How often does everyone here change their oil?

I have been changing it every 3k miles (as others on this site have advised) but am i being over cautious, the oil i drain out is almost as clean as the stuff going in.

 

oil and oil-filter change:
...approx. every 10000 km/6200 mls to 12000 km/7400 mls, 5W40 Shell Helix Ultra, full synthetic

 

Magnetec synthetic. Just changed from Mobil 1 every Summer. Only really do 3-4000 miles in between. Moibil 1 was just too expensive!

 

Personally I change mine every 3000 miles or 6-months, whichever comes first. Seems sensible to be over cautious where cars are concerned. Also, it's hardly an expensive job. This topic, and the various pro's and con's have already been explored in great detail on the tech/general engine board.

 

Dr G,

Although this has been covered on other boards, it may be of relevence as we have some different brands of oil over here to the Motherland

Cheers,
Felix

 

All the well known brands of oil, Mobil, Castrol etc etc are pretty much world wide. The only thing my local Autozone doesn't have is Asdas $1.97 for 5 litres cheap as you can get oil.

 

Do they do Magnatec over there too? Never heard anyone mention it before...

 

Felix:-
No flame or anything intended towards Phil, or disrespect intended to the topic or anything. I just didn't want to particularly get into pro's/con's etc, the old dino versus synthetic, ideal oil weights etc here on the European forum.

LOL, I remember when I told you about that oil for your daily driver Rob... you were like "No way can any oil be THAT cheap"!!.

Cheers,
Gordon

 

i have always used magnetec in the 'maro

 

Castrol RS synthetic 0W40, 5 litres+ AC UPF 1218 Ultraguard Gold oilfilter,every two years,about 750-1000KM (500-750 mls) in between!

 

I used to use Castrol GTX, switched over to Duckhams Hypergrade. My poncho year of manufacture is 1985, so am I right in thinking synthetic oils are only suitable for modern new engines ?

 

No,you're wrong!

 

Okay, explain !

 

Boyd,

I would be wary of swirtching to Synthetic on older engines. I changed a Triumph Stag over to Mobil 1 after 54,000 miles and it created an oil consumption that hadn't existed before. Best stick with what you have in my opinion. I believe the tolerances on newer engines are far greater than the classics.

Hope you are enjoying the Summer!

Felix

 

Synthetic oils do all the things dyno oils do,only better!
I have changed countless new and old car and bike engines and tranies from dyno to synt.
No problems,at first there may be some (more) oilconsumption,but that will go away after a short (and sometimes rather long) time.
When the oilburning stays,there was already something worn/wrong.
Look at WWW.CASTROL.COM or WWW.REDLINEOIL.COM for more explanations!

 

Hi Dutch-Bird...
I have to agree with Felix, as it was also my understanding that older engines should not use synthetic oils as they require a much greater viscosity to give better wear protection compared to a modern engine. Older engines were never designed with synthetic in mind whereas new engines have had research done on them with trials using synthetic.

 

Synthetic lubrificants are far better in EVERY aspect,comparing to dyno oils.
Just read carefully the specifications on the bottle,and compare them to your owners manual.
All engines built from the late sixties until now,can run on synthetic oil without problems, and they will benefit from the ongoing better quality!
Don't believe me, but ask the oilcompagnies, like Castrol.
If viscosity is your worry, try for instance, Castrol RS Sport 10W60, this oil film is virtualy onbreakable!!
The only drawback on synthetics is ....price!
They cost sometimes more than twice, or more, than dyno oil.
But for my own cars and bikes the best is only good enough, no matter what price!!

Btw. I'm running Castrol RS Race(Racing Synthec) 0W40 in my '88 Firebird 5.7L with 108.000 mls with no problems at all.

 

Interesting points Dutch-Bird....can anyone else shed some light on the synthetic oil debate ?

 

...no "light", but...

...305.000 km, synthetic oil all times....and no problems ever...