Convential Oil, who uses what?

[-=JoN=-]

Synthetic or not, 7K between changes is just SCARY to me.

How many miles do you have now? I'm up for my next change sometime later this month.

just a little over 30k (about 30,500)

 

[Gsan]

I'll run synth with changes every 3k on the Lib. I run 5K on my S10.

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Sorry, they provide these smileys, so I just gotta use them



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[Bennett]

I just went to synthetic, and I think I am going to go change every 5500 miles to 6000 miles.

Bennett

 

[zerowick]

Wal-Mart sells Rotella T 5W-40 fully synthetic in gallons for $13 and change which is not bad per quart, an excellent bargain. :-k

 

[roadrunner]

I just went to synthetic, and I think I am going to go change every 5500 miles to 6000 miles.

Bennett

You might want to re-think about that oil change interval. I spoke with a oil engineer recently. He said the most important thing about oil is changing it. No matter what you run, a lot of dirt and blow-by gets into the oil. If you don't clean it, it leads to sludge formation. They can only put so much detergent in the oil to suspend all that crap.

So as I'm changing my wife's oil this evening, I looked at what came out of her Grand Caravan [3.3L, 54M miles, oil change interval 2400 miles (no oil burning). Mostly freeway driving].
Oil shown is Valvoline conventional 10-30 (So. Cal -- it never gets cold). Thought you might like to have a look at the before and after.

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So, If you want to run 5000 to 6000 on your oil, be my guest -- it probably won't get any blacker. Some synthetic manufacturers claim you can go 25,000 miles [-o<


FYI, this same (Chevron) engineer found one advantage in synthetic; cold weather starting. Seems it holds its viscosity better in extremely cold weather and reaches upper parts of the engine faster (biggest wear problem). He uses it in the winter for the one car he parks outside. His other cars use conventional -- considers synthetic a waste of money for any other purpose. He recommends 3000 oil change interval. He knows a lot more about oil than I do.

As for me, I can't afford an opinion. About 20 years ago, I used Mobil 1 for 2 years (about 70M miles). Logged every fill-up and every qt. of oil added. Found no significant change in gas mileage or engine wear (compared with 2 similar cars, same engine). Gave up on Mobil 1; put the $ into real estate instead. Now I'm retired. So you can use synthetic or invest the money and retire early!! \/ PS Of the 70 odd cars, trucks and motorcycles I've had, I never wore an engine out (so far), no matter what I used!

 

[yoda13]

I recently changed to synthetic, and I will change the oil every 5K miles, but that is what I was doing anyway. I changed to help the gas mileage and hopefully allow the engine to last a little longer. I am about to fill up the tank for the first time on the synthetic, so we'll see if it helps on the mileage. It has for friends of mine. We'll see.

 

[4Factor]

Gave up on Mobil 1; put the $ into real estate instead. Now I'm retired. So you can use synthetic or invest the money and retire early!! \/

Dude, if you used the money to buy real estate instead then you were spending WAY too much on oil. \/ I mean I thought my oil changes were expensive, but even my best-buddy who's a mortgage broker told me that my $320 per year isn't enough for a downpayment on anything except an outhouse. \/ Unfortunately I don't know anyone who wants to rent an outhouse. (Aeh)

 

[-=JoN=-]

my synth oil, never got that dark, dark yes, but, not that dark...
and i have done some reasearch on the oil life. some say going 5k on conventional oil is good (at least that what some dealers say now...but who trusts dealers...:-s .)

as i mentioned before, I end up saving using synth than conventional oil....(not just on gas..and I have seen some mpg gains....)

 

[roadrunner]

Dude, if you used the money to buy real estate instead then you were spending WAY too much on oil. \/ I mean I thought my oil changes were expensive, but even my best-buddy who's a mortgage broker told me that my $320 per year isn't enough for a downpayment on anything except an outhouse. (Aeh)

Back in those days, synthetic oil was quite expensive rippedhand.gif , real estate was a LOT cheaper (biggrin), and the word "dude" mj.gif hadn't yet been invented. bow.gif An out house isn't a bad start -- gives you something to add to! \/

 

[zerowick]

Just the fact that synthetic gets to vital areas of the engine sooner than dino in cold weather is good enough reason for me. Plus, because of it's properties, synthetic resist oxidation better than dino therefore it maintains it's viscosity longer. Again, good enough for me. I live in Western MA where it is below 40 degrees average for close to 6 months out of the year and stays below 0 degrees for as long as a week at a time so synthetic just makes sense. I change it at 5000 mile intervals which is more than safe. That is what Toyota recommends; it's a good compromise between severe duty and light duty driving. I don't own a Toyota, just heard that on a TV program where they were discussing engine oil. For $3.25 a quart for the Rotella T synthetic I think it's worth it and the longer intervals means less waste oil for the environment to deal with.

