sythetic oil change intervals

[dhen]

I've got a quick question that might be stupid, but I searched and didn't find anything.

If I use cheap oil, I'm supposed to change the oil every 3,000 miles. I've heard that you can change less often with synthetics, but how often should I do it? 5,000 miles? How can you tell if it's time if you don't go by the odometer?

Thanks,

Darian

[Z28pr0jekt]

people generally say 3000 miles or 3-5 months.

I base it on how I've been driving. If I drive a majority on highway and dont get on it much, I will go 5000. But even with synthetic if I am running the car hard a lot I will go 3000.

[Firebat]

I've always gone 2000 miles (about 3-4 months) for daily drivers, no matter what oil (but the only oil I use now is Mobil 1 synthetic). Sometimes 2500, depends. The oil is plenty dark for me when it gets changed out at 2000. Also change the oil filter every time with a K&N oil filter. I know people can go more miles with synthetic but it doesn't hurt to change it more often.

[killerz28]

I would change the oil once it starts to get dirty or 3000 miles. I know people that do strictly 3000 miles and some that go by what is in the manual. I wouldnt go more than 3000 miles even with a good synthetic. Thats just my opinion. Personally I will always change my oil before I go to the track as well.

[BIGT94z]

I've always gone 2000 miles (about 3-4 months) for daily drivers, no matter what oil (but the only oil I use now is Mobil 1 synthetic). Sometimes 2500, depends. The oil is plenty dark for me when it gets changed out at 2000. Also change the oil filter every time with a K&N oil filter. I know people can go more miles with synthetic but it doesn't hurt to change it more often.

wix is a better filter and is cheaper fyi :cool:i change my dd every 4k miles (which is ever 1.5 months) the camaro gets changed every 3k miles with mobile 1

[zooguy]

mine is a dd and i drive her hard. but i treat her with moble 1 synthetic every 2750-3000 miles NEVER more, its usually black

[SexyTransAm]

wix is a better filter and is cheaper fyi :cool:i change my dd every 4k miles (which is ever 1.5 months) the camaro gets changed every 3k miles with mobile 1
and NAPA gold filter is the same at WIX but half the price! i change my synthetic at 3k every time

[BLK95-Z]

Full synthetic could probably go 7,500-10,000 miles in a daily driver depending on the condition of the engine and driving habbits. It takes a long time for oil to stop protecting....contamination is what calls for earlier oil changes. If everyone with new cars tested their oil they would be surprised how long it lasts.

I went to oil school when I worked for Valvoline and learned lots of un-useful information :shiner: with that being said I change mine at 3,000 or when its black.

[Sempire]

Isn't Mobil 1 a group 3 synthetic now?

[IronOutlaw]

I usually go between 3000-4000 depending on how it was driven. Ill go broke changing it more than that.

My buddy owns a trash company and they change their trucks every 20,000 miles.:hmm: Going on a million miles on some of them. But thats a big diesel, a little different than a V8 gas burner.

[gregrob]

wix is a better filter and is cheaper fyi :cool:i change my dd every 4k miles (which is ever 1.5 months) the camaro gets changed every 3k miles with mobile 1



Better is subjective. The K&N filters well and is more importantly HIGH FLOW, which is something the LT1 really needs..

The only real answer is when you should change your oil is to do a Used Oil Analysis, and get to know your engine.

For a high performance engine and the abuse we ask them to take, oil is cheap insurance. Change it often.

How often you change it is much more important than what kind you use. The best oil in the world still gets dirty.

[dhen]

Thanks, that gives me something to think about.

[Firebat]

A big reason I use the KN filter is because its incredibly easy to remove with a 1" nut welded on the top of it. Its mostly an issue on my V6 daily driver though, the LT1 oil filter is a lot easier to get to. Cheapest place I've found LT1 K&N oil filters (the HP-2002 or larger HP-3002) is Amazon for about $10 shipped but you got to buy a few of them to get the free shipping.

