hey y'all

help me out if u know this please,

does synthetic motor oil,(royal purple is the one I used) last for more than 3000 miles between oil changes cause someone told me it did but I dont know, so I'll appreciate all of your answers

thanks a lot

SPEEDBOX

 

Why chance it? Change it anyway. Your car will thank you. Later.

Adam

 

If you engine doesn't have a lot of "blow by", the synthetic oil is actually in quite fine shape (compared to dyno). Because they don't have as much "break down" as dyno, they tend to have less "acids", which is what cause the problems.

But, it DOES build up acids and particualtes over time too. It's more the type of driving that you do that will determine the frequency you should change your oil.

Extreme driving (like pulling trailers, lots of WOT passing, lots of stop n go traffic) develop a lot of heat and hasten the breakdown; thus you should change your oil even more frequent than 3,000 miles. Conversely, if you did nothing but highway driving, then you could extend the interval/but you should pay attention to the "time" element then.

The 3,000 mile recommendation is based on "a reasonable mix of city and highway". You adjust the change interval to match your type of driving.

I use Mobil 1 5W30 and I almost exclusively drive highway miles cruising at 60 mph. I have the EASIEST driving condition possible. So I change my oil every 5,000 miles or 3 months. This winter, I changed my oil just prior to putting my car away for the winter. I do take my car out on the "nicest of days", but so far this winter, I have only driven my car 3 times.

Probably late February, I will be able to drive my car "full time" again. But because the oil will be older than 3 months, I will change it.

 

Why don't you ask Royal Purple what they recommend? Asking anyone else, including us, will give you "opinions", and nothing else.

If you asked AMSOIL, they would tell you if your engine is in good mechanical condition and you use their oil and air filters, change their oil at 25,000 miles or one year with an oil filter change at half that interval. I've been doing that since 1983 and have yet to wear out an engine with AMSOIL in the crankcase.

 

Yes, take it from exterianced mechanics....people with 30 years under their belts.....3,000 miles. My family uses nothing but dino oil, most of the miles comes from communting. We always use 5w-30 in the 1991 Lumina with about 150,000 miles(used to be my uncles car, short hops but oil was changed like we do) serviced every 3,000 miles with dino oil runs great....the trans is what it causing problems...We have owned that since it was new, no smoke no nothing but a clean(I looked inside of it) and great running 3.1. Now my 1988 IROC Convertable must no have been taken care of because at 129k miles she burns oil like MAD, and that is 20w50 oil with additives to try and control the smoke....this is the only time we have used an oil not the weight that the manufatred suggested.....Just change you oil EVERY 3,000 miles or 3 moths and put an ACDelco filter on there and you will be fine....other parts of the car will give you problems WAY before the engine does.

 

any oil will get dirty. That is why it still needs it every 3,000 miles.

 

And so the ignorance is perpetuated...

 

F that 25,000 mile thing......I rather spend the money and KNOW that he engine will last longer and have more power in its old age then yours.

 

Riiighttttt.......

 

I look at it this way. If you yank the dipstick out and the oil looks like crap, change it. Me, I drive about 1/4 mile to work. I change my oil as often as my wife who drives about 15 miles one way. Look at the oil, if it looks bad, change it.

 

I have to agree with JAY, check it every week or two and when it starts to look nasty, change it. I started to put Syntec 5W-50 in my 96 grand am 2 years ago, and I let it go about 5000 miles, where, in my opinion it still looks ok. My commute is more or less normal, but still in the 3000-mile service range. Pulled this from an article on oil I found on the internet a while back called "More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Motor Oil"

>Synthetics can be run two to three times the mileage of petroleum oils with no problems. They do not react to combustion and combustion by-products to the extent that the dead dinosaur juice does. The longer drain intervals possibly help take the bite out of the higher cost of the synthetics.<

And

>The synthetics offer the only truly significant differences, due to their superior high temperature oxidation resistance, high film strength, very low tendency to form deposits, stable viscosity base, and low temperature flow characteristics. Synthetics are superior lubricants compared to traditional petroleum oils.<

If anyone is interested in reading the article (pretty short) I can email it to you.

