5K and 7.5K especially if he's using synthetic.

Also, letting your vehicle warm up actually increases engine wear as it take much longer for internal componants to warm up when the engine is idling, rather than just driving away. This increases engine wear significantly. Don't worry, your engine has full oil pressure within seconds of start up, then you should just drive away easy. This is what all the manufacturers recommend now.

He may be wasting his money, but he's not shortening his engine life by changing the oil too often. You can never be too conservative when it comes to fresh, clean oil. It isn't going to hurt anything but his wallet.

What I mean is he's shortenting his engine life by letting it warm up in the morning instead of driving it right away.

As for the oil, he's just throwing his money away by changing it too frequently.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
my dad just put in 10w-30 mobil 1, and some filter (not sure what) in our avalanche. he changes his oil about every 3 weeks (yes, that is 3 weeks, or 3000 miles!!!!!!) i dont know if hes seen an increase in MPG but he says he is just doing it to keep the engine better lubricated, its the first car hes used synthetic in, our other car, a 99' tahoe had 97,000 miles on it when he sold it a month ago (shows how many miles he puts on in a year). nothing was wrong with it. 10w-30 all year round i believe, and we live in northeast ohio. he always lets his car warm up before he starts driving though to let the oil get around.

MIKE

Sorry to break this to you, but your father is throwing away money and shortening the life of his engine at the same time. The days when engines required 3K oil changes are long gone - along with carburators. He is literally throwing his money out the window by doing it at 3K instead of 5K and 7.5K especially if he's using synthetic.

Also, letting your vehicle warm up actually increases engine wear as it take much longer for internal componants to warm up when the engine is idling, rather than just driving away. This increases engine wear significantly. Don't worry, your engine has full oil pressure within seconds of start up, then you should just drive away easy. This is what all the manufacturers recommend now.

He may be wasting his money, but he's not shortening his engine life by changing the oil too often. You can never be too conservative when it comes to fresh, clean oil. It isn't going to hurt anything but his wallet.

What I mean is he's shortenting his engine life by letting it warm up in the morning instead of driving it right away.

As for the oil, he's just throwing his money away by changing it too frequently.

I kinda take the opposite viewpoint. Driving it away cold stresses the components more. I don't see why it would increase wear significantly, as you say.. you have full oil pressure within seconds of startup anyway. IMO, it's better to let things warm up slower.

Clearances are at their smallest when the engine is cold. That, coupled with thicker oil.. may not necessarily be a good thing.

Overall, I don't think either way is going to significantly reduce engine life, all other things being equal.

 

[idNut]

Red Line synthetic in my car for the first time.

 

[CFster]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
my dad just put in 10w-30 mobil 1, and some filter (not sure what) in our avalanche. he changes his oil about every 3 weeks (yes, that is 3 weeks, or 3000 miles!!!!!!) i dont know if hes seen an increase in MPG but he says he is just doing it to keep the engine better lubricated, its the first car hes used synthetic in, our other car, a 99' tahoe had 97,000 miles on it when he sold it a month ago (shows how many miles he puts on in a year). nothing was wrong with it. 10w-30 all year round i believe, and we live in northeast ohio. he always lets his car warm up before he starts driving though to let the oil get around.

MIKE

Sorry to break this to you, but your father is throwing away money and shortening the life of his engine at the same time. The days when engines required 3K oil changes are long gone - along with carburators. He is literally throwing his money out the window by doing it at 3K instead of 5K and 7.5K especially if he's using synthetic.

Also, letting your vehicle warm up actually increases engine wear as it take much longer for internal componants to warm up when the engine is idling, rather than just driving away. This increases engine wear significantly. Don't worry, your engine has full oil pressure within seconds of start up, then you should just drive away easy. This is what all the manufacturers recommend now.

He may be wasting his money, but he's not shortening his engine life by changing the oil too often. You can never be too conservative when it comes to fresh, clean oil. It isn't going to hurt anything but his wallet.

