how long are you guys going on oil changes??
12-25-2004 | 11:47 AM
#23
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http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html
In the above link M1 goes 18,000 miles with 1 filter change.
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s.../oil-life.html
In above link Amsoil goes 14,000 miles with no filter change. However falls out badly of intial viscosity rating and starts to cause serious fuel economy problems.
In the above link M1 goes 18,000 miles with 1 filter change.
Mile 18,000 -- John Richardson, September 29, 2003.
Oil/Vehicle miles: 18,021 / 27,960
Oil added after sample: drained oil!
Well, it's done. At long last, we drained the oil. Considering that we've gone two and a half times longer than we thought we'd go, we're pretty impressed by Mobil 1's longevity. Our Dexsil TBN test resulted in a 6.0, comparing favorably to Blackstone's 6.5. But speaking of high TBNs, what happened to this oil? If it had posted these numbers at the last interval, we wouldn't have dumped it. This oil could have kept going based on the numbers we have now, but they sure weren't looking this good a thousand miles ago. Viscosity was dropping, TBN rising, and what's going on with the insolubles? Meanwhile, despite all these paper improvements, the engine still had higher oil pressure and wasn't running as smoothly as normal, so clearly not all was perfect with the oil.
Oil/Vehicle miles: 18,021 / 27,960
Oil added after sample: drained oil!
Well, it's done. At long last, we drained the oil. Considering that we've gone two and a half times longer than we thought we'd go, we're pretty impressed by Mobil 1's longevity. Our Dexsil TBN test resulted in a 6.0, comparing favorably to Blackstone's 6.5. But speaking of high TBNs, what happened to this oil? If it had posted these numbers at the last interval, we wouldn't have dumped it. This oil could have kept going based on the numbers we have now, but they sure weren't looking this good a thousand miles ago. Viscosity was dropping, TBN rising, and what's going on with the insolubles? Meanwhile, despite all these paper improvements, the engine still had higher oil pressure and wasn't running as smoothly as normal, so clearly not all was perfect with the oil.
In above link Amsoil goes 14,000 miles with no filter change. However falls out badly of intial viscosity rating and starts to cause serious fuel economy problems.
Mile 14,000 -- Dick Brewster, December 2, 2004.
Oil/Vehicle miles: 13,994 / 44,970
Oil added after sample: none
This is it. Amsoil is done! The oil exceeded a year in service, with 14,000 miles on the ticker, and no filter change! Well, if the year hadn't ended, we would have had to change the filter now -- it finally reached our insolubles cap, 2,000 miles after Mobil 1. The main thing that stands out on this, our final Amsoil sample, is the ridiculous viscosity. This 5W30 oil has now thickened out to a 15W40 -- argue whether it matters if you like, but we believe engine builders spec an oil for a reason, and this oil is far, far thicker now than intended for the LS1. Switching to our flush Mobil 1 netted a nearly instant 10% improvement in fuel economy, and the engine runs a heckuva lot smoother too. To Amsoil's credit, wear metals remain in check, but we will soon see whether that was really thanks to the oil or just to engine break-in. We'll start posting detailed analysis in the coming weeks.
Oil/Vehicle miles: 13,994 / 44,970
Oil added after sample: none
This is it. Amsoil is done! The oil exceeded a year in service, with 14,000 miles on the ticker, and no filter change! Well, if the year hadn't ended, we would have had to change the filter now -- it finally reached our insolubles cap, 2,000 miles after Mobil 1. The main thing that stands out on this, our final Amsoil sample, is the ridiculous viscosity. This 5W30 oil has now thickened out to a 15W40 -- argue whether it matters if you like, but we believe engine builders spec an oil for a reason, and this oil is far, far thicker now than intended for the LS1. Switching to our flush Mobil 1 netted a nearly instant 10% improvement in fuel economy, and the engine runs a heckuva lot smoother too. To Amsoil's credit, wear metals remain in check, but we will soon see whether that was really thanks to the oil or just to engine break-in. We'll start posting detailed analysis in the coming weeks.
12-25-2004 | 12:57 PM
#26
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Originally Posted by FilthyRich
Very interesting stuff. It will be nice to see what else they find. Either way people will still have their opinions and favortites. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah I hear that.
Talking oil is like talking politics or religion.
M1 and AMSOIL are both top notch products, I wouldnt hesitate to run either, kinda like a Coke Vs. Pepsi conversation though, everyone has their favorite.
I personally run M1 though, maily based on price and availability, Costco=$22 per six pack.
12-25-2004 | 01:48 PM
#27
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From: Minnesota
Oil is the single most important thing you can do to prevent problems and prolong engine life. With regular oil I change every 2,000 to 3500, with synthetic I go 6,000 miles or so. For how important and how easy it is, I check my oil every time I fill up, and also take a general look over the engine compartment looking for leaks, smells, anything that would clue me into a potential problem. As for the people that say they only change oil every 10-20 thousand miles.... they're dumb, simply put.
12-26-2004 | 12:09 AM
#28
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From: outside NYC
Originally Posted by 98LimitedCustomized
As for the people that say they only change oil every 10-20 thousand miles.... they're dumb, simply put.