 

I have to agree that you can go further between oil changes when using synthetic oil. I use the slightly cheaper synthetic blend,(Valvoline Durablend 10w40 to be exact) and I go 6000 between changes with no problems. It's a proven fact that synthetics don't experience viscosity breakdown like standard oils do. The only reason I change it at 6000 is due to the fact that any oil gets dirty after a while. My oil looks pretty dirty by then, but the oil pressure never really drops, hence the oil hasn't really broken down, just gotten dirty enough to need to be changed. If you're going to spend the money for a full synthetic oil, I would definitely run it at least that long. The odometer on my ride just saw the 170,000 mark and it still runs like it did at 50,000, so I must be doing something right. Also, I'd follow the recommendation of using an AC filter or better. I like to use the bigger PF35 for more filtration area. It's not fair to subject your poor motor to some crappy Fram filter ya know!

 

The five7kid is right-on, the intervals at which changes are required are much greater with synthetics. When synthetics were first marketed they had a problem due to mis -formulation or something like that and got a bad rep. After correcting the formula the companies were heasitant to tout the longevity of synthetics,fearing that the public would be suspicious as to their claims. I would suggest that you contact your manuf. for their reccom. as some synthetics are formulated differently.

 

I was talking to a guy the other day that runs Mobil 1 in a diesel truck. He said he changes the filter every 5,000 miles, tops off the oil and keeps going. Hasn't done a complete oil change in 60,000+ miles. I just kinda shook my head. I wouldn't do it to my motor.

 

Before Vader jumps in and posts a link to a very informative reply...

My personal opinion is that the "3000" rule came into effect with the advent of the first detergent oils.

Things have come a looooooong way since then.

The last new car I bought recommends oil changes (using dino, not syn) at 10K miles under "normal" driving condition and 5k miles under harsh/severe conditions.

For fear of flaming I won't mention the manufacturer of the vehicle, but will say thier engines have a reputation of lasting several hundred thousand miles.

I think the best way to dtermine whether you're being **** changing synthetic oils at 5K intervals, would be to send the oil for analysis and see what the lab says.

 

Or you could change the filter every 3k, and the rest of the oil every 6k. A good compromise between laziness and...not-laziness..

 

Or you can change it every 10,000 or one year whichever comes first. I cant believe people waste so much oil because it looks bad. The Air Force doesn't change synthetic oil in their aircraft every 3000 miles. They do check it in a lab after every flight because the engines are very expensive and it sucks if they break down in flight but they don't change it before it needs it!Like it was stated before it was on amsoil cans back in the 70's 25,000 miles or one year and I am sure they still make the stuff as good as they did then. So just in case you really abuse your engine cahnge it ar 10,000.

 

One more thing, do you know that many people in this world rarely or never change there oil? I've seen engines that were just added to as needed last for many miles. So I have to say Hell No to changing synthetic oil at 5000 miles.

 

My dads old blazer went 300k miles running pensoil in the crankcase and not changing the oil but every 10k. I woudlnt do it to my car but it is all about how your car runs and if it has a lot of blowby or the type of oil you use has alot of ash and other contaminants. Synthetics can be used at an inerval of 6000 with a filter change half way through at least that is what royal purple told gmhightechperformance in theyr january 2002 issue of the mag. They are useing that oil in thunder chicken and in the third gen formula. I woudln't do that racing or if you happen to have a lead foot arround town everytime you get in the car. I think if you dirve the car sensabily you shouldn't have any problems with running the oil as I and jza have stated check out the article "the truth about synthbetic oils" I found it very informative.

 

do what you want....I am sticking to the 3000 miles change times....I really don't see what the problem is to change. 25 thousand is alot of miles to me that means you only change it 4 times before it clicks over to 100,000 miles.....

 

3k, piece of mind, common sense. 25k on one oil change? That seems like the company is skewing their stats in order to get you to buy "thier stuff." Think about all the blowby and bi-products of combustion that build up in the oil.
Its not that hard to change the oil, and while your spending the 15mins on that, you get a close up look at your engine. I've discovered many other minor "could be's" from just spending that time under my car.
If you don't change the oil then at least change the filter.

