Synthetic oil change?

[Robsbrd99]

Hey guys,
Ive got 55k on my explorer. I change the oil every six months and it ends up being a little less than 4k miles. Was wondering if synthetic oil may be a better choice to ward off the timing chain/ cassette failures. Im already running a blend oil now and have no problems.

 

[fusseli]

Synth blend is what Ford specifies for a 5k mile interval, unless you're doing something that falls into the severe duty category. Go to a full synthetic and 5k+ is easily safe.

 

[Robsbrd99]

Am I wrong in thinking that city driving is considered severe service according to the book? probably should just keep on doing what im doing and pray for a little luck when the truck gets older.

 

[ahodges]

I would say to go with the full synthetic. It is well worth the money! I have ran Motorcraft synthetic blend for 3 years and then switched to Mobil 1 full synthetic about a year ago and will never go back.. I love the peace of mind I have by running it.

An example of it being better is when I was running Motorcraft I would get a lifter tick/ knock after the oil thinned out from running it some what hard, but with the Mobil 1 I never have this problem anymore. Another example I like to tell people about is one of my friends bought a 97 Mercury Grand Marquis with 97k on it. He switched to Mobil 1 right away and put 60k on it while he had it beating the piss out of it the whole way. I don't think I ever saw the car when he wasn't either racing it or hitting the rev-limiter. Anyhow, he totaled it about 2 years after owning it (yes, he drives a lot, 30k a year) and it never leaked any oil, ticked, or made any kind of noise. It was honestly the quietest engine I have ever heard. It was the 4.6L V8.

During the time he owned that car I had all kinds of problems with noisey valve train and head gaskets running Motorcraft (not saying its a bad oil, just that it isn't great). After watching what he put that engine through I decided to make the switch to Mobil 1 and I don't regret it at all.

 

[waskly]

Am I wrong in thinking that city driving is considered severe service according to the book? probably should just keep on doing what im doing and pray for a little luck when the truck gets older.

you are correct, the reason is city driving is traffic / idle hrs.

you can drive in the city 1 hr and go 5 miles. yet that engine still ran for an hr.
so the oil was still working, while you might only put 3000 miles on the engine, just from traffic and engine running is the same as driving 5000, 6000. etc miles.

there is a hr to miles converter somewhere.

 

[Exproblems]

>>>>>>>>>>>

Am I wrong in thinking that city driving is considered severe service according to the book? probably should just keep on doing what im doing and pray for a little luck when the truck gets older.

>>>>>>>>>>>

No your are right in thinking city driving is "severe driving" because of all the stop and go driving you do within a city, traffic, redlights, stop signs etc.. It is the constant, daily stopping and going that beats the hell out of a vehicles engine and transmission. Highway driving is less damaging to a drivetrain because once you are up to speed say, 65mph, you just cruise along at a constant speed till you exit the highway or hit heavy traffic and have to slow down. A lot of times when you look at a newspaper ad for someone that is selling a used vehicle, they will state the mileage it has on it and then might say "highway miles" after it. They want you to think it had easy driven miles on it rather than city driving or severely driven miles on it. Not only running time of an engine helps break down the oil, but how hard the motor is working will break down oil faster. Motors work harder in stop and go traffic, trannys too.

 

[fusseli]

Exactly. Just because you do mostly city driving doesn't mean you need to change your oil at 3k arbitrarily, especially if you're using a high quality synthetic. If you use cheap dino oil you might reconsider that. No matter what, change your oil once it's dirty black.

 

[ahodges]

Exactly. Just because you do mostly city driving doesn't mean you need to change your oil at 3k arbitrarily, especially if you're using a high quality synthetic. If you use cheap dino oil you might reconsider that. No matter what, change your oil once it's dirty black.

Relying on the color of the oil is not a good indicator as to when you should change it. You should be going off of the miles. If you note the color vs. how many miles you have gone then it is a pretty good indicator as to the health of your engine, such as if it has much blow-by or sludge in the engine. I've changed oil at 5k on a new engine even though it still looks "clean" on the dip stick. It is all about the thermal break down of the oil, not necessarily the cleanliness.

 

[fusseli]

Relying on the color of the oil is not a good indicator as to when you should change it. You should be going off of the miles. If you note the color vs. how many miles you have gone then it is a pretty good indicator as to the health of your engine, such as if it has much blow-by or sludge in the engine. I've changed oil at 5k on a new engine even though it still looks "clean" on the dip stick. It is all about the thermal break down of the oil, not necessarily the cleanliness.

I agree entirely! You misunderstood what I meant. What I meant is if you follow a 5k interval and it's dirty before then, change it before then. Cheap insurance.

 

[ahodges]

I agree entirely! You misunderstood what I meant. What I meant is if you follow a 5k interval and it's dirty before then, change it before then. Cheap insurance.

oh ok. Sorry about that. I agree with what you are saying then!

 

[Robsbrd99]

Thanks for the replies guys! Must not be doing too bad for my truck now. The mileage at a 6 month interval is about 3800 miles. I like the 6 month interval. I may catch a Advance Auto Jug o synthetic on sale just to see if I can tell any difference in the engine at all.
Got a 5.7 firebird that I drive the rest of the time thats had synthetic for the past few years. About 1 mpg. in better mileage. Cant tell any other change in the engine. Possibly because its been taken care of and not abused.

 

[fusseli]

You probably won't notice a "difference" switching to synthetic. The differences versus conventional are mostly the wear properties of the oil itself, beyond that it's what additive ****tail that particular brand has come up with.

I switched to Pennzoil Ultra on my first oil change after I got my used Mounty. 5k later the oil was black and dirty as ever, becuase the better oil cleaned it up. Ever since my oil is back to looking partially golden when it's time to change. Beyond something like this I doubt there's going to be a "noticeable difference" between engine oil. Most of it is peace of mind when you know you have quality oil under the hood, there's no worry of extra engine wear and tear.

 

[Exproblems]

>>>>>>>>

I may catch a Advance Auto Jug o synthetic on sale just to see if I can tell any difference in the engine at all. >>>>

If you are going to buy your Synthetic oil change supplies from Advance Auto, go to "www.couponcabin.com" and type in Advance Auto Parts into the search box. There should be some online coupons you can use at Advance Auto. Last month, they had several, $40 off a $100 purchase, $20 off a $50 purchase(yours might cost this), and so on. $20 off your oil change isn't bad, just order the supplies online at the Advance Auto Parts web site, use the coupon code from Coupon Cabin and pick them up at your local store. Print the online receipt and bring it with you to the store. Better than paying retail.

 

[Robsbrd99]

That Penz. Ultra is goood stuff! Its a factory fill for Ferraris! They happend to have that on sale at Advance.com my last change on the car. Gave me an extra 100 horses! lol! Usually go the Platinum or Val. synthetic.
I'll definately check out those coupon codes. Like to save money.