Hear me out before you flame me...

Several members like myself use synthetic oil and only change our oil once a year because we just don't put 5,000 miles on the car in a year and it's usually recommended to change the oil every year before storage. With the new Mobil 1 annual protection claiming to be good and stable for the entire year I'm thinking of switching to it. Anybody think there is any real benefit with my scenario or would a normal top tier synthetic be just as good?

 

I use Mobil1 on all my vehicles with more than 2 wheels.

On my former GTA, at nearly 100k mi, it was taken apart and the new cylinder heads installed. All looked great, no signs of wear. Not even microscopic wear.

 

My gut feeling is that you won't see and difference vs. any other premium synthetic. Probably not even over a premium conventional oil.

 

I don't see how they could guarantee a full year of protection... there could be fuel contamination, just plain old dirt, coolant contamination even in relatively small amounts, exhaust gas (acids), and so forth. I know they advertise that, and I don't doubt that the oil itself is good for a year as far as maintaining its own internal properties, but seems like there's too many other variables to be able to make a blanket statement like that, that it doesn't need changing. There's other reasons that it needs to be changed besides "breakdown". I'm skeptical.

That said, I use Mobil 1 mostly; but I don't think it lasts a full year in anything, except MAYBE lawn mowers. And those only if they don't get too many hours on them over a year, but run long enough at one time to keep the moisture from building up.

I guess it would depend on how your vehicle is used, how it's stored, etc.

 

Honestly, good synthetic lasts 5-8k and 12 months (what-ever comes first.) You don't need the 'annual protection,' not sure what they're trying to do with that anyways. Oil analysis of it doesnt show it as anything really different than their Standard or Extended Protection.

They only "guarantee" a year of protection if the oil is changed based on the vehicle manufacturer's suggested guidelines.

 

All of the Amsoil products are rated for 12 months. Assuming the mileage isn't exceeded.

But frankly engine oil doesn't "go bad" from sitting in the crankcase so with a high quality synthetic, in a vehicle that's other wise garaged in a more or less climate controlled environment the oil is pretty much good indefinitely. An annual oil change is cheap though and never a bad idea to perform during general maintenance prior to storage. I don't know of any synthetic or even non synthetic that would "go bad" after less than 12 months of sitting in an engine unless we are talking extreme ambient conditions and being stored outside.

In the Army we did oil analysis. Nothing was changed till the analysis said so. Regardless if it had been in there for several years, etc. Most trucks did LOTS of sitting.

GD

 

That new Mobil 1 annual protection motor oil was designed for new vehicles with much tighter clearances and tolerances than our 35 year old cars.
That said, would it hurt to use it? Probably not, but you will not gain anything over what you are using already. Except maybe a lighter wallet.

 

Do oil analysis on what ever oil you use...then your intervals will become totally clear. No guessing.

FYI, In our industry, we run snow cats. They use CAT C9 engines @355hp and the OEM calls for changes every 250 hours which is just over once a week, in the winter. One resort is using M1 5w40 full synthetic, and using sampling, has settled on changing the engine oil once a season -or every ~1500 hours. Today's oils are very impressive. Find out how impressive with samples. :yesnod:

 

FYI, Mobil 1 on clearance at autozone $15 a 5qt jug


Dave

 

This

 

Unfortunately, not where I am.
Damn, $3.00/qt is what I paid 20 years ago. That's a great deal.

 

Ya those are gone FAST !!! I hit several auto zones in Dallas metro and all wiped clean of the Mobil 20K Annual protection.

Try advance auto parts they have Mobil super synthetic 10W30 5 qt jug for $3.75


Here's the trunk of my crown vic after hitting several Advance auto parts stores last week


Dave

 

I run the cheapo Wal-Mart synthetic oil and only change mine yearly. I don't put 1-2k miles on it anyhow and when I do change it it still looks fresh.

 

Mobil 1 and Mobil Super are different lines. Mobil 1 is superior to Mobil Super.

Honestly, $15 for 5qt of SuperTech Full Synth @ walmart is the way to go for me unless you have a flat tappet cam. SN PLUS hard to beat.

 

Damn, that's what I used to do to Ames department store 30 years ago.

 

 

How about Service Merchandise ??

 

I just switched to Mobil 1 full synthetic.. I did a lot of reading about it and contacted their tech support...

According to them all the stuff I hear people talk about switching to synthetic just isn’t true. You can switch from conventional to synthetic and back to conventional if you want.

They said changing once/year would probably be fine for me (I only do 800-1200 miles/year). With conventional I was changing oil twice/year.

If anything weird happens I’ll let ‘y’all know...

I was going to use the high mileage formula and looked at the annual protection, but for what I wanted they recommended just regular 5w30 full synthetic. They said 10w30 would be fine as well.

 

I think you'll be happy.

Just the regular 10W-30 M1 should also keep your engine happy, which will ensure your continued happiness as well. Not that there's anything wrong with the others; you could use em if you want; just, the regular stuff is usually totally satisfactory.

 

" I guess it would depend on how your vehicle is used" 99.9% of all Big Rig long haul Trucks Drivers use Synthetic Oils and just change filters. Synthetic Oil doesn't brake down ask any long haul truck driver about his oil changes and he'll tell you he adds oil with his changes of his filers at regular mileage intervals. Synthetic oil is just that Synthetic Oil with some named name brand on the label. Chicken soap is Chicken soap any way you look at it guys & gals.

 

The exact viscosity of oil that you would use will vary based on a few things. Low load driving would be fine with 5-20 but at the other end of the driving spectrum you might want 10W-40. The C7 Corvettes for example say to run 5W-30 for normal driving but for extreme driving recommend 10W-40.

 

What is chicken soap?
How does it smell when its used in the shower or should i continue to use conventional SOAP.

If you happened to read this thread, several of the posters have done oil analysis. This is not guessing and not word of mouth.
Synthetic oil is most definitely not "the same oil in different containers" neither is soup,which is an edible,liquid like food source.
YES SOUP is food. Soap is used for washing

that being said,when a word is RED ,then it generally means its spelled incorrectly.use this convenient method to spell check

 

The ^guy^ who doesn't use spaces or caps is giving spelling advice.

 

funny thing about giving "SPELLING ADVICE" it usually applies to "SPELLING"
SPECIAL thanks to the funny guy who doesn't even own a third gen ....NEVER THOUGHT OF CAPS.
there are vette forums,check them out. at least i can see that words highlighted in red are spelled incorrectly.
we can all learn something apparently, what a great educational new year. have a good year and enjoy your CORVETTE