average oil change using synthic

i always use Mobil 1 synthic (hense the spelling) but anyways wat is the average oil change , do you think im wasting my $ changing it every 3,000 miles ?

I use Castrol Syntec and a Mobil 1 filter and change my oil every 5,000 miles. You don't need to change your oil every 3,000 if you use synthetic.

yes, and I am pretty sure Mobil one still uses a "t" in synthetic

I think I change the oil in my stroker too often, and I run it to 5. The recommended interval on my motorcycle running Mobil Syn was 8k. Just remember, in order to get the longer life of a synthetic you need to be running a good filter made for that duration as well, ie Mobil one, K&N, ect

Just sound it out... :banghead:

How often you change the oil depends on how many starts and warm-ups you do between oil changes, how hot the motor is running (either from load or ambient temps) and conditions that might dirty/contaminate the oil, etc. I'm sure there are lots of others I've missed as well. BUT, the start and warm-up is probably the biggest, since that is really stressful on the oil.

But, I agree, for most around town driving and occasional stressful off-roading, extending the oil change to 5k with Synthetic is fine.

There will be people that argue you can take Synthetic out to 20k miles under the "right conditions" but most of us don't operate in those "right conditions".

BTW, I switched from Mobil1 filters to Hastings Filters. I've cut them both apart, and the innards of both seem to be the highest quality of most oil filters. The Mobil1 does have a much thicker case, but its so thick its overkill that isn't necessary. Both filter elements have roughly the same area, which is a lot more than most filters, both seem to be the same quality (yea, you really can judge that from sight) instead of a thin paper like material, its a thicker more felt surface like material. The difference the Hastings filter costs half as much, the same price as most better quality filters.

When I first bought my '98 brand new, I was using regular dino oil at first, at 3,000 mile intervals. At 9,000 miles I began using Mobil 1, but switched my change intervals to 6,000 miles.

I figured I was spending as much on Mobil 1 at 6,000 miles, when compared to regular dino oil at 3,000 miles; so my cash outlay was a wash. Besides, recommended factory oil change intervals are 6,000 (or is it 7,500?) miles; so I figure I'm in the factory recommended range anyway...

If you use a synthetic, you should change it between 5 & 7 thousand miles. Synthetic is awesome stuff and retains it's viscosity for longer periods!! Here read this.. http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/xlo.aspx

ya it really depends how much dirt u are going to see - dust, etc.

what is cool is that u can run mobil for 10k but u have to remember that the oil will get dirty over time... if only on road? sure i could see 6,7,8 k but over that is probally too long imo

i change mine every 3.5-4k cuz my jeep demands it!:roll: i just put in some royal purple so maybe i will wait longer...

Just remember AMSOIL is high quality POA base stock oil, Group IV oil; While most over the counter Synthetic is high quality Hydrocracked Petroleum Base Stock oil, Group III.

Lets NOT get into an AMSOIL Debate, but if your going to go for the crazy 10k+ miles between oil changes, then I (and most) would only attempt it with AMSOIL. NOT saying I believe AMSOIL to good to be true claims, but I have NOT seen anything to disprove them, NOR to dispute that it is the best oil available, therefore, if I was to try such a thing, which I likely never would, I would use AMSOIL to go the insane periods between oil changes.

Yes, you can go longer than usual with the much better than conventional quality Over the Counter Synthetics, like Mobil1; but Mobil1 and the others are NOT AMSOIL and you can't use it like the AMSOIL claims.

I "think" Royal Purple and Red Line are Group IV, like AMSOIL, while all the rest are Group III.

Yes, even Mobil1 is most likely GroupIII now, if they answer direct questions about "If their oil is still Group IV?" with 3 paragraph answers that doesn't directly say yes, then its pretty safe to assume they have gone the way of the rest of the industry and switch to the cheaper Group IV base stock, because their consumers are too ignorant to know the difference.

I've said this before but I religiously change my oil (Castrol Full Syn 10/30) every 6 mos.. (I retired the XJ as my DD back in April. I now drive a ricer rickshaw to work for mileage and gas prices sake).

Still, every 6 mos. If I've been through any extreme wheeling, long road trips, dusty conditions I'll change out the filter only (Purolator), and stick to the 6 mos.

ive heard if your motor is high mileage and is used to conventional it can be a bad idea to switch to synthetic what do yall think?

CBB311 said:

ive heard if your motor is high mileage and is used to conventional it can be a bad idea to switch to synthetic what do yall think?

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From what I understand it mainly will cause seals that are already leaking to leak a bit worse or develop new leaks that are caused by seals that are "on their way out". I personally run synthetic through everything I own that is higher mileage and have had 0 problems. I figure it's a justification to fix those already leaking seals or find your weak ones.

BIGSLVRXJ said:

From what I understand it mainly will cause seals that are already leaking to leak a bit worse or develop new leaks that are caused by seals that are "on their way out". I personally run synthetic through everything I own that is higher mileage and have had 0 problems. I figure it's a justification to fix those already leaking seals or find your weak ones.

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My thought's exactly. Bought mine at 62K and switched it over to synthetic at 70K with minimal leaks....valve cover and oil filter adapter o-rings were the first two to go. The rear main drips every now and then...mainly in hot weather. Other than that, everything's been great.

