Oil change intervals

[wallygetsit]

Let me know what you guys think.

I personally don't agree that by running synthetic oil you can extend your oil change intervals. I'll buy that the oil doesn't break down as fast, however the longer the oil stays in the engine, the more contaminents it collects like carbon, misc debris, and water. That means more "junk" in the blood of your engine.

I still believe synthetic is only benefical if changed at the normal interval called out for regular oil in the owners manual.

Thanks,
Justin

 

[Peter Weber]

If you do a search you'll find that this subject has been covered in the past a number of times. We even had lab analysis performed on oil samples of both dino and synthetic taken at various intervals by different members.

There's also a book being aadvertised on the site you might be interested in getting (I'm not familiar with it, so I don't now if it's a worthwhile read).

 

[tbomb]

i use mobil 1 synthetic and i change mine every 3k. i say every 3k or less, no more.

 

[leenjen]

i dont change mine as often as i should. i use synthetic in all of my cars.

in my explorer, i change the oil every 10,000 to 15,000 miles. no problems, leaks, etc... runs perfect, and gets great gas mileage.

in my daytona (turbo), i changed the oil every 2,000 miles when it was a daily driver. now i change it every 1,000 miles.
it also runs perfectly. gas mileage isn't much of a concern since it's a summertime weekend car, and it only runs on 93+ octane.

 

[Stephen]

3,000 miles in the Explorer with regular oil, 7500 in the Lexus with full synthetic.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

I use Mobil 1 tri-synthetics and change about 5000 miles, or whenever the computer tells me to.

 

[kilroy]

heh, when ever I get around to it. I think I went over 15K on dyno last oil change and it was still fairly clean, no gook when I drained it. Im running mobil 1 now since I have a habit of not changing oil when I should. Of course I did the same with my last 302 and I got 300K on it, so I dont believe any of this 3000 mile crap.

 

[GJarrett]

It's rather amazing that this keeps coming up even after some of us have offered our engines as a sacrifice in order to subject ourselves to lab testing of our vehicles for both synthetic and dino oil analysis during use. It just shows how important this subject is. If you are new to the site, please use our search feature to check old threads. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here.

Regarding the assumption that synthetic oils still need to be changed as frequently as dino oils, that has been empirically proven to be wrong, and it was done so in our vehicles with our engines:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=11225&highlight=oil

This is not something that I offer as an opinion. Rather it is something that I learned and verified to be fact through controlled scientific testing of my own engine. There is a huge difference between having an opinion and learning the fact.

Here's the thread where Peter put his Explorer up for dino oil testing:

Dead Link Removed

It's your vehicle. Do what you want to so spend what you want to on oil. We've already proven through real testing what is true for our vehicles.

If I need to be warned that what I think is wrong then I am the first person in line to want to learn the truth, but unless you can substantiate your opinion against the lab analysis of my own oil in my own engine then I'll stick with the lab.

95% of you are wasting your money by changing your oil too soon.

 

[rpenner54]

Gerald is right, but his links are bunk.

My dad changed to synthetic in his Explorer and goes 10k I think between oil changes. I go 5k or more on the Explorer. Still looks fine to me too!

 

[GJarrett]

I fixed the links you young whippersnapper so there. Dead Link Removed

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by wallygetsit
however the longer the oil stays in the engine, the more contaminents it collects like carbon, misc debris, and water. That means more "junk" in the blood of your engine.

THe contaminants are collected in the OIL FILTER. If you are concerned about extending the run time on an oil, just change the filter more often.

I have seen oil pans from trucks that run 12k miles per oil change ( Mobil 1 oil ) and they were as clean as new.

 

[Stephen]

For a lot of people the mental assurance changing the oil frequently provides is worth the cost. I'm "old school" when it comes to these things, to me, if its not changed every 3,000 miles then I just get ancy. Believe me, its hard enough to wait the Lexus 7500 miles between synthetic changes.

Another thing is the maintenance records of the car. Years of leasing have taught me to keep these records PERFECTLY and up to manufacturer's specs.

 

[AgExplorer]

Al,

You made a good point. If you want to run your oil longer, use a high quality filter and change it at a minimum of half way through your change cycle. Your best bets for buying filters off the shelf are Mobil 1 and Pure One. If you can keep it clean, it will definitely last longer.

For more info, check out the Dead Link Removed of some of the more popular oil filters at the bottom of the page.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Question...What does clean oil look like?? I want to know because whenever I change my oil, there's brownish, blackish color. What does this indicate??

 

[aldive]

Most oil will take on a blackish color after iys been in the motor a couple of thousand miles. This does not mean that the oil is bad. Remember the oil not only luvricates the motor but also takes the "gunk" to the filter.

What you don't want to see is very thick, oil or oil wih a "burnt" smell/

Good luck....