Synthetic Motor Oil

[Erik]

I was wondering what everyone thinks about using synthetic motor oil in your Mustang. I bought my 98 (V6) new and have always used synthetic, Mobil1. I chnage the oil about every 5000 miles. What about oil changes in general synthetic or standard motor oil. How often do you change the oil if you use the car for every day driving? I'm curious because people have told me there is no big advatage to using synthetic. thanks.

Erik

[spike_africa]

I use mobile one in all the cars i have owned i cahnge it every 5-7k miles normaly more towards 7k. the benifit of syn is that you dont have to change it never as offtena nd its a thinner and more refined lube so it not only is better on cold starts it also lubracates better.

[danbc21]

I use 5W-20 mobile one and I change the oil every 2,500-3,000 miles. One advantage of using synthetic oil over standard is that synthetic oil is thinner than standard and will free up some power (little power at most). nascar teams use a thin 10 WT SAE (0W10) racing synthetic oil for qualifying witch is only a like 3-4 laps to get more power but the oil dose not last long and the teams have to change the oil to a thicker 30 WT SAE (10W30) racing synthetic oil for the race after that. I use 5w-20 Witch is suggested for 01-04 mustang GT's.

[spike_africa]

why do you change it so often thats just wasted money.

[danbc21]

Originally Posted by spike_africa

why do you change it so often thats just wasted money.

Because if you keep up with you oil it helps prevent stress and friction on your engine. Didn’t you ever hear to change your oil every 3,000 miles, or read the back of an oil can? It only cost like $30.00 to change your oil and if oil protects you engine I think it’s $30.00 well spent. I mean after all, we all spent our hard earned money to mod our cars, so why not protect it? Also my mustang is a second car I only drive it on weekends when the weather is nice, so it takes me like 6-7 months to put 3,000 miles on it. So really I only have to change my oil like 2-3 times a year. Also I love my mustang like all of us do, so I try to keep in the best possible condition.

[Islander03GT]

I change it a 5000 miles, like the manual reccomends, using the Motorcraft 5-W20 Syn-blend. 25 bucks for the oil change and multi-inspection at my local dealer, money well spent, saves me the hassle of doing it myself, and alot cheaper than going full synthetic.

[gtnumber2]

all my cars and trucks have mobil 1 syn. and i change it every 5k miles and never had a problem. even used it on my quad and street bike and you get better shifts.

[MattJ]

Ive always used mobile 1 and change it usually just before 4000 miles with the high end fram oil filters. Costs a little extra and ive got plenty of room to spare for travel, but I like to keep her running nice.

[spike_africa]

Originally Posted by danbc21

Because if you keep up with you oil it helps prevent stress and friction on your engine. Didn’t you ever hear to change your oil every 3,000 miles, or read the back of an oil can? It only cost like $30.00 to change your oil and if oil protects you engine I think it’s $30.00 well spent. I mean after all, we all spent our hard earned money to mod our cars, so why not protect it? Also my mustang is a second car I only drive it on weekends when the weather is nice, so it takes me like 6-7 months to put 3,000 miles on it. So really I only have to change my oil like 2-3 times a year. Also I love my mustang like all of us do, so I try to keep in the best possible condition.

this is a rumor started by the oil companys to make more money. if you search google for oil test you will oil is still very good at even 25k miles. there have been a few random test and a man with a z28 ran mobile one for i belive almsot 30k miles and every 1k or so he would take a sample and have iot tested and it came back fine everytime. 3k changes with mobile is just wasted moeny if you ask me. but its you car i just wondered wh you changed it so much.

[Blue02GT]

I'm with Spike, Mobil One. Change it every 5-7K. I change it myself and the stuff looks good to go another 5k. My mechanic told me you could just change the filter and run 15k if you wanted to. When I was a kid and Mobil One came out they marketed it as being good for over twice the mileage of conventional. The quickie lube turds always tell you to change every 3,000 miles but that's garbage. They always try to pull that on my wife, she's trained well and ignores those stickers on the windshield. Her van has 125k on it and uses no oil.

[Stevoneo]

Originally Posted by Blue02GT

I'm with Spike, Mobil One. Change it every 5-7K. I change it myself and the stuff looks good to go another 5k. My mechanic told me you could just change the filter and run 15k if you wanted to. When I was a kid and Mobil One came out they marketed it as being good for over twice the mileage of conventional. The quickie lube turds always tell you to change every 3,000 miles but that's garbage. They always try to pull that on my wife, she's trained well and ignores those stickers on the windshield. Her van has 125k on it and uses no oil.

