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Best Regards,
Shipo
The reason why I brought that up was one of the most used viscosities (standards, if you will) 10w40 (old standard),10w30, 5w30 is now available in 0w30.
For me, on one it meets the GM 4718 M standard, and the others on a 5w30, so I am curious if it will affect anything (specifically mpg) .
Another anomoly is the 0w30 (0w40, 5w40 also) meets diesel specifications. (in addition to gasser turbo charger and supercharger specifications
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Best Regards,
Shipo
Another thing that is NOT so obvious is by virtue of the fact it meets diesel specifications, soot % resistance is much higher than auto specifications.
If you want another esoteric reason, I can drift into that; but am considering the eye balls glazing factor. :lemon:
Best Regards,
Shipo
As for oil grades, I'd be inclined to put 0W-30 in all three of your rides and be done with it. All of the something "W" thirties have a similar hot viscosity, however, the cold viscosity is considerably lower (a good thing) with the zero-W oil. Consider the following:
Mobil 1 viscosity readings at 100C:
10.0 cST – 10W-30
11.3 cST – 5W-30
11.0 cST – 0W-30
Regarding the high pressure readings on the Astro, I seriously doubt that clogging is causing that issue. FWIW, due to manufacturing tolerances, you can take any two "identical" engines and hook them up and find significant differences in oil pressure, that said, the suggestion that the sending unit could be suspect is a valid one as well.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Yes indeed!
..."The S-10 is now at 3K of it's second M1 change and I plan on leaving it in there for 7K, then getting an oil anylisis done to see where I stand. The Impala will get one at 7K as well as an oil anaylisis. I am guessing that I can push both to 10K or so, but want to see what 7K does. "...
For sure do your 7k UOA's to satisfy your curiosity. However just take a sample and let the (7k ) oil change go until you get the results back from the lab. That way if it is good to go, you can change @ 10,000 miles or even GREATER.
Discuss this story
(reprinted from General Motors)
..."Starting with the 2000 model year on certain vehicles, GM will raise the maximum mileage allowed for Oil-Life System-equipped vehicles to between 10,000 and 15,000 miles (16,000 and 25,000 km), depending on vehicle brand and engine*."...
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If you read your oem owner's manual between the lines (probably not overtly stated) , you can probably deduce the olm was calibrated for CONVENTIONAL oil. Conventional oil has a TBN of 5/7 vs synthetic (i.e.,Mobil One 0w30) TBN of 12.
So for example on the 01 Corvette Z06, the oem owner's manual calls for synthetic oil (Mobil One 5w30- TBN 12). So the OCI recommendation can be up to 15,000 miles, 1 year or OLM. My OLM usually comes on app 14,400-14,600 miles.
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1. He says that at the place where they service almost all of our cabs in San Diego they use 20W50 dyno oil in all vehicles with more then 100k. We recently went to auction an bought my friend a newer 2003 Crown Vic. with 93 k. on it. I did not check the compression but it seemed like a well taken cared vehicle and the engine was in pristine shape. Why would he want to use such a heavy weight oil on the car that does so many stop and goes?
2. I suggested starting using a synthetic oil in that vehicle because i am hoping he can get a lot more miles out of it that way and hopefully pollute a little less of the environment. We found Valvoline 5W20 @ a discount price, can/should he use that instead?
Thanks for all your help!
A few years ago, an independent test was done by cutting oil filters in half. The person doing the tests did not claim to be an expert in the field of oil filters rather a curious consumer. He had posted the results (pictures included) when cutting the filters in half. What he determined from the results was that Fram used the cheapest materials, had the last amount of pleats (filter area), and looked the least durable.
Once the manufacturer discovered this and threatened a lawsuit, all bets were off and the site taken down. By that time by word of the net had spread that Fram filters were the worst in the industry. It was alleged that the Fram would go into bypass mode as early as 300 miles making it basically a useless oil filter. This didn't include the toughguard line nor the more expensive Frams. Just the cheapos that you can find at Wallyworld, Kmart, etc.
At the risk of being redundant, how "important" would you say having the engine oil analyzed would be? And where would you have it done? (I live in northern NJ)
I'm playing with 3 cars currently - all of which run very well:
2005 Accord with 70,000 miles
2006 Odyssey with 20,000 miles
1994 Geo Prizm with 150,000 miles
I'm pretty consistent with changing the oil in these cars and use either Mobile One or Castrol Synthetic - whichever is one sale.
