Synthetic or natural motor oil?

[WXman]

Hey crazygreek.... how often do you change your oil?

Thanks!

[unbalancedwood]

Does someone have a tutorial for taking off the valve cover to check out sludge?

[crazygreek]

Hey crazygreek.... how often do you change your oil?

Thanks!

WXman, I have 60,000 miles on my ride change my oil every 5,000 sometimes 6,000 if I am traveling. But when I take my car into the dealership I always have them check the oil for consistency and color and they almost always come back and tell me that everything looks good. I prefer to change it every 5,000 but when you drive a Sept '04 Solara bought in '03 and drop 60,000 miles on in three years well I guess an extra thousand here and there won't hurt anything.

Mostly before I got married I was driving about 3000 miles a month back and forth to VA. Now it's toned down considerable. So I may change every 4,000 to 5,000 just because the car takes shorter trips to work than it used to. It’s all in how you drive, where you live, and weather. Oil tends to break down faster the hotter it gets, but also takes longer to become viscous the colder it is. This all translates to the hotter the temperature the faster your oil will break down. The colder the temperature the more damage to the engine because it takes more time for the oil to heat up and lube all the internal parts. This is why they have different oil weights for summer and winter. This is also why they have engine block heaters for extreme cold temperatures regions.

Sorry for the long answer, could have probably left it at the first line but heh, what the hell didn’t want to work on this stuff anyway. Hope this helps.

[JMSinMaryland]

If you insist on 3-5k OCI stick with dino oil. With syn you are just throwing money down the drain with such a short interval. I keep a 5k OCI with dino and a 10k OCI with Mobil 1 Syn 10W-30 EP with a Mobil 1 Oil Filter. Jon.

[gnegroni]

5k Oil change with Mobil 1 Synthetic...I tend to run the car more like a Ferrari. Anyway, if those "special" 10k-15k filters are not available, why just not change filters 3 times during the 15k interval. Oil may be recommended for a 10k-15k change, but that don't mean the filter is not gonna "clog up" during that time. Then again, I could be wrong.

[HarryAdventurer]

I had a '76 VW Rabbit. I experimented with all types of oil and additives. Mobil 1, T-Fal (teflon additive), and store brand, (API certified of course). I had that car for about 120K with no problems. Mobil 1 tended to burn, (leak), faster than others. T-Fal seemed to have no effect.

For my '86 Celica, I used the cheapest oil that met the mfg requirements and the cheapest filter recommended for the car. A minor crash at 136K, ended that car. (Insurance wouldn't pay repair, gave me $3,500 - I regret not keeping the car.) Never any oil related problems, and that car had a 10,000 mi oil change cycle.

My '98 Ford Escort ZX2, received the same care, except for a 5,000 mi change cycle. I still have it and at 167K it still runs fine.

I am highly dubious about any claims for superior performance with synthetics and the like. While they may test better in a lab, I doubt they provide any meaningful advantage over the life of a typical car.

[theprodigy79]

This is a very old thread man, let's try not to revive these. I'm not trying to be an @ss, just giving you a head's up before others trounce ya (there are a few people on this site who you'll never hear the end of it from)...

Take care,

-James

[Patrik]

i use Amsoil full synthetic... you can go up too 48 000 km or 1 year... just need to change your oil filter in the middle of the laps time

[gnegroni]

When I blew a head gasket on my 1994 Ford Taurus due to a busted hose I took the car down to a trustworthy mechanic to have it fixed.

As a precautionary method, the mechanic took the Vulcan's iron heads for a small resurfacing, replaced the gasket (doh!) and inspected the whole engine for any damage. He was amazed at the engine shape and cleanliness, as well as cylinder wear, much like crazygeeks mechanics' reaction. I told him I had been using Mobil 1 Synthetic since I took (actually bought) the car from my dad, which was about 4 years worth of Synthetic massaging, and he told me it was worth it after seeing the results.

Do note, that the car consumed Mobil 1, but even though I ran the car hard, I never had to add more than 1/2-1 quart between oil changes. Mechanic told me the piston design on the Vulcan engine tended to burn off oil, which explained why the engine was losing oil without any leaks.

My $0.02, use synthetic. I live in 100°F weather most of the year and like the extra insurance it gives me. As you may imagine, my hardworking 2AZ Solara has it running through its veins...I change it every 5k.