Is it safe to say that a new engine (rebuild/upgrade a little) will need to be ran for approx 10K on conventional dino before I can move to a higher grade synth/mix?

If so, what is recommended for each stage? I want to do:

Dino
Synth mix
Synth (class III)
High quality synth (class IV)

I want the best for the baby, but wanna be safe the whole way also.

thanks!

is 104k too late to change to synthetic in these things?

Since coming to the US in 1994, I have been told especially by mechanic shops and oil change corner stores that the oil should be changed at 3,000 miles. To those who do it I say "great. Those who use their oil longer I say "great". So far in this thread I have only seen this mentioned once;..The factory recommends changing the oil in the 4.0 at 7,500 miles under normal driving circumstances (what ever you interpret normal to mean).

My driving is about 95% highway at speeds of 50+ MPH and last anyway from 40 minutes to several hours. I have been using Amsoil for 150,000 miles. My oil change is between 23,000 and 25,000 miles with a filter change between 8,000 and 10,000 miles. My XJ when hot maintaines oil pressure of 40 psi at idle and 60+ from 1,500 RPM's up no matter the ambient temperature, load or road speed. I sometimes drive 4,000 miles in 5 days. At the 3,000 mile oil change it will cost me a fortune just to sit in an oil change shop every week.

paroxysym said:

is 104k too late to change to synthetic in these things?

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Nope! I switched over at about 175K and now have 225K on it. Going strong. Best oil choice I ever made, no more dark brown/black oil after 5K miles, it burns (uses) about 1/2 qt. every 6 mos. but that's no problem for me. At 225K it runs like a top.

What is forgotten is that even though Good Syn holds up well, it does not change the fact that all the acidity, and fine contaminates are still circulating around doing damage regardless to how well the oil is lubricating. Pour your 10k oil out on a white cloth and look at it, but it does help out us dealers in the Heavy-line Departments!

techno1154 said:

..The factory recommends changing the oil in the 4.0 at 7,500 miles under normal driving circumstances (what ever you interpret normal to mean).

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I have to go back and look at my Jeep's Owner Manual, in other vehicles I own/owned the Owner Manual had a Normal Service Schedule and a Severe Duty Service Schedule. The Severe Duty Schedule description was things like taxi, police, service vehicles, idling more than 30 minutes during operation, operating in dusty/dirty environments, high or low ambient temps, towing, high loads, heavy acceleration, Heavy Traffic w/ lots of Stop & Go, etc. Normal Duty excluded those things, plus most trips greater than 25 miles between starts, etc. Basically reading the descriptions, you get the impression that anything other than "Little Old Lady Driving" for "Long Sunday Country Drives" pushes you into Severe Duty Environment. Most severe duty schedules I've seen are 3k mile oil changes.

As well, another school of thought, oil changes are cheaper than engines, sure 9 times out of 10 your oil still has a lot of life in it when you change it at 3k miles, buts its that 1 out of 10 times that dirt, conditions has done something to contaminate the oil and need it to be changed early. If you drive another 4500 miles on that contaminated oil you'll do a tremendous amount of Engine Wear.

Using Synthetic in New/Rebuilt Engines, the point here is, Synthetic Lubricates too well and could interfere with the break-in and developing good wear patterns. Thus, its recommended to use Conventional Oil for the break-in. When the break-in is done, you can switch, NO need to EASE the motor into synthetic. Most people consider the break-in done at 6k miles.

Synthetic flows better than Conventional for the same viscosity, Group IV and somewhat on Group III, the oil molecule is also polar, meaning it is attracted to metal and actually wicks and climbs up against gravity on the metal and coats it. This is why you see greater leaking on bad seals, NOT because Synthetic is somehow Harsh on seals. Synthetic leaks more out of bad seals for the same reasons why its better for your engine, it flows better and it clings and crawls along metal to keep it coated with oil, thus flowing out of bad seals more and working its way out of bad seals by crawling along the metal.

Synthetic also cleans/keeps clean your motor better than Conventional. Some people think that is because Synthetic has more harsh cleaners in it OR has harsh solvents to do this cleaning, again, wrong. All motor oil cleans, but motor oil also burns/breaks down/forms sludge/etc that also leaves deposits and dirties the motor. When your NOT changing the oil enough OR getting to much dirt into the crankcase, the oil dirtying will outpace the oil cleaning and gunk up the inside of the motor. Synthetic, since its a higher quality base stock, engineered to meet the requirements better, has far less ADDITIVES than Conventional Oil. Its the ADDITIVES that usually break down and form the deposits. So Synthetic cleans better, because it breaks down less and forms dirt less than conventional, thus resulting in NET cleaner motor.

Something I haven't seen posted yet, THE BIGGEST ARGUMENT AGAINST USING SYNTHETIC, the price to benefit ratio. Arguably, Synthetic is OVERKILL for most use and Convention is more than adequate to protect the motor. NOT saying your wasting your money using Synthetic, I use it, just saying its a perfect valid argument to say, "I don't abuse my motor enough to need synthetic, I just use good quality conventional oil and filter and change it often."

Most of the good oils used today are semi-synthetic anyway. Almost all driving falls into the Severe Duty schedules, the only reason manufactures even publish normal driving recommendation is because when a vehicle is new, they publish how much it will cost in maintenance during ownership, so manufactures want a way to show the lowest possible maintenance cost for ownership.