What I mean is he's shortenting his engine life by letting it warm up in the morning instead of driving it right away.

As for the oil, he's just throwing his money away by changing it too frequently.

I kinda take the opposite viewpoint. Driving it away cold stresses the components more. I don't see why it would increase wear significantly, as you say.. you have full oil pressure within seconds of startup anyway. IMO, it's better to let things warm up slower.

Clearances are at their smallest when the engine is cold. That, coupled with thicker oil.. may not necessarily be a good thing.

Overall, I don't think either way is going to significantly reduce engine life, all other things being equal.

Look at it this way. How long does it take your engine to come up to temp when you just let it idle? Especially on a cold day? Not only does this increase engine wear, it's not economical either. While your piston rings take their sweet time heating up and expanding to fill the gap against the cylinder walls, unburnt fuel is finding its way down into your oil pan. Fuel injected vehicles today have a "choke mode", which richens the mixture until the engine has reached a certain operating temp. The longer it takes for the engine to warm up, the more fuel your wasting - and indeed the more you'll have to change you motor oil to get rid of all that unburnt gas. That's why cars 30 years ago needed 3k oil changes. Carberatored vehicles ran very rich, especially on choke, and they used to just dump fuel into the motor when it was first started until it warmed up.

Don't worry, engines today are engineered to be driven right away - not to redline of course, but in a normal manner. Look in your owners manual - under "starting".

Also, clearances are at their greatest when an engine is cold. Cold makes things shrink, remember? Now you got bearing gaps which are too big - the oil isn't able to lubricate such a big gap properly, and you've got metal rubbing metal. This is why you'll hear some higher mileage motors knock a little at start up - it's just the same thing, to a greater degree.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: mugsywwiii

Originally posted by: Millennium
I personally don't buy AMSOIL'S claims. Royal Purple for me and changed every 2000.

What do you drive, Millennium?

2000 Mustang GT
Lentech 4r70w
Full Saleen S351 Body Kit
Steeda Cobra R Hood
Performance Red
FMS-4.10 Gears
Eibach Pro Springs
Tokico 5-way Shocks
Flowmasters
Off Road H-pipe
Tranny Cooler
31 Spline Axles/Eaton diff.
Steeda Subframes, Steeda Pullies, Steering Rack Bushings,
Steeda lower control arms, Upper adjustable control arms,
caster-camber plates
Nitto Drag Radials
SHM built 2V with ported polished heads
125 shot of nitrous(Holley NOSzle system) being upgraded to 250 soon
JBA shorties
3200 Stall

 

[Mill]

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: boggsie

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: Millennium
I personally don't buy AMSOIL'S claims. Royal Purple for me and changed every 2000.

you could buy the cheapest oil and filter you can buy and it would last double that.

you're wasting your money and are a fool.

Kinda strong there, but I have to agree ... unless it is a taxi cab or an inner city police cruiser, sitting at idle for hours at a time.

Do you have a link to back that up? I don't think I am going to take car advice from Pepsi(stock honda) when I have a car that will be making over 500 HP at the wheels.

 

[mugs]

What do you drive, Millennium?

2000 Mustang GT
Lentech 4r70w
Full Saleen S351 Body Kit
Steeda Cobra R Hood
Performance Red
FMS-4.10 Gears
Eibach Pro Springs
Tokico 5-way Shocks
Flowmasters
Off Road H-pipe
Tranny Cooler
31 Spline Axles/Eaton diff.
Steeda Subframes, Steeda Pullies, Steering Rack Bushings,
Steeda lower control arms, Upper adjustable control arms,
caster-camber plates
Nitto Drag Radials
SHM built 2V with ported polished heads
125 shot of nitrous(Holley NOSzle system) being upgraded to 250 soon
JBA shorties
3200 Stall

Yeah, I won't call you a fool for changing your oil as often as you want.