I'm new at this synthetic oil thing. (I use Mobile One 100% synthetic in my 289 in my green '72 Grabber). I was wondering about the frequency of changes on these new oils. Since this car doesn't get much mileage, how often should it be changed? I know it supposedly doesn't break down, but does it? Thanks, from a guy who thought oil only came from underground.
Oil Hey Doug, how ya doin. My dad has been a mechanic for 35 years. Had to give you the credentials. From what i understand that oil doesnt break down as fast. I use castrol syntec synthetic blend. 50-50 oil + synthetic. I change my oil during the running season(warm weather) every three months. If I went by miles id be changing the oil once every three years. Wow! I was just thinking, if you changed the oil in your cars every three months youd be changing oil everyday. Alot of Mavericks there to give love to.:bananaman 74Maverick, Thom
Doug,.....that is a big admission considering you are from Texas!! I use the semi-senthetic stuff. A lot cheaper. I only use it on my daily driver, which gets about 800 to 1000 miles a week on it. I change it every 5000 miles. No problems. Went 235,000 miles on my last car, and it is still going strong and doesn't use a drop of oil.
Sounds like the synthetic oil is almost as good as a Maverick!! I had two oil changes to do today, so while I was on the subject I thought I would ask. Thanks!
Mobil 1 is an excellent product IMO. If you want the very best and money is no object, use Red Line or Royal Purple.
Doug, I was shop manager at avery high volume quick lube for 6 years. Synthetic oil can go up to 10k miles between changes. Most of our mav/comets dont see that kind of action. In climates like mine I still change oil in my toy cars once a year. Several of my cars only see a couple hundred miles or less a year. The climate issue is the huge variance of temps we see here. That creates condensation in the oil, probably the biggest eneimy for guys like me. On my daily driver i use conventional oil. change it every 5000 miles which equals to once a month. Car now has 196k and going very strong. Dan
AMSOIL also makes a good product. You can almost double oil life as synthetics do not break down like crude oil. I use it in my diesels. If you are going to try to extend oil life I recommend a premium filter. I also occasionally send an oil sample into a place called Blackstone Labratories. For $7 (I think) they do a particle analysis. Just sending in one sample will not do much good. You need to do it a few times and let the first samples serve as a baseline. If you suddenly see an increase in antifreeze for example - it could be a head gasket getting ready to go.....or a high copper content says you got some bearings that are just slap wore out ....high silica content usually means the air filter needs changed. Doug, do some more research and I think you will find that synthetics are better for engines that sit because they stick to parts better over longer periods of time. I remember looking this up at one point but I'm sorry that I can not attach a source to it. I guess I'll have to label the previous statement as an opinion then. Cleaver Cleaver Cleaver
AMSOIL also makes a good product. You can almost double oil life as synthetics do not break down like crude oil. I use it in my diesels. If you are going to try to extend oil life I recommend a premium filter. I also occasionally send an oil sample into a place called Blackstone Labratories. For $7 (I think) they do a particle analysis. Just sending in one sample will not do much good. You need to do it a few times and let the first samples serve as a baseline. If you suddenly see an increase in antifreeze for example - it could be a head gasket getting ready to go.....or a high copper content says you got some bearings that are just slap wore out ....high silica content usually means the air filter needs changed. Doug, do some more research and I think you will find that synthetics are better for engines that sit because they stick to parts better over longer periods of time. I remember looking this up at one point but I'm sorry that I can not attach a source to it. I guess I'll have to label the previous statement as an opinion then. Cleaver
I've been running Royal Purple synthetic. I change the oil once a year. According to them I could go longer. You have to keep an eye on the oil level. Synthetics will leak where ordinary oil wouldn't. It also is a cleaning agent and will clean the sludge out of your engine, so if your old oil was kept from leaking by a piece of sludge in a gasket this stuff will unclog the leak and end up on the ground.
Honestly Doug...if it was me (I am me...what am I saying!!).... Anyways....I don't use synthetic in any of my old cars...just for the reasons Barry stated. It is a little more "slippery" and will leak out, and will, in my opinion, drain down into the motor too much. This is a concern for cars that sit too much. I do add Slick 50 to my old cars, along with plain old 10W30.
F.Y.I., and while we're on the subject of synthetic oils, I was advised NOT to use synthectic ATF. Reason? The synthetics are indeed more 'slippery' than "orgainic?" oils, therefore, the clutches tend to 'slip' more. Made sense to me - but so does the theory of the earth being flat, so that's from the WIW department.
How many times do I have to tell you youngsters, THE EARTH IS FLAT!!! If you don't believe it, ask yourself how the rivers and oceans keep the water in. If it was round, it would all be in the south pole!!!!!! Enough. I think that synchetic oil is ok, if you don't mind paying for it. I have never used it, so I can't speak from experience. I use what the manufacturer recommends. If it were so good, wouldn't Ford recommend it for their new cars? I work at the Atlanta Assy Plant, and we recommend a regular 5W30 oil in the new Taurus and Sable cars we produce. Earl Branham Flat Earth Society (retired)
Engine rings won't "seat" with synthetics, again too slippery. That's probably why manufacturers don't even mention it for new cars. Would more than likely open up a whole can of worms if someone got confused and an engine didn't break in properly under warranty. Synthetics are rated the same way "dinosaur" oil is, they're just made with longer molecules that don't break down as easily. Wouldn't it be a shame if some Arab sheik didn't get his cut of our oil money!
I'm a firm believer in synthetics. Starting with the engine; On a fresh motor, DO NOT use synthetics until the engine is fully broke in and rings have seated properly. After that its the greatest protection you'll ever have. I ran my old service truck completely out of oil (oil leak), but had been using a synthetic additive with my oil changes. Refilled the engine with oil and kept on trucking. Transmissions: I was having a tranny oil overheating problem during the summer months (99 degrees) when driven for 1 hr. on the highway. A simple tranny oil change from Motorcraft to AMSOL did the trick. Have'nt seen it over heat since. I BELIEVE!
