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Wal Mart in Silicon Valley CA is $4.42. I'd load up!
One other comment, I asked my buddy if he did not work for RP what oil would he use, he said Mobil 1.
I'd say a toss up! My 5.7 eng owners manual sez 5-30w and 10-30w (Corvette Z06) I'd probably guess at 3.25 a qt. if you had a choice the 5-30 wt is slightly better if you have to go thru a winter summer cycle without changing (I do 15k intervals) but from where you are in Houston the 10-30 w probably makes sense. Especially since 5-30w is not as readily available in bulk containers such as 10-30w tends to be.
What's the concensus on keeping with the mileage change schedule, instead of the # months schedule? With the low mileage this car will accumulate, changing every 5-7 months would seem too frequent as related to the miles.
Also, I had a hard time finding a Mobil 1 filter for this car. Seems the popular sizes are carried by the mass marketers, but not the less popular. I called a local Mobil gas station who referred me to an area distributor. I ended up purchasing a bulk box (6 filters) at half the cost per filter of what K-Mart wanted for the popular sizes when on sale! Just thought I'd pass this along.
Jim M.
Davide
I was reading another GM topic tonight and a few of the posters said that Amsoil was the only true Syn. oil. They also said that Mobil 1 was part Syn. and part conv. oil. One post said that Syn. Mobil oil was really no better than Mobil regular oil.
Now before you guys jump on me, I'm just passing the info along. I believe Mobil 1 is a superior oil (at least over conv. oils). I use Mobil 1 (swithed about 1000 miles ago). Just wondering if you guys with the facts could enlighten me.
Also....what's this Tri-Syn...on the bottle mean?
Thanks John
Q: "Is Mobil 1 a fully synthetic oil?"
A: Yes, it's 100 percent synthetic. The base stocks used in blending Mobil 1 are all "chemically constructed" instead of being simply segregated out of crude oil like conventional mineral oils.
Tri-Synthetic is the tradename of Mobil's synthetic oil. Its actually a blend of 3 synthetic oils. This may be the root cause of confusion in that other forum. Usually, when people refer to "blend", they are talking about a blend of synthetic oil with regular dino oil. If someone casually mentioned that Tri-Syn is a blend of 3 oils, someone else may have decided "Mobil 1 is a blend? Hey that's not a fully synthetic oil!"
Thanks again...
John
It is interesting to contemplate how Mobile got a million miles on a BMW. How many cold starts did that involve? How many cold miles, what RPMs; how hard did they drive?
I like to look at my oil, smell it, feel it. New oil is obvious, and so is spent oil. In between is harder, but the more intimate you are with oil, the easier it is to decide when you are done with it.
For a weekend car, or a collectors car, never take short drives. Start it once, run it long and put it away.
By-the-way, he did not carry Mobil 1 at the lube shop and told me if someone wanted Syn. oil, they would have to bring it.
For what it's worth....I thought this was interesting coming from a Castrol dealer who knew I wasn't using Mobil 1 (in company car)......
John
"heard that they are too slippery for the syncros to slow down the gears enough for smooth gear
changes. Over time they can ruin a tranny."
Anyone care to comment. I would have thought that as long as the correct specified oil (75w90, G?-5, I think) was used, it would only be adding to the life of the transmission by replacing the factory fluids at 2.5K.
I haven't noticed any difference on the shifts from 1-2, but when the car has warmed up, all the other shifts (2-3,3-4,4-5 & 5-6) are like butter!
Unfortunately, now someone has made me doubt whether my intentions were for the best.
Jim M.
Check out their side.
http://www.redlineoil.com/mtlti.htm
I read the info provided at the link by "vadp". It states therein that GL-5 could shorten the syncro's life by 1/2. Hopefully that only applies where GL-4 was specified!
Of course, since Mazda has specified this class oil, they should know what is best for their tranny. And, since the repair history on the Miata is one most car manufacturers envy, it would tend to make one think they know what they're doing.
It was interesting to note within the link that Redline still recommends changing the non-filtered oils (tranny & diff) at their normal intervals. The heck with oil life, you've got to remove the unfiltered particlates!
And, thanks for the reassuring words, armtdm.
Jim M.
Bruce
I recently ran a fire call into a neighborhood where someone had called reporting an outside natural gas leak. This was a new neighborhood, and there were houses still under construction. As we searched for the source of the "gas leak", we discovered a crew changing gear oil on a bulldozer in the adjacent construction site. They were at least 100 yards from the house where the smell was reported!
