Synthetic Oil change intervals?

[mike969mb]

Been talking with alot of people and they been telling me to go 5k-6k miles between oil changes instead of the normal 3k which i have been doing since day 1 i got my car. What do you guys think?

mike

[RedGalant2k1]

Been talking with alot of people and they been telling me to go 5k-6k miles between oil changes instead of the normal 3k which i have been doing since day 1 i got my car. What do you guys think?

mike

A lot of fleet cars use synthetic oil for tens of thousands of miles. I know someone who ran synthetic AMSOIL for over 30,000 miles before they changed it. Personally, I have run Mobil 1 synthetic oil and oil filters for 50,000 miles at 8-10k intervals. Most if not all synthetic oils are a silica-based compound, not carbon based like standard oil. Thats why synthetic lasts longer, your exhaust is full of carbon, and therefore combines more easily with carbon-based oils, hence the 3,000 mile oil changes.

In over 50,000 miles of using synthetic oil I haven't experienced a loss of power, hesistation, or the slightest bit of trouble with the motor.

[mike969mb]

So change the oil how often and change the filter how often?

[RedGalant2k1]

So change the oil how often and change the filter how often?

Personally I do 7-9k, or whenever the oil seems dirty. And I change the filter just as often. I would also recommend using OEM Mitsubishi filters, they are said to have very good oil flow, and they can get rid of the pesky lifter noise many of us have.

[mike969mb]

Yes i think oem filter has best flow rate out of oem, amsoil and mobil one, but the latters wind up having better filtering i hear, capturing smaller particles, even as little as 10 microns i heard on the mobil one.

[Dominicano]

i run full synthetic and i change it every 3000 thousands miles. the reason i changed to synthetic was that regular oil would only last me 3 months while in 3 months i dont rack up 3000 miles. with synthetic it allows me to just pay attention to the miles instead of the time. Even though synthetic can run more miles i would still change it every 3000

[Smoothy]

Depends on what oil and filter you use. I use regular Amsoil and change the filter at 12500, and oil at 25000.

[Mindless]

I normally change my oil every 3-4k miles.

[manybrews]

3000 miles, no exceptions.
the reason to change the oil is due to deposits, NOT for any other reason.
there are exactly as many deposits in synthetic oil as there are in regular petrolium oil.

there is no magic about synthetic oil. it needs to be changed just as often.

[RedGalant2k1]

3000 miles, no exceptions.
the reason to change the oil is due to deposits, NOT for any other reason.
there are exactly as many deposits in synthetic oil as there are in regular petrolium oil.

there is no magic about synthetic oil. it needs to be changed just as often.

Then why do fleet cars run with synthetic oil for tens of thousands of miles with no issues? And yes the filters are changed every 8-10k and the oil is topped off at the same time.

[manybrews]

3000 miles, no exceptions.
the reason to change the oil is due to deposits, NOT for any other reason.
there are exactly as many deposits in synthetic oil as there are in regular petrolium oil.

there is no magic about synthetic oil. it needs to be changed just as often.

Then why do fleet cars run with synthetic oil for tens of thousands of miles with no issues? And yes the filters are changed every 8-10k and the oil is topped off at the same time.
because theyre cheap. maintenence is expensive.

you can read your owners manual and go the "recommended" 7500 miles on standard oil, with a filter change every 15k if you like.
but since Im smarter than that, Ill do it every 3k.

[quicksilver22]

ya, I make sure i get mine every 3000 to 3500 miles


accidently went 4500 one time, just wasn't as smooth then......

[mike969mb]

for the same reason i've been doing it at 3000 miles i guess i'll continue doing it that way. Just rather not risk it, and its better to be safe than sorry especially with the heart of the car.

[RedGalant2k1]

because theyre cheap. maintenence is expensive.

you can read your owners manual and go the "recommended" 7500 miles on standard oil, with a filter change every 15k if you like.
but since Im smarter than that, Ill do it every 3k.

Then why does GM do extensive testing along with AMSOil, Mobil One, and all run tens of thousands of miles with synthetic oil and the motors don't break down? One of my good friends has a Chevy Astro with 270,000+ miles on it and the oil was changed every 12-15k for that entire time and the motor still purrs like new.