[joelster]

You shouldn't change your oil based on an odometer reading. That means nothing. If you are constantly on the highway it is quite easy to get to 3000 miles with not a lot of engine running time. Soemone who drives only in the city in stop and go traffic all day will have 5 times the amount of run time on their engine by the time it hits 3000 miles.

I change mine when it starts to get dark brown. Check it with a white paper towel. Smear it on the towel. If it's still a clear brown like maple syrup, it's good to go. Always use synthetic, it's cheap insurance. Nothing irks me more than someone taking a PERFORMANCE CAR and skimping on routine maintanance stuff. A synthetic oil change will run you $45ish, but it will last me all year.

[chevymec]

My truck has had Mobil 1 since 10k miles and the 1st owner. i change my oil in it every 8-9k and the filter( AC Delco) every 4k. My beater and TA( AC Delco) gets it every 3k( Carquest oil) and my wife's Explorer gets only Motorcraft oil and filter every 4-5k.

[popo8]

CAMARO- 3000 miles, ROYAL PURPLE/WIXX racing filter
BENZ- 7000 miles, MOBILE 1, whatever filiment filter I can find at the time
MONTERO whenever I remember, with whatever is in the shop
JEEP 3000 miles, conventional
CORVETTE planning on 3000mi, ROYAL PURPLE/FRAM (yeah yeah.... I know)
ZX-12 once a year, synthetic.

[black heartbeat]

I've always used a k&n gold oil filter which I loved especially cause you can just put a rachet to it to get it out rather than get your hand cramped jamming it in there. And as far as oil changes go I've always gone every 3 but a few of my friends which have been doing this for a lot longer than me daily drive built motors and change every 6-7k with castrol synthetic

[black heartbeat]

the best place to ask a question like this is here http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/cms/

[Tarheel'Z']

You shouldn't change your oil based on an odometer reading. That means nothing. If you are constantly on the highway it is quite easy to get to 3000 miles with not a lot of engine running time. Soemone who drives only in the city in stop and go traffic all day will have 5 times the amount of run time on their engine by the time it hits 3000 miles.

I change mine when it starts to get dark brown. Check it with a white paper towel. Smear it on the towel. If it's still a clear brown like maple syrup, it's good to go. Always use synthetic, it's cheap insurance. Nothing irks me more than someone taking a PERFORMANCE CAR and skimping on routine maintanance stuff. A synthetic oil change will run you $45ish, but it will last me all year.

DEAD ON^

[Flyinz]

Does anybody use the Lucas oil additive? Since I dont put a lot of miles on mine, I thought about running that additive, maybe it will protect the internals a little better and cling to the parts better, in between uses. Just a thought.

Anybody ever have a problem running Royal Purple?

[95ImpySS]

Its all about oil filtration. If you can filter out the small particles then you can make that oil last tens of thousands of miles. As gregrob stated, the only real way to know what condition your oil is in, is by sending it out for an oil analysis. I personally change my daily's oil every 2500-3000 miles. Much longer than that and the valves train starts getting noisy because the oil is too thin. It runs about 3000RPM most of its time on the high way. Also sees 7000RPM at least once a day.

Back to filtration.... As IronOutalaw mentioned, heavy trucks go about 20,000 miles between oil changes. They go that far because they hold anywhere from 34-60 quarts of oil and have huge oil filters. Sometimes a dual flow, bypass filter. If one could filter out the fine particles in oil. One could extend the oils life by at least double even triple the time normally run. By using a bypass oil filter to filter out the particles that cause the most damage. Check out this video...

Short version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klcBRnyCSvo

Full video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uJRifNoA8E

To put it in perspective. Most full flow engine oil filters filter out around 20-50 microns. K&N and Mobile one rate their top of the line filters at 10 Micron. By installing a bypass oil filter system you can go down to around 2 micron. Thus extending the oils life...