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jvalenti/opolych/opolychf.html
I have an '87 Toyota MR2 I purchase with 122K. It was getting about 1000 miles per quart on conventional oil. With a midwinter switch to Mobil 1 the oil consumption went to 200 miles per quart. I switched back to a conventional oil and consumption returned to 1000 miles per quart.
I also have a '94 Camry with the 2.2 litre 4 cylinder. I purchased it with 89K. It was burning a quart of conventional oil every 1500 - 2000 miles. I switched to Mobil 1 and consumption is at the rate of a quart every 6 - 8000 miles! My theory is that Mobil 1 oil is so stable it doesn't evaporate off like the conventional oil does.
My last car is a '90 Accord with the 2.2 litre 4. It was switched to Mobil 1 at about 30K. It has 102K miles now and has finally burned a few drops of oil. Consumption is at the rate of a quart every 15000 miles (it was 1/3 qt down at the last 5000 mile change interval). I change at 5000 miles because the oil has thinned a little, enough so that I can hear the valve train getting noisy compared to fresh oil.
One more observation. If you run conventional oil check it every 500 miles or so. I believe it is turning black just as much from deterioration as from contamination. When it's black it's worn out whatever the mileage is. I never go past 3000 miles with conventional and technical articles say there is significant degradation even at 1500 miles.
Some engines and their components can tolerate long change intervals and some can't. When I pulled the valve cover on my '87 Toyota MR2 shortly after purchasing it I was shocked. There was so much hard carbonized buildup material I spent an hour with a shop vac and screwdriver chipping the stuff off and sucking it out. Big chunks would periodically clog the hose and I'd have to stop and push them down. Yet, the engine is very strong and smooth at 152K miles. I am often running at a steady 4200 RPM or more on the highway. I often redline the engine shifting through the gears. I've calculated the engine has spun as much as a V8 with a half million miles on it and lives on because of the quality built into it and despite running with enough worn out oil to cause that tremendous gunk buildup.
I called to get an update on my engine knock problem.....after discussing situation and waiting on hold.... the GM rep advise me to switch to Syn. oil ASAP to help the carbon buildup problem. I already switched to Mobil 1 about 1500 miles ago. (Hasn't helped the knocking yet).
John
From Redline's web page ...
75W90 NS - a GL-5 which does not contain the friction modifiers for limited-slip hypoid differentials. This makes the transmission synchronizers come to equal speeds more quickly, allowing faster shifting and much easier low-temperature shifting
i'm looking to get a box too...
According to the page the Mobil1 filter performs even worse than the Fram's Extraguard.
http://www.acdelco.com/parts/1191d.htm
http://dev.fusiondesign.com/xp/Caranddriver/columns/2000/November/200011_columns_bedard.xml
Delco stress one-pass filtration, while Pure One does the same with multiple-pass filtration, because in the real-life engines the same oil is going through the filter repeatedly for three months or longer.
I believe the both filters are really much better than the standard ones. I also believe, the difference between the different brands of the premium filter is less important.
Will use premium filter with synthetic: consider it to be important if changing oil less often.
I found them by going to a local Mobil full-service station and inquiring about the filters. They referred me to their distributor. I'm sure you could do the same in your area.
Cost was right at $5 per filter, bulk case of 6, not individually boxed. I was able to pick mine up from their Miami branch. I'd suppose they'd UPS them anywhere, once you've paid for the s/h.
Jim M.
I called Redline this a.m. and spoke with an engineer, David. Told him what I'd done, and that the Miata's owners manual specified both GL-4 AND GL-5 oil for the 6 speed tranny. He told me the 75w90 would not hurt the trans., that if Mazda spec'd GL-5 oil there would be no internal parts which would corrode with this oil.
He asked how the shifts compared to the dino oil. Told him they were no different on startup, but after warm-up it was much smoother.
He considered that to be normal, then told me they would recommend the MT-90 as it would make for smoother shifts, hot or cold. The MT-90 doesn't contain the friction modifiers their 75w90 has, therefore the synchros would perform better.
He suggested/recommended I change out the oil and install the MT-90, keeping the drained oil for use in the diff when the 30K change comes up.