GM conducted tests using sythetic oil and the motors ran over 300,000 miles (under load) and the oil hadn't broken down yet.

I suppose it is wrong to point out that Mobil One says this on its website:

"A 200,000-Mile Comparison
Another high-mileage test compared identical 2.3-liter four-cylinder engines run for 200,000 miles – one using Mobil 1 5W-30 and the other using a premium brand 5W-30 conventional oil. There were some interesting results:


[LIST]Engine-wear rates were higher for conventional oil than for Mobil 1.
The conventional oil produced heavy varnish deposits, while Mobil 1 left the engine virtually clean.
Consumption of the conventional oil was eight times higher than that of Mobil 1.
While Mobil 1 remained at the SAE 30 viscosity level throughout most of the test, the conventional oil showed rapid degradation, with its viscosity increasing into the 15W-40 range. This obviously would adversely affect any fuel economy performance benefits. "[LIST]

[manybrews]

because theyre cheap. maintenence is expensive.

you can read your owners manual and go the "recommended" 7500 miles on standard oil, with a filter change every 15k if you like.
but since Im smarter than that, Ill do it every 3k.

Then why does GM do extensive testing along with AMSOil, Mobil One, and all run tens of thousands of miles with synthetic oil and the motors don't break down? One of my good friends has a Chevy Astro with 270,000+ miles on it and the oil was changed every 12-15k for that entire time and the motor still purrs like new.

GM conducted tests using sythetic oil and the motors ran over 300,000 miles (under load) and the oil hadn't broken down yet.

youre missing a few facts.
first, NO oil ever, ever breaks down. oil NEVER looses it ability to lubricate. it mearly becomes overloaded with goo. carbon, acids, metal flake, etc.etc.. this stuff loads up the oil. thats why it needs changing.
and as far as Chevy (or any manufacturer goes), theyre stricking thinking with their pocketbooks. reducing the service intervals on their engines makes them look more appealing due to the cheaper cost of ownership. thats why EVERYONE has gone to "extended" maintenence scheduals on their products. its not a good idea unless you have a 12 quart oil pan.
heres another thing. the only cars GM actually places mobil one in are their corvette, and the last few years camaro/firebird.
they dont bother in anything else, because theres no need. the advantages of synthetic are only realized in extreem temperature situations, like 30 below or 500 above. at those temps, normal motor oils will solidify or boil.

[RedGalant2k1]

I never said Regular or Synthetic Oil breaks down, I said the motor breaks down.

Synthetic oil bases tend not to contain reactive carbon atoms for this reason. Reactive carbon has a tendancy to combine with oxygen creating an acid. As you can imagine, in an oil, this would be A Bad Thing. So think of synthetic oils as custom-built oils. They're designed to do the job efficiently but without any of the excess baggage that can accompany mineral based oils.

[RoOkS]

Good day all,

Lifter noise yup i get em when starting cold...i found that if you put off starting and leaving the ingition key on 'ON' position until CHECK ENGINE comes off it does helps downing that embarasing tick tick tick noise.
BUT its good to hear that mitsubishi's genuine oil filters make the lifter noise go away : ) .
Does using ticker oil make it go away too ? using 15w-50 synthetic at the moment. will say synthetic 25w be a better choice?

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif cheers all
-Andrew-

[Danger DANJ]

I've been putting Mobil 1 synthetic in my Galant for years. I look to change it every 3,000 miles along with the filter, but if the oil looks clean, I'll let it go a little bit longer. Most of the time the oil is filthy at 3,000. Why would anyone want to run their car with dirty oil?

[galant00]

i change my regular oil every 3 months which is usually 2,000 miles.