Which brings me to my next question: I've seen a bunch of posts discussing one oil vs. another. As mentioned, I use synthetic oil... Is there a big difference between engine oils and which would be considered the best?
Thanks
On your next question, absolutely yes! Mobil One in almost any category/viscosity you care to talk about are probably ONE of the best to better "MASS" marketed synthetic (group IV) oils. Castrol Syntec as you probably are aware is a hydrocracked group III product. If they use a % of group IV, that fact is very very well hidden.
except 0W30 aka German Castrol as it has "Made in Germany" label.
Krzys
Well, that depends. If you're using Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec (especially 0W-30), and you're changing your oil at anything under 7,500 miles, then it is a virtual certanty that having UOAs performed would be a waste of money. If you are planning on extending your oil change intervals to 10,000 miles or more, then yes, having UOAs done on your cars is probably a good idea.
Best Regards,
Shipo
1) Please refrain from typing in ALL CAPS, it's considered shouting and rude.
2) Most likely the answer to your question is in your Owner's Manual. That said, most manufacturers insist that you stay with the recommended Oil Change Interval (OCI) to maintain your warranty.
Best Regards,
Shipo
That is the same mentality that has the Big 2.8 auto manufacturers (you know, the usual suspects) on the road to bankruptcy.
Which is why I use group IV synthetics.
I learned a while back that you couldn't switch from Dino oil to full synthetic once a vehicle reaches a certain high mileage like 50-75K. I was also told that it is definately not recomended after 100K because the synthetic oil will actually start to cause oil blow by and get past the seals because it's properites are different that dino oil. The seals are conditioned to dino oil and that is the way it should stay. switching to synthetic I was told would cause engine failure sooner rather than later with dino oil.
Is this true or is this a bunch of hogwash? If I have slightly over 100K on my vehicle now and wanted to switch to synthetic, would it be safe to do so? And if I did so, would I really be able to go 6-7K miles before an oil change instead of the 3K I am doing now?
Also - one more question. If I do switch to synthetic I will do it for both vehicles I own. The other vehicle is an Impala with only 20K on it. Would I need to follow the same suggested initial OCI switchover as I do with my truck - changing the oil every 3K the first couple of times to flush it out even though it only has 20K on it. Again the same OCI has been followed with this vehicle with only changes every 3K. The time has been longer inbetween - sometimes as long as 6 months, but always right around the 3K mark.
Suggestions on brand of oil... I have always used Valvoline dino oil, so would the Valvoline Synthetic be better or equal to say Mobile1? Or should I just go with MobileOne since it seems to be the most popular out there?
(I promise not to hold any of you responsible if the motor blows up
The only vehicle I won't switch over is the 185K Chevy Van that I use for work... I have only had it for a few thousand miles, but I have no idea what kind of maintenance it has recieved. It runs well and doesn't smoke, but with 175K on it before I got a hold of it who knows??? I'll stick with Dino oil. It loses about a quart of oil between oil changes through either burning or leaking. No drops on the ground, but the bottom of the oil pan never seems quite dry.
well except for the previously mentioned 185K van.... who knows what I would loosed up in there..
The customer was curious as to what kind of oil he should put into his high mileage explorer and asked about synthetic. My friend proceeded to tell him that he recomends against synthetic because it is possible that the synthetic could clean all the gunk out of the motor and cause oil leaks and so on...
I thought about trying to debate his reasoning, but then thought it wasn't worth it to get invovled....
I think he did finally convince the customer to go with Valvoline Max-life.
I have had that happen a couple of times in my car. I will have just had the oil changed and a 1000 miles later the change oil light will come on. I just reset it and go. Look in your owner's manual. It should tell you all you need to know about the oil life monitor.
Here is my .02 on changing over to synthetic. I also have an S-10 with the 4.3 and currently have 105K on it and with the exception of one minor, hopefully not serious oil leak, have had no problems with oil consumption or burning. I have always run Valvoline 10W30 and changed it at 3K intervals almost religiously.
