Auto Manufacturers pushing synthetic oil? (I’m a bit long winded today)

[hillbillyfab]

Synthetic is all I use in my vehicles. My work vehicle just turned 410k miles. One owner, I change it every 10-15k miles. I made that decision after having a couple samples tested by an oil analysis. That's about the range I felt comfortable pushing it too. Good oil and a good filter and let it ride.

[pop pop]

I have a 2002 Trail blazer we purchased for my daughter 10 years ago. She let me have it back when she got anew 4 runner and it has only had synthetic blend oil in it for 234000. Does not use a drop  of oil in an in line 6 cylinder.  Good stuff, but I will also say we have much cleaner burning gas today. I do hate the alcohol!!!! 

[tnhawk]

I've used synthetic oil beginning in the 90s.  I had a mechanical engineer tell me I was wasting money by using synthetic.  I couldn't help but remind him of that as I took him to pick up his Toyota after the engine was replaced.   

[Quavodus]

A friend has a 2011 Silverado with almost 300,000 on it and it's always had synthetic in it. I don't think it has ever used any oil. Good stuff. I used to always use either Valvoline 10w40 or Havoline 10w40. Not in the last few years at all.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Quavodus

[gregintenn]

Advance Auto has a sale going on right now: 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 synthetic oil and a Mobil 1 filter for $34.99. That ain’t bad.

[Grunt67]

2 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Advance Auto has a sale going on right now: 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 synthetic oil and a Mobil 1 filter for $34.99. That ain’t bad.

That's what I've used for years. Hasn't let me down yet. I usually get mine at Wallyworld. Don't recall the price. Mine takes 6 qts tho.

[Erik88]

I haven't found anyone can beat Wal-Mart on oil prices, at least for what I buy. I run Mobile 1 Full Synthetic-high mileage. Supposedly, the high mileage recipe has something in it to help the old gaskets. My 2002 Tundra doesn't leak a single drop of oil. 

[runco]

I should have posted this earlier, for you Mobil 1 users, here is a rebate that is being offered through Mobil 1, I think its $10 per 5 quart size containers, up to a max of $30:

 

https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/promotions/mobil-1-2021-rebate

[Quavodus]

On 4/30/2021 at 9:56 AM, deerslayer said:

I’ve changed my own oil since the 90s after a dealership left my oil filler cap on top of the engine.  I change approximately every 5k and have used nothing but synthetic on my 06 Tacoma and the wife’s 13 4runner.  Maybe overkill, but boy the oil is blacker after 5k than after 2k.  I guess I’m just too old school to let it go 10k.  The Taco is a joy to change the oil; the filter on the 4runner is a royal PITA.  
 

$89 for a 5 qt oil change sounds like robbery.  The local Toyota dealership wants $72 for a 6.5 qt synthetic oil change on the 4runner, and even that sounds expensive to me.  

I got my oil changed about a month ago, at a little place and after they fixed up the bill,  I asked is that price , right? The girl that works in office said , yeah, with the price of the oil and filter and labor. Anyway it was $87.50. I probably won't do that again.

[RC3]

If you arent using the minimum the manufacture specifies, then you are just asking for more issues down the road. I dont think I have owned a car recently that didnt use full synthetic. The only exception is ford and their weird synthetic blend. Hell, even all my motorcycles run on full synthetic. The oil on my katana still looks amazing clean and it has only been 4000 miles since the last oil chance. 

If you have a modern turbo charged or supercharged car or truck and you arent running synthetic, you are doing it wrong. The last two vehicles I ran conventional oil was my 91 RX7 and 04 RX8 only because the way a rotary engines works. The additives dont burn off and instead start to coat the inside of the rotor housing and thus start wearing down the apex seals as if they were going over sand paper. 

You can buy oil change specials for less than $40 bucks if your car takes five quarts or less. 10 minutes later and you are done. Hell, even a lot of "house brand" synthetic oils are spec'ed out for most engines now days. Ran napa brand full synthetic for almost a year in a corolla and the only issue I had was all the extra time from no more constant oil changes.

[No_0ne]

This topic reminds me of similar discussions on aircraft oil.  Get a group of GA pilots together and mention "oil" and they'll talk/argue the relative merits of their particular choice for hours on end.  Interestingly, although it doesn't apply to automotive oils, probably the most exhaustive independent study ever done on aircraft engine oils concluded that "oil is oil" when it comes to engine longevity, adding that, for airplanes, the single best factor in determining engine longevity was how often the planes are flown ...

[macville]

On 4/30/2021 at 10:07 AM, Snaveba said:

I can typically change the oil in about 20 min once I get back from the auto parts store. 