I agree. You can run 5-7k easy. Just be sure to change your filter every 3k. This is what will keep it clean.

[mike sweeney]

I change My oil every 3K. Sure, the oil molecules might be ok for 7,10,15, or 20k but the oil still is getting contaminated by varnish, fuel, water and other particulates. Oil changes and reasonable intervals are cheap insurance, especially on engines that are run hard. :boxing:

[WaterDR]

Man I HATE these threads about oil changes, so I guess it was only a matter of time for this one to pop up around here. People get so emotional when it comes to oil.

Quite frankly, most people do not understand oil and much of what you here is jsut plain myth.

A few years ago, a great study was performed to test all these theories about oil change intervals and the benefits of synthetics. My employer at the time (a large Fortune 500 company with 10,000+ vehicles on the road) used this study to increase the length of miles between oil changes.

For the study, they took dozens of NYC cabs. The motors were pulled and tollerances were measured. Then they were driven for over 60,000 miles. Some cars used synthetic, some used mineral, some used the wrong viscosity, some never changed the oil at all. Then, after the test, the motors were pulled apart and re-checked.

Now, I am doing this from memory, but this is what was learned.

1 - The most damage ocurred to engines where the wrong viscosity was used.

2 - When synthetic oil is used, you can double or triple the oil change interval.

3 - Mineral oil can be safely run something like 8,000 miles.

4 - Changing oil too frequently actually increases the risk of major engine failure because of the increased liklihood of putting the wrong oil in, not tightening the drain plug, getting foreign material in the motor, etc...

If you use synthetic and you change your oil every 3,000 miles, you might as well burn your money, but hey, it's your money.

Another thing to consider is the financial payback. And for God's sake, if your are leasing, you must be insane to change the oil any more frequently than what the owner's manual states (7500). Why would anyone do that? Makes no sense to me.

Let's assume there are two cars and two owners. Chris from MT buys a new Mustang and he wants to keep it for 150,000 miles. Mad Matt does the same. Matt buys cheap mineral oil and changes his oil every 3,000 miles. Chris buys Mobil One and changes it every 3,000 miles.

Matt buys a cheap Fram filter for $4.00 and buys his oil for about $6.00 at Walmart. Matt does his changes himself and it takes him about an hour from start to finish including the time spent disposing of the oil, picking up a filter, etc... and having a beer. Let's use $12.00 an hour for his time. That's a total cost of about $22.00 per change which is about what a Jiffy Lube charges (which is why I don't do my own...I use a much higher value for my time).

Chris buys expensive K&N oil filter because he owns MT and is rich. He pays $12.00 per filter and buys the Mobil One at Walmart for $18.00. That's $42 per change using the same labor rate.

Over the life of the car, Matt spend a total of $1100 for oil changes and Chris drops $2100.

So the big question is: Did Chris wisely spend an extra $1,000?

[oohsoobad2]

Ive used Mobile 1 since Ive had my first V-8 Mustang. I always change the oil right at or before 3000 miles. By the looks of the oil that comes out, I think its the perfect time. I drive my cars hard and to me the extra cost of that protection is well worth it.
True, you probably can stretch a synthetic oil a little longer between changes, but how much money will it save you when you spin a bearing ??? This is especially true of the Modular motors as the heads need quite a bit of oil. I dont know, I can do a Mobil1 oil change for around $35 and since my car is only driven in good weather during the summer, I dont mind doing it atleast three times a year.

[fast01gt]

Well I use amsoil....love it. Engine runs quiter less vibration. I change it around 3000 miles. Always inspect my oil to see if i have any metal particles in it. Gives me peace of mind.

[buddyabe]

I have worked as a svc adviser at the same Acura dlr for over 14 years. I have regular loyal customers that return for all oil changes and maintenance and I keep their records. Most of the Acura/Honda engines need a periodic valve adjustment,let me tell you that with the valve cover off of a engine with more than 60 thousand miles on it there is a HUGE difference in how clean it is and the noise and oil consumption between people that change every 3000 miles versus every 5000 miles versus every 7500 miles. Although we don't push 3000 mile oil changes to our customers,we gently recommend 5000,but they can go up to 7500-10,000 miles without voiding warranty depending on the year and model. A combustion engine produces contaminates and some blow by that ends up in the oil,also moisture from short trips and acids wich can contaminate the oil. I use synthetic 5-20 amsoil and change every 3000-4000 miles with a napa gold or fram filter.