 

[yoda13]

For what it is worth, my oil never gets that dark either, and that was using dino oils \/

 

[Gsan]

Zerowick, I just noticed your sig: "Son of 2004 Liberty Renegade owner (vulnerable Mom, dealers eat her up)"


Ha, what is it with moms and Renegades? My wife and I just bought a 2005 limited. The mother-in-law wants a renegade now, and will be car shopping on Saturday. It's almost like "mad moms in minivans". lol.

 

[Trodo]

The only time I've seen oil that dirty was a combination of several different oils, that was getting dumped at jiffy lube from my catch basin, and that was from 2 cars, atv, and a lawnmower.

But thanks for the input guys, I'll change around 5k, I've already bought the full syn oil, 5 quarts, (it's nice that it comes in one big jug) and will be changing it out tomorrow. Soon I'll be getting a tank top off and will report on any obvious mileage increase.

 

[zerowick]

Zerowick, I just noticed your sig: "Son of 2004 Liberty Renegade owner (vulnerable Mom, dealers eat her up)"


Ha, what is it with moms and Renegades? My wife and I just bought a 2005 limited. The mother-in-law wants a renegade now, and will be car shopping on Saturday. It's almost like "mad moms in minivans". lol.

She's trying to regain her youth by driving a flashy "IN" car. She's in her upper 50's, you know, women at that age start to lose it. They mature faster but get wacky sooner too. O

 

[-=JoN=-]

we know what ur mom drives....but ..what do u cruise around in?

 

[grogiefrog]

I had an old guy that has been rebuilding engines for years tell me to stick by a 6k or 6 month rule for synthetic, which I am doing using Mobile 1. But it really depends on if you are going to keep your KJ forever or not. His point was that if you take good care of your engine, it will run to 150k easy. But again, are you going to keep it that long or trade it in by 75k? Now for my daily driver a Honda, I am also using Mobile 1, but I wait until 10k (which is every 8 months). The car is 75k and is running just fine, and hardly burns any oil.

 

[rubicondave33]

And what kind of filters has everybody been using? I bought a bunch of Fram PH3600 as they were on sale.

From what I've read, the Fram filters (even the doubleguard) are crappy, I used to use them on my neon but have switched recently now that I have the KJ (now I buy Mopar filters for the neon too... out of convenience). Some tests have shown the Fram to be the worst out there, something about crappy construction and internal disintegration, so I stick with the Mopar ones, tests have shown them to be average to better than average. I'm not up to buying a $15-$20 filter every 3 months, I just don't see the need, but at the very least if something goes wrong, at least I'm using the "in-house" brand so they'll have to fix it under warranty (on the KJ, not the neon... no warranty left on the 97 neon!).

I buy Mopar filters by the case. Most dealers will discount them when you buy them in bulk, besides they're not produce, they can sit on the shelf until you need them.

 

[zerowick]

we know what ur mom drives....but ..what do u cruise around in?

For the past three years I have driven a 1995 GMC 1500 Sierra Xcab 4X4. It had only 35K miles when I bought it because the owner only had a 2 mile commute to the store he owns, he actually owns most of the entire block so he's doing ok. He trades them in at about that mileage and gets the same thing. It's the SLT with everything including remote entry, first year they offered it. 8-way power leather driver seat, just the lumbar air bladder for the passenger. Remote starter, 5.7 old school pre-Vortec engine so it is decent on torque but quickly runs out of steam. I get around 14 mpg in the warmer months and 10-11 in the winter...ouch. It's got 60K on it now and is very clean. I really didn't want all the bells and whistles but the mileage was right. I have no complaints about this truck, but if I really ever needed a TRUCK, I would by a Ford. #-o

 

[zerowick]

Oh yeah, our other ride is Ma's (the wife) 1998 SWB Caravan with the 2.4L four ****** I think they now offer in the Liberty. It's a stripper with A/C and Ma gets very angry during the Summer when she gets out of work and has to reach over and roll down the passenger window with the crank. Depending on what kind of day she has had, this can really set her off. We only paid $14,999 for it brand new, (I see them for the same or less now which is great), and it's all paid for so now all we have to do is drive the wheels off it. 91K and still runs strong, I'd hop in it and drive to Florida tomorrow. My wife gets frustrated at times but admits it makes sense to run it, I told her maybe in another 5 years we'll get a new one.

I didn't mean to offend anyone by my previous post, I think the Liberty is an awesome ride, it's just too small for us now with the 6 and 8 year old boys and 3 large dogs. We're still in the Minivan phase, yup, it hurts.

 

[-=JoN=-]

I didn't mean to offend anyone by my previous post, I think the Liberty is an awesome ride, it's just too small for us now with the 6 and 8 year old boys and 3 large dogs. We're still in the Minivan phase, yup, it hurts.

it's all good man, why would be offended...the caravan is still a dc vehicle, and ur mom drives a kj...it's u that should be ashamed for not driving a dc vehicle....LOL...(j/k's)