go by the book or synthetic???

[oilpan49]

I dunno here. I'm in college and I take Automotive classes. I hear alot of information about going by the manufacters specs. Well, should i go by my owners manual, yea I know it sounds like a stupid question but I'm learning here. IT says to use Motorcraft 10W30 motor oil or equivalent, part# Idon'tknowsomeonepleasehelpme. No it doesn't really say that, I'm just messin around. Owner's manual doesn't say anything about using synthetic oil, yet, I have learned alot of advantages of synthetic oil.

Owners manual says do not exceed recommended drain intervals, yet, Amsoil is over here saying you can go 25K miles without changing your oil, which btw, I'm kinda skeptacle about that. Well, what do you all think, go by the book and use there factory dino oil, or stick with Amsoil/M1 Tks everyone

AR

 

[HOndaGuy]

well, even though i have a new 02 civic, there is a normal and severe schedule. For severe, it says change oil every 5000 mi or 6 months(that includes the filter. For normal conditions, it says 10000 mi or 1 year. If your changing to synthetic the first time(take my car for example), I would go in between the normal and severe schedules to make sure the next change you do gets all the regular conventional oil out of your engine. After that, i would follow the normal conditions. IF you don't have something like i do in your manual, its safe to go 10000mi with synthetics. Mobil will not tell you that you can go 10000 mi, but in reality, their oil are capable of it.

 

[HOndaGuy]

or you can talk to terry on this site about doing an oil analysis. Moderators take it from here cause i have no clue about oil analysis's really.

 

[oilpan49]

I have no friggin idea how to read an oil analysis chart, seems like there talking greek or something too me. Well, I work at a local exhaust shop in town here and I drive to college and back twice a week, which is about an hr drive one way and 95% of the way I'm usually on the highway. I always let my truck warm up before I even put it in gear, just developed a habit of doing that, which is good.

Should I worry about