You are brave. I always try to change it on a cold engine as I've burned my hand/arm too many times when changing it hot:)

 

[gregintenn]

On 5/1/2021 at 9:46 PM, Quavodus said:

I got my oil changed about a month ago, at a little place and after they fixed up the bill,  I asked is that price , right? The girl that works in office said , yeah, with the price of the oil and filter and labor. Anyway it was $87.50. I probably won't do that again.

Unless you’re driving a big ole diesel truck, you got the shaft.

I’ve always changed my own. There was an old mam who always changed my wife’s oil. I don’t know how he made any money at it, but she liked him, so we kept letting him do it til he retired and then passed away. Since then, I’m her oil changer too.

[No_0ne]

20 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

There was an old mam who always changed my wife’s oil. I don’t know how he made any money at it, but she liked him, so we kept letting him do it

This conjures up a lot of possible snide remarks, all of which I'll refrain from making right now ...

[gregintenn]

11 hours ago, No_0ne said:

This conjures up a lot of possible snide remarks, all of which I'll refrain from making right now ...

LOL! He looked like Danny DeVito with tobacco juice running down his chin. I wasn’t real jealous.

[monkeylizard]

Another DIYer here.

Basically, if conventional and synthetic are available in the weight you need, either will work just fine. Neither will harm your engine. The difference is mostly in longevity. Dino oil needs to be changed every 3-5K and you can push it to 7500K in some cases especially if you are real easy on the engine and you're not running it in the hotter weather. Synthetic is good for ~7500-10K on the low end. In some engines, the manufacturer recommended intervals is as long as 16K or more between changes. My older engines call for 3K intervals but I do them with synthetic at 7500-10K or 12 months whichever comes first. The internals are still clean, no sludge in the valve trains and shiny smooth cylinder walls all around.

As pointed out above, many current engines require 0w-x oil and that's only synthetic.

Not all filters are the same, either. Fram sucks. Napa Gold and Wix are identical and some of the best you can get. Mobil1 and Purolator Boss are also pretty good.  There are plenty of YT videos where folks have cut some open and it's crazy how much the quality varies from one brand to the next.

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by monkeylizard

[peejman]

19 minutes ago, monkeylizard said:

 

To this comic I would say no, the best way to tighten an oil filter is to not remove it.  That's what most of the former jiffy lube employees I know have told me.... 

[Dirtshooter]

Don't want to steal the thread, but probably just if not more important is a quality oil filter. Do your own research, but after years of changing my own oil, Wix is the only filter I will use. They aren't cheap, but I want quality not cheap.

[monkeylizard]

Yep. Wix and Napa Gold are the same. Both are top-notch.

Something to note for you DIYers with newer cars still under warranty, make sure the oil you like meets the manufacturer standards. My '18 JLU Wrangler has some goofy Chrysler standard that's not printed on Mobil1 or Castrol GTX bottles, but is on Pennzoil Platinum (not regular Pennzoil). I also use Mopar filters. Once you're past the warranty period, use whatever oil and filter you want, but don't give them any excuses to deny a claim during the warranty period.

Edited May 6, 2021 by monkeylizard

[dralarms]

What about k and n filters

[OldIronFan]

20 minutes ago, dralarms said:

What about k and n filters

They are crap. 

Research K&N filter leaks. At least a few instances of wrecks caused or influenced by failed K&N Filters on motorcycles. I had two leak on one of my bikes. I was able to notice the leak and had a belly pan area that caught the small amount of oil lost. Some folks have had catastrophic failure and got oil all over the rear tire. Never again. 

[monkeylizard]

Stick with Wix and Napa Gold filters. In their absence, good (but not as great as those two) options are Mobil1, Bosch, and Purolator PureOne. The Purolator Boss is (I think) a newer premium product from them that appears to be on par or at least close enough to Wix/Napa Gold. I grabbed one for one of my latest OCs as part of a bundle deal at Advance a few weeks back.

It looks like the higher end Frams are made of good components, but their base stuff is such utter garbage that I simply don't trust the brand at all.

Edited May 6, 2021 by monkeylizard

[gregintenn]

What’s wrong with a Fram filter? I’ve used a bunch of them through the years. Never had an engine problem due to oil or filter.

[Quavodus]

I've used a lot of Fram too. No problems so far. I sometimes buy filters at work. Fleetguard brand. 

[dralarms]

3 hours ago, OldIronFan said:

They are crap. 

Research K&N filter leaks. At least a few instances of wrecks caused or influenced by failed K&N Filters on motorcycles. I had two leak on one of my bikes. I was able to notice the leak and had a belly pan area that caught the small amount of oil lost. Some folks have had catastrophic failure and got oil all over the rear tire. Never again. 

I’ve used nothing but K and n since 2007 on all my vehicles never had a problem.