I did not ask him about the 75w90 NS - I had heard of others on the Miata.net forum using the MT-90 and this is what he recommended
Well, I plan to follow his recommendation - as soon as I am ready to change the engine oil. This car was a mid-life purchase, and the ol' skeleton isn't as forgiving as it once was.
Jim M.
Then you can highlight and copy the text so that you can paste it into a new response window, making whatever changes you want to make.
Actually, that is the only way to "edit" a post, since there isn't an actual edit feature here.
Can you tell this is the voice of experience? :-)
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I'll try to be more careful next time.
Jim M.
Vadp, what is the Mobil 1 oil-filter part number for Focus? (can't find it listed,it's not on Mobil1 e-store either)
Can someone explain, why dealers are charging 49$ for synthetic oil change and 19$ for regular oils?
K-mart is supposedly carriyng the Mobil 1 filters for the Focus.
They should have a cross reference book next to the shelve. I found the filter they were referring to. But that thing didn't look like the original filter at all. A mistake? I'll be checking that again.
Also I've tried to find the AC Delco Ultraguard Plus(fully synthetic medium) for our car.
Apparently they don't have that model available for our car as yet too.
I'm planning to use the Motorcraft or the Purolator brands if I won't be able to find the proper Mobil 1 filter.
And no, you don't have to flush the engine before switching to the synth. It's almost like flushing your gas tank every time you switch to a different
brand/grade of gas.
And dealers charging $49 for a synth instead of $19 for a dyno.
I think he is planning to take an around the world cruise this time instead of a usual going to Bahamas.
At 5 quarts + filter the difference is $26.25 total, plus sales tax. With the dealer the difference is $30. For me this does not looks outrageous.
Please, don't try to convince me that the dealer pays retail for anything.
And I would really like to hear from somebody who was able to get the AC Delco Ultraguard Gold ($10)
included in that kind of a deal.
BTW it's not even avail for the Focus. So you will get another "premium" brand known as Fram.
I understand well, that the dealer does not buy anything retail. Neither Pep Boys. Both dealers and discount stores buy from the same manufacturers and/or wholesalers, and sell for higher prices.
Obviously, dealers have higher overheads and are selling with higher margins. And, very probably, dealer even buys at higher prices than a huge national chain.
This is a service component of the dealer prices: you can buy the oil/filter yourself from Pep Boys and bring them to dealer, but would you spend something like 30 minutes to save $3.75?
Here's what I do........ I find it on sale (usually K-mart) and go to Advance Auto Parts and they will beat the price. I've never been turned down yet. So I get Mobil 1 for about 3.50 a quart. I then buy a filter (I use AC Delco).
Next......
1. I change the oil myself....or....
2. I take my oil and filter to the gas station and let them change it. They usally charge about anywhere from $5 to $10 labor.
Bottom line......the cost is more up front, but I change oil at 5000-6000 miles. I break even in the end.
John
Ooooh, and Mobil1 price update, last time my dad got 6 quarts for his (2000 Econoline 350 V8 5.4).
The price was right, $3.08 per quart!(Aberdeen NJ)
We could not find the M1 oil-filter charts for 2000 Focus or 2000 Econo 350, because they (K-mart)only had charts for 1998 and older.
50 hard earned bucks for the (unknown brand,if you can call it a brand) synthetic change is a rip-off.
Vadp, my friend, if you'll ever get that M1 filter number for 2000 Focus be so kind and post it, please.
Thanks, again.
For example, I live in apartment building. Our lease explicitly prohibit car repair/maintenance on the parking lots. Cannot even wash cars.
There are more complicated situations. I know well one family, who would never do the maintenance themselves: He is a very successful professional, enjoys his work, works 7x12 all his life, and do not want to lose productive time on household shores. And she would not do the maintenance, because otherwise her husband will feel bad.
As to the $50 oil change - yes, it is expensive. But I would rather change oil for $50 once in six months, than for $20 every three months. Because I value my time higher than the $10 difference. And more than $20.
I believe you, that most probably I would save even more time by changing the oil myself - but, as I said, it is out of question for me.
http://www.acdelco.com/oil/oil.htm?selected=engine_size&year=2000&make=FORD&model=FOCUS&engine_size=L4+2.0L
Delco have no premium filters for Focus. Though, it would be easier to search for the right filter with the Delco number. For example, using the Hastings database, it is compatible with the Hastings filter LF483.
http://www.hastingsfilters.com/database.idc
Vern