Oil Change
But still, at 2,500 you're basically just throwing away good motor oil.
#19
05-31-2005, 07:01 AM
RE: Oil Change
Other good qualities of synthetic are that it doesn't break down as fast as regular oil since it can take higher heat, and a synthetic oil's viscosity is better for your engine in the colder weather since it doesn't get like molassis as regular oil does (that means it gets distributed throughout your engine faster).
#20
05-31-2005, 10:44 AM
RE: Oil Change
I agree with Kappa and ngoti8tor. If your engine is well maintained it should go at least 5K miles without needing an oil change and that's with regular stuff. Real synthetic should allow you to go even longer( castrol syntax is not a real synthetic in my opinion), but a filter change is a must at least every 5K miles.
All this talk about a good fram filter is kind of an oxymoron. I have read so many bad things about fram filters that I wouldn’t even trust their top of the line filters. Here is a site that has posted test results on studies(warning really long):
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...c;f=6;t=000513
I would also stay away from additives. Here is another study on that:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
I would use stuff like restore if and only if your engine is old and is burning oil through the rings(compression check and leak down test will help determine where that oil consumption is actually coming from).
A good question to ask yourself is where are you getting your oil change advice from? Advertisement? Friends? Auto parts guy? Jiffy Lube guy? Who can you trust with good knowledgeable advise and who is talking out of their @$$? Who is just out to make a buck? The truth of the matter is, why not do your own studies? Get an oil analysis done after 3K miles, then again after 5K by an independent company. Use good quality filters, not that POS fram stuff(my opinion here). Keep that interval for about 50K and then do another analysis after 3k and 5k and so on. Every engine is different. They will all add different amounts of contaminants and will degrade the viscosity at different times. The older the engine the more contaminants that will be added. The less previously maintained engines will do the same. Changing your oil to frequent is not only throwing away money, but polluting the environment more. Changing it not frequent enough and you will be shortening the life of your engine.
Just to let you know a little about what I have done. I have had my car since it had 7miles from the factory. I have done ALL of my own oil changes. I use to use fram filters and castrol syntax. Once I noticed black sticky stuff in the internals of my engine I did some research and found that castrol is notorious for that. I changed to Amsoil synthetic and it is 100 times better. It has 198, 000 miles on it now and is running like new still. I recently noticed it has been consuming a little bit of oil(no leaks at all since I bought it new). I did a compression check and it checked out at 179-183 on all cylinders. That is really good considering it should be between 135-185. I suspect the leak is through the valve stem seals(rubber seals dry up and crack through heat cycles and is considered normal wear and tear). I am waiting on the leak down test to actually verify my piston rings are still as good as the compression check said they are. Then I can go ahead and change my oil stem seats. My engine would not be running as good as it is had I not taken good care of it. I currently run 10K miles on Amsoil synthetic, and use Mobile 1 filters every 5K. I have never used mobil 1 synthetic myself, but for those that don’t like to order online(amsoil is not sold at regular auto part stores) I have heard good things about it and would recommend it to everyone. This is just my 2cents.
All this talk about a good fram filter is kind of an oxymoron. I have read so many bad things about fram filters that I wouldn’t even trust their top of the line filters. Here is a site that has posted test results on studies(warning really long):
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...c;f=6;t=000513
I would also stay away from additives. Here is another study on that:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
I would use stuff like restore if and only if your engine is old and is burning oil through the rings(compression check and leak down test will help determine where that oil consumption is actually coming from).
A good question to ask yourself is where are you getting your oil change advice from? Advertisement? Friends? Auto parts guy? Jiffy Lube guy? Who can you trust with good knowledgeable advise and who is talking out of their @$$? Who is just out to make a buck? The truth of the matter is, why not do your own studies? Get an oil analysis done after 3K miles, then again after 5K by an independent company. Use good quality filters, not that POS fram stuff(my opinion here). Keep that interval for about 50K and then do another analysis after 3k and 5k and so on. Every engine is different. They will all add different amounts of contaminants and will degrade the viscosity at different times. The older the engine the more contaminants that will be added. The less previously maintained engines will do the same. Changing your oil to frequent is not only throwing away money, but polluting the environment more. Changing it not frequent enough and you will be shortening the life of your engine.
Just to let you know a little about what I have done. I have had my car since it had 7miles from the factory. I have done ALL of my own oil changes. I use to use fram filters and castrol syntax. Once I noticed black sticky stuff in the internals of my engine I did some research and found that castrol is notorious for that. I changed to Amsoil synthetic and it is 100 times better. It has 198, 000 miles on it now and is running like new still. I recently noticed it has been consuming a little bit of oil(no leaks at all since I bought it new). I did a compression check and it checked out at 179-183 on all cylinders. That is really good considering it should be between 135-185. I suspect the leak is through the valve stem seals(rubber seals dry up and crack through heat cycles and is considered normal wear and tear). I am waiting on the leak down test to actually verify my piston rings are still as good as the compression check said they are. Then I can go ahead and change my oil stem seats. My engine would not be running as good as it is had I not taken good care of it. I currently run 10K miles on Amsoil synthetic, and use Mobile 1 filters every 5K. I have never used mobil 1 synthetic myself, but for those that don’t like to order online(amsoil is not sold at regular auto part stores) I have heard good things about it and would recommend it to everyone. This is just my 2cents.