 

Consumer Reports Magazine which everyone knows is not supported or aided by any manufacturers of anything did an oil study on this topic. This isn't from their study but is from their "Auto Myths" as they call it:

Myth: Engine oil should be changed every 3,000 miles.

Reality: Although oil companies and quick-lube shops like to promote this idea, it's usually not necessary. Go by the recommended oil-change schedule in your vehicle's owner's manual. Most vehicles driven under normal conditions can go 7,500 miles or more between oil changes. Some models now come with a monitoring system that alerts the driver when the oil needs changing. Depending on driving conditions, these can extend change intervals to 10,000 or 15,000 miles.


I know they did something with NYC cabs b/c they get some of the worst type of driving. Some were changed at 3,000 and others at 6,000. They went like this for a year I think it was and then the engines were torn down. They reported no noticeable additional wear on the 6,000 interval oil changes compared with the 3,000 ones.

Lastly, I had a friend who took his Fiero to 15,000 on the same oil. He could have kept going but he never fixed the leaking valve cover gasket which eventually leaked out enough oil to kill the engine. I use Synthetic in my Camaro since the engine swap and dino in my Nissan 240SX. Either way I'm like most people even after all this Consumer Reporting and other info. "I wouldn't do it in my car"

 

As far as never changing oil, and adding as it needs, think about that 2 grand or whatever motor compared to 15 bucks to change the oil. I've replaced several motors at the shop for exactly this reason. Dropping 4 grand for a V-10 has certainly opened those 3 guys eyes.

 

Using the logic of spending $15 to save $2000. Then why dont you buy the most expensive synthetic oil there is and change it every week or after every drive. Isn't your engine worth it? And while you are at it why not change your transmission fluid and differential fluid every week? According to you guys it is the only way to insure proper lubrication. LOL

 

Hmmmm., I guess your missing the point that were trying to make.
So i guess that we should buy the cheapist **** in the world and let it sit in our crankcases for ever. would that make our engines last longer?

 

I guess you miss the point. Needlessly wasting oil isn't going to make your engine last longer! Some people think they can change the oil every 3000 miles and the car will last forever, meanwhile they leave thier K&N filter in until the dirt is caked on it, never change brake fluid, differential fluid, trans. lube, etc. I'll take my 10,000 mile old synthetic oil and put it up against your new conventional motor oil. One guy said that would only be 4 oil changes in 100,000 miles yet he probably changed his spark plugs only once or twice in 100,000 miles. Back before synthetics people had to change points and plugs after 10,000 miles sometimes sooner now we don't. And now we don't need to change our oil every 3000 miles, so why do it? Do you think it will make your car faster?

 

well i guess were arguing the same point, sort of. Whatever kind of oil it is, it gets contaminted from combustion. I do it a 3k, because the type of driving I do, would be defined under any technical description as worse than severe duty!!
I just noticed that I neglected to add (in my previous post,) that I use mobil 1, and at 3k, its dirtier than all hell when it comes out. the reason I use mobil 1 is because I really DRIVE my car, I push it over 100 mph everyday during the summer. So when you ask me why I change it that early, its for engine protecton.
I also noticed that with the mobil 1, I dropped one second down to 14.3 in the quarter (that was sarcasm.)

And yes, I aggree about stuff that gets neglected. When I bought my iroc, it had the original delcos in it. No bs, at 70k... I have never seen anything like it before.

 

My bosses now 4 year old Mercedes had synthetic oil in it from new. He had is oil changed at the Mercedes dealer every 15k miles as his manual stated and according to the Mercedes service techs recommendation. The car now has almost 130k miles and still runs and drives as new. I don't think a car manufacturer like Mercedes that has a reputation of longevity would risk an engine failure by pushing the oil too far. Since most of us drive our cars slightly harder than most Mercedes, I don't think 10k miles is too much to ask of a synthetic oil then. The salesman in the office next to me bought a new BMW Z3 and when he bought it they said that all servicing was free for 36k miles. So he took it to the dealer at 3k miles to get the oil changed and they told him they would change it but it would cost him because BMW recommend the oil be changed every 15k miles due to synthetics. So BMW and Mercedes say 15k miles on synthetic oil. Flame or disagree if you like but they have engineers paid way too much money to determine this besides the "I feel better changing my oil every 3k miles".

