Amsoil vs Mobile1... also, longevity & filter replacement.

[attgig]

so, I've been using M1 for the past year, year & 1/2...changing it every 5k miles or so (about 3 times a year). But the thing is, I've been seeing people on the net saying they go a year with amsoil, and that that m1 just raised their mileage to a year as well.

so, I'm thinking, can i get away with replacing it less often?


some links:
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2142684.phtml
http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/1374149.phtml
http://jeepsunlimited.com/forums/sho...hreadid=390970
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...c;f=1;t=009296
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

Anyways, I know that DF uses amsoil, but other people who use synthetics, what do you use? how often do you change? What filter do u use? and what's your driving habbits like?



for me, I do a lot of short trips (my commute is 5 miles), so I feel like there's more sledge build up on my car. so that's why i end up changing it more often. is that right? Also, I think i need to upgrade my filter. I've just been getting what's at walmart when i pick up the cheap mobil1 there. i think it's fram...but forget which one. any recommendations? btw, i drive a 2k1 Jeep GC 4.0

[mechmike0034]

http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79879

Mobil 1 is cheaper than a new engine. Stick to factory oil change intervals, even with syn oil, and use a good quality filter.

Filter information: http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

[attgig]

that's a crazy filter page... and I totally forgot about gear's post a few months ago...



so, with the intervals, my manual says that i should do 7500 for regular driving and 3k for driving in hard conditions....or seomthing liek that.

what constitutes driving hard enough to change it at 3k vs 7500?

also, mech, just as a reference, what brand/model filter do you use?

[DarkFury]

Still rollin strong on Amsoil... no problems yet.


Gonna spin the filter in February in the HEMI.

[bbrian]

Synthetic Oil study:
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s.../oil-life.html
Interesting to see how long they were able to safely run on a single oil change WITHOUT changing filters..

Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it.
Topping up the crankcase is a critical component of extended oil change intervals, and frequent filter changes are most likely the key to extreme-length intervals. The cumulative effect of even minor top-ups, let alone a filter change, substantially increases the longevity of the oil.

On mobile1:

Wow, here we are at 10,000 miles (or slightly more, due to the misfortunes of bad timing). At this point we hesitate to make predictions about the longevity of the oil, as we are constantly being surprised. We're as shocked as almost anyone else that at 10,000 miles the oil is still good, the filter is still good, everything really looks just fine in there. 3,000-mile oil changes? Puh-leeze. Never again for us. But just how long will it last?

Amsoil did last longer for them, however they are going to run more tests to make sure it wasn't due to engine break-in. I'll stick to Mobil1 for now.

[mechmike0034]

that's a crazy filter page... and I totally forgot about gear's post a few months ago...

so, with the intervals, my manual says that i should do 7500 for regular driving and 3k for driving in hard conditions....or seomthing liek that.

what constitutes driving hard enough to change it at 3k vs 7500?

also, mech, just as a reference, what brand/model filter do you use?

I would change Mobil 1 in your scenario at 7500 miles and use an ACDelco oil filter. This to me is a reasonable compromise between cost and long engine life. This is the combination (Mobil 1, ACDelco oil filter, factory change interval) that I have used in my own vehicles for years with no problems.

Hard conditions (my opinion) are fleet delivery (long idles, stop and go traffic), police/taxi, and constant operation in extremely dusty conditions.

Short trips will bring about moisture contamination as the oil does not get hot enough to boil the condensation out of the crankcase. Synthetic oils tend in general to resist the effects of moisture contamination than do conventional oils, but the real-world answer is to get the engine up to operating temperature and highway speed periodically to rid the oil of condensation.

Short trips also will tend to increase the amount of fuel contamination of the engine oil as well - the engine runs richer when cold, and the piston rings don't seat as well when the engine is not at full operating temperature. This is less of an issue in modern engines because of precise electronic fuel control systems and tighter machining/manufacturing tolerances.

Bottom line: drive the vehicle and get the engine up operating temperature and cruise speed periodically to allow fuel and moisture in the oil to boil off and vent through the crankcase ventilation system.

[aglio412]

i'm a big fan of amsoil, mostly because they make a volkswagen approved 5W-40 Syn. I still have yet to find a store that sells Mobil1 5W-40, but there's a semi-local tuner shop that sells the Amsoil that I need. Alot of people in the VW/Audi community swear by Amsoil, but if I could find Mobil1 5W-40 I would prob just use that. I only used Mobil1 in my Jetta and 90k miles later, not a single engine issue..and I drove her HARD.

As far as intervals, I have a VW R32, and the intervals are 5k miles, but I drive it pretty hard, and end up in alot of stop and go traffic, so just to be safe, I'm stickin to 3-4k mile intervals.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Man, this can get to be a bigger religion debate than Mac vs. Windows.

I use dino oil in my Ford van and change it every 3k (ok, every 3.2k because the time between noticing I need an oil change and when I actually change it is about 200 miles...)

I use Valvoline synthetic in my Sportage and change it every 12k (I change the filter every 6k.) I just changed the oil last weekend and was surprised how good the oil still looked and felt.

I typically drive my vehicles for a decade and well over 200k before I sell them.

[BrewMaster]

Man, this can get to be a bigger religion debate than Mac vs. Windows.

I use dino oil in my Ford van and change it every 3k (ok, every 3.2k because the time between noticing I need an oil change and when I actually change it is about 200 miles...)

I use Valvoline synthetic in my Sportage and change it every 12k (I change the filter every 6k.) I just changed the oil last weekend and was surprised how good the oil still looked and felt.

I typically drive my vehicles for a decade and well over 200k before I sell them.

i run 10,000 miles on Mobil 1. my commute is 30 miles on the freeway each way, 5 days a week so the engine stays nice and hot the whole way. i get about 4-5 months on 10,000 mile intervals.

[sizemic1]

I use the Castrol full synthetic in our 2k4 GC and change it out every 6,000 miles. So far so good.