[tolowbass]

WELL IM PRETTY SURE ITS RECOMENDED TO CHANGE SYNTHETIC EVERY 6000 MILES. IT EVEN SAYS IT ON THE CASE OF OIL YOU BUY. MY FATHERS BMW Z4 ON THE OTHER HAND HAS CASTROL SYNTEC AND IT IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE CHANGED AT THE DEALER ONCE A YEAR. NOW IF YOUR SUPPOSED TO CHANGE IT EVERY 3000 MILES WHY WOULD THE DEALER ASK TO BRING IT IN ONCE A YEAR FOR AN OIL CHANGE AND NO SOONER?
IMO 3000 MILES ON SYNTHETIC IS OVERDOING IT AND A WASTE OF MONEY. I DO MINE EVERY 6000 WHICH IS WHAT IT SAYS ON THE CASE I BUY. WHY WASTE MONEY IF YOU DONT NEED TO.

[ChikagoGTZ]

No need to be cheap, yes you can go longer, but why?? You can get 6 qt of Mobil 1 for 22.00 at Costco, that means you spend about $100 a year on oil and good K&N or Mobil 1 filters if you change every 3000k...If you are so cheap that you want to save yourself 80 bucks a year.. and change every 12,000....fine, but you're gonna most likely run into engine problems before those that change every 3000k. There is no downside to changing every 3000k, other than the few more dollars you spend. Granted Amsoil is good stuff, but it's not that good for something you have as a daily driver...and especially a galant...maybe in my Ferarri https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChikagoGTZ)</div><div class='quotemain'>No need to be cheap, yes you can go longer, but why?? Â*You can get 6 qt of Mobil 1 for 22.00 at Costco, that means you spend about $100 a year on oil and good K&N or Mobil 1 filters if you change every 3000k...If you are so cheap that you want to save yourself 80 bucks a year.. and change every 12,000....fine, but you're gonna most likely run into engine problems before those that change every 3000k. Â*There is no downside to changing every 3000k, other than the few more dollars you spend. Â*Granted Amsoil is good stuff, but it's not that good for something you have as a daily driver...and especially a galant...maybe in my Ferarri https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif</div>

Better quality oils like Mobil One and AMSoil are vital for cars driven daily through stop-and-go traffic, heat, cold, etc etc...

Not to mention the countless amounts of testing that has been done and that has time and again proven Synthetic Oils to be far superior to conventional oils. Synthetic Oil leaves less varnish deposits, it doesn't get gunked up as easily as mineral based oils do. I've run synthetic for over 50,000 miles and like I've said above that car hasn't lost a step, infact I'd say its gained several.

[silveresv6]

wow this seems to be a pretty sensitive subject. So in an attempt to HELP mike figure out what HE should do, I am going to add my 2 cents. Alot of the posts argue about oil deposits, oil break down, difference between convetional and synthetic,ect. ect. So many factors go into what degrades any type of oil that each car is 100% different than the next. fuel quality, climate differances, driving conditions, ect. ect. ect. i could go on for days. the ponit is. do what you think is right for you. if you drive hard and are in adverse conditions along with have the money to change it every 3k. than so be it. if not than stretch it out a little, even 4k-5k isnt that big of a deal with the synthetic oil and premium fitler. so bottom line, do what you need to do to get the job done.

and just on a side note to add my numbers i had a 99 Trans Am 5.7 V8 with mobil 1 oil and filter and changed the oil every 10k for 80k and when i tore it apart to beef it up for my supercharger there was less wear than a previous motor i had taken apart for a friend that had the conventional oil changed every 3k religiously for 50k. anyway just my 2 cents and hope that helps.

[aliko]

I have a friend who got a new Accord and the manual said to change oil every 15k or 20k. He is so proud of it, thinking he has a newer kind of engine or something. Doesn't the oil still get dirty? What does that has to do with engine? Well, as some of the previous post mentioned, why worry so much when the difference is $50-$100 /year. Just do it as often as you can afford, and if you have doubt, do it every 3k miles anyway, and better, learn to do it yourself, and save a few more bucks. A walmart here do oil change with Mobil One for $27. Look around, you really don't have to spend much more than regular oil.

As for owners of BMW, Audi, etc, I think there is no secret why the dealers want them to bring the cars in for service only every 10k miles or so. The dealers have to do it for free, why would they ask for more? And normally you won't notice the effects anyway during the warranty period, when the car is under 40-50k miles. Then after the warranty period is over, they would certainly welcome more frequent visits to their service centers from their customers if infact the engines have worn out more due to infrequent oil change.