 

all I have to say is you guys are lucky
I change mine every 2000-3000 miles
the oil was changed that often b/c I inject oil into the combustion chamber and when I start pushing dirty oil in there it will get in my apex seals (kinda like the rings on your pinston xcept mine move back and forth) and the oil might burn the dirty stuff will not and so I can get my apex seals to stick and lose compression.

also this motor does have a little more blowby then your cars do and puts a much higher stress on the oil since it is used not just for lube but also as a coolant on the motor


so you guys quit your bitching you could easily get away with changing the oil every 6000+ miles and if you use synthetic sure you could push it a little more then that

and damn I wish I could buy the amsoil stuff
seen some test on it and it is about the best oil that I have seen

 

If I were you I would use amsoil or another synthetic in that rotary engine. It can withstand the heat better and would protect your apex seals better. I don't know how often you would need to change it but it isn't that much more expensive anyway.

 

I believe the new corvetes are coming with a factory fill of Mobile1 and a 15K oil change. Synthetics are better because they are made from the gases during the distilation process. They are more uniform in shape and don't contain any impurities. The benifit of a synthetic is the length of time you can run it and it's resistance to shear off of your engine parts. Many companies have thier oil tested to see how dirty it is; though not recomended for your average user. The two best synthetics are Castrol and Mobile1.

<B>Get a good oil filter.</B> This is the main thing that helps clean the oil and save your engine.

If you leak oil, don't waste your money. You can't keep the oil in your engine long enough to really justify the cost.

Remember - technolegy advaces (my spelling doesn't) they are making better oils, regular and synthetic every day.

 

whats wrong with my car? i have to change the oil every 2000 miles, or it looks like black tar.

 

I believe in addition to the Corvette, the Viper, Jaguar, and no doubt the other expensive (foreign) auto makers use and recommend Mobil 1. I did not, however, know that 15k was the recommended oil change interval. Heck if a Corvette can go 15k- I am going to re-think my 5k. Is 15k recommended for all driving conditions? I'm quite sure some Corvette owners abuse their engine a bit more than others...

 

Since I started using Mobil 1 in the late 80's, I have basically adopted 5000 mile intervals between changes on all my vehicles. I tried the 6000 mile interval with filter changes at 3000 miles, and other combos as well.

For the past seven years, I change the oil, filter, lube the chassis, check the brakes and rotate the tires (not on the TA because of the rims and asymetrical tires) every 5000 miles. I always have at least three cars and it works out to about 8 changes per year. I have found that doing this all at once is more convenient, easier to remember and leads to good tire and engine life. The way I look at it, I have to jack up two wheels to do the oil change, why not jack up the back too.

I have owned 7 vehicles that received this care, and none have had any engine or tire problems.

 

If the engine is in good condition and tune, that is insignificant.

The "dirt" that makes the oil "dirty" comes primarily from the air intake and the oil itself. Use a good air filter (not paper or K&N) and a premium synthetic oil (not Penzoil or Castrol or some other "me-too" brand), you've eliminated the majority of the contamination sources.

That's the truth, fellas. Whether you want to believe it or not is up to you.

If you choose not to accept it, then I will have to ask you why you don't change your radial tires at 10k miles, because bias ply tires didn't last any longer than that...

 

Five7kid, What is a "good" air filter? I thought paper had the best filtration, though at the cost of flow. You said "not paper or K&N." What do you recommend instead?

 

Common sense says never argue oil with an AMSOIL guy but I'm not so sure about this.

I've mentioned before on this site, on similar topics, that we have two forklifts, both with flathead Dodge engines, one is Propane, the other runs on gas.

They both get pretty much the same use and I'm telli ng ya, the oil in the Propane lift looks like it's just been poured in. The one that runs on gas discolors like an automobile.

I wonder what Propane auto's oil look like? That'd be a more direct comparision..the lifts only see about 300-400 hours of use a year, much less than a vehicle.

Anyway, just food for thought.