I just switched to Mobile One to see what it would do. From the research that I did and watching the discussion on this thread, I felt it was safe to do so because I had maintained the oil changes regularly, the motor itself probably stayed pretty clean, therefore switching to Synthetic will probably do good. Contrary to popular belief, switching to synthetic should not cause oil leaks. The theory is that in higher mileage cars, there is gunk and junk on the rings and such that is keeping oil from getting past them and causing oil blow by. When synthetic is used, because of it's cleansing properties, it goes through the motor and cleans out this "gunk" that is holding the motor together and once that "gunk" is cleaned out, you start having problems.
From what I have researched, that is not true. Yes, synthetic does have detergents that help clean out the motor, but it will not cause oil leaks, especially if you have kept up a good oil change interval for thus far in the life of the vehicle. A good test to see what shape your motor is in is to have an oil anylisis done and that will give you an idea of what the indsides look like. Switching to synthectic will likely help clean up the motor, but it might already be pretty clean considering your short OCI's. It also depends on the brand of oil you use too... A parafin based oil (Penzoil, Quakerstate) will likely leave more deposits than a non-parafin based oil (Valvoline, Havoline).
The Astro is sitting at almost 90K (on the vehicle not OCI
I do notice that in the Astro, the oil pressure is a little unusually high, whereas my S-10 which uses the same basic drivetrain is quite a bit lower. This is at initial startup. Once the vehicle is warmed up, the Astro's oil pressure seems to drop slightly, but still runs abnormally high it seems. I don't know if this is bad or good, but my thought process is that the ports might be getting clogged (from running parafin based oils) and just like a clogged artery causes high blood pressure, these restricted ports are also causing the high oil pressure? So I am think that these need to be flushed out to improve oil flow, otherwise I am looking at expensive damage down the road....
any thoughts?
should I be okay running a basic AC Delco filter for 7-10K miles??
it was by chance I ended up using the delco. otherwise I would have had a basic fram which not too many people here are fond of. I have never had a bad experience with them, but then again, until recently I have never gone more than 3K between oil changes so who knows. so when I saw the delcos on the shelf, I figured what the heck. It's here, and only a couple extra bucks so why not? Besides all that, the people here that aren't fond of them seem to know what they are talking about
..."As in the previous study, the results showed that the aged engine oils provide lower friction and much improved wear protection capability."...
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The problem with this SAE study is the implications have almost RADICAL consequences. For me it has LONG ago stopped being revolutionary. I have run 15,000, 20,000, 25,000 mile oci's for over 800,000 miles.
I find that hard to believe. Maybe some smart business person can collect all the old oil from Jiffy-Lube and sell it as "Aged" oil for a higher price.
Still, why would these guys lie about something that would sell LESS oil?
I wonder what the other factors they talk about are? :confuse:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Actually I hesitate to bring this up for the vast majority (98%) will NOT care or be affected. Made for Diesel oil (specifications are very important here) have gotten huge benefits from (burning) the new ULSD 2 @ 15 ppm (to ZERO in some cases). In my particular case, it really can mean up to 30,000 miles OCI's, (Burns far cleaner than USD and even RUG to PUG). I will do 25,000 miles OCI's, for I am a belt and suspenders kind of guy.
Corvette Z06 has been specified to run 5w30 (0w30 also) Mobil One, and has an OLM than can run 15,000 miles or 1 year.
RUG= regular unleaded gas
PUG= premium unleaded gas
:shades:
I said that a while back on these forums and was met with skepticism. Some people don't believe actual tests and fleet/engineering measurements. Instead, they believe only what they "think" is right based on old wives tales. In reality, it has been shown many times that slightly used oil has lower wear rates than new oil. I'm too lazy to list the web links, so for those doubters out there, just go to www.google.com and put in words like wear rate engine oil used
What does this mean? Stop changing oil so often, save your money (for gas), and just use a good synthetic (with SM, GF-4, and ACEA A1 on the label, all three things on the label only) and change it once per year. A good filter like Mobil1 Ext Perf filter may help with those 1-year oil changes. Any more often is a waste of time.
The explanation may be that slightly used oil has relatively soft carbon particles that act as tiny ball bearings, something new motor oil does not have. Arco Graphite motor oil back in the 70's and early 80's deliberately put carbon particles in their new motor oil to specifically lower wear rates. Arco Graphite oil link