12-26-2004 | 01:25 AM
#29
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12-26-2004 | 08:11 AM
#30
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From: St. Petersburg, Florida
You can easily go 6 months or 6000 miles with synthetics like Mobil 1, Amsoil, etc.. If you change out your synthetics before that you are wasting time and money. I would go 1 year, 7500 miles on my vehicles, but I am under severe service.
12-26-2004 | 09:26 AM
#31
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From: Lacey, WA
Originally Posted by AKTaco
Best Yota I ever had was a '78 Celica GT... bought it for $125 with 130K miles on it in '88... NEVER changed the oil... it had such a massive leak I just dumped a gallon of Marvel Mystery Oil in it every couple of weeks when the pressure started to fall off. Sold it back to the guy I bought it from for $75 with 230K on it... three years later I saw it driving around town. Man, that was a great car. I wouldn't dare try that nowadays, but I'm still pretty content with exceeding the 5-7.5K mark. IMHO, changing it every couple of thousand is just a waste of $$$. Especially if you're running a full synthetic that's designed to go a zillion miles without breaking down.
12-27-2004 | 03:17 PM
#32
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From: Telluride, CO
Originally Posted by 98LimitedCustomized
As for the people that say they only change oil every 10-20 thousand miles.... they're dumb, simply put.
my .02
12-27-2004 | 04:05 PM
#33
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From: Morgan Hill, CA
I use M1 with 5k changes on mine. Probably overkill, but then again it only cost $24-30 for the oil per change (Costco 
) vs a lot of big $$$$ for a new V8 engine. The link of the guys doing the syn compare on this thread is very interesting. ALso this guy has been doing 4K changes with M1 on his Toyota V6, see what his oil analysis looks like at
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showth...t=oil+analysis
Still a new engine after almost 130k miles.
I would personally not run more than 10k miles with any syn, but maybe I'm just old school. However looking at the finding of guys doing oil analyis it seems to not be a bad idea. Protection levels seem to drop and viscosity changes of the oil after 10k for both M1 and Amsoil, although probably still better than most dino
) vs a lot of big $$$$ for a new V8 engine. The link of the guys doing the syn compare on this thread is very interesting. ALso this guy has been doing 4K changes with M1 on his Toyota V6, see what his oil analysis looks like at http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showth...t=oil+analysis
Still a new engine after almost 130k miles.
I would personally not run more than 10k miles with any syn, but maybe I'm just old school. However looking at the finding of guys doing oil analyis it seems to not be a bad idea. Protection levels seem to drop and viscosity changes of the oil after 10k for both M1 and Amsoil, although probably still better than most dino
12-27-2004 | 04:37 PM
#34
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From: So MS
synthetic oil cost more because its supose to go longer.5k sounds good.any sooner is a waist of good oil.i once knew a man that never changed oil,only the filter,and added oil till it was full.he had about 600k on a 64 ford car.he was 100 years old and he would say"its the life of your engine",cant argue with wisdom.
12-27-2004 | 09:28 PM
#35
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Synthetic oil also pumps ALOT better in cold temps and doesnt burn off and break down at high temps, these are the top reasons to buy it.
And yes it lasts much longer, it also pumps better hence freeing up parasitic power losses from the oil pump and also frees up some gas milage.
If you drive your car sensibly most of the time, and take advantage of the extra mile per gallon you can gain by running synthetic, the oil change pays for itself.
Some people just wont take the plunge, I would run it in any engine that is in proper tune and proper running order, it pays for itslef.
Most folks dont facto that or take it into consideration, oh well.
And yes it lasts much longer, it also pumps better hence freeing up parasitic power losses from the oil pump and also frees up some gas milage.
If you drive your car sensibly most of the time, and take advantage of the extra mile per gallon you can gain by running synthetic, the oil change pays for itself.
Some people just wont take the plunge, I would run it in any engine that is in proper tune and proper running order, it pays for itslef.
Most folks dont facto that or take it into consideration, oh well.
12-30-2004 | 03:47 PM
#37
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From: Nebraska
my friend's got a theory that the harder you beat on one of those, the more you try to kill it, the longer it'll live.
EDIT: actually, thinking back, I also had 2 celica's in high school, and a corolla... the biggest repair bill I ever had was replacing 2 clutches. I did numerous amounts of body damage, but couldn't kill the motor or the ability for the car to "drive" on any of them.
Last edited by Hskr8; 12-30-2004 at 03:53 PM.
12-31-2004 | 04:42 AM
#39
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From: outside NYC
those old ass civics, they blow so much smoke you add a quart every 1000 miles and they don't need anything else, my brothers friend bought a Integra POS with 220k put 70k on it never changing the oil, realized he only had half a quart in the engine, filled it back up drove another 50k before he trashed the car cause it would just not die, this was a kid who drove from NY to Florida and we had a pool going on when and where he would break down.
The car leaked everything, nothing says quality better then a car that was driven for over 300k and had no oil or fluid in it
well for the last 100k anyways 
The car leaked everything, nothing says quality better then a car that was driven for over 300k and had no oil or fluid in it
well for the last 100k anyways
01-01-2005 | 01:59 PM
#40
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From: Indiana, PA
I run Castrol and change it out every 2-2500 miles. I had an engine builder one time tell me that for the few bucks that oil costs that its a good idea to change it in that time interval. So I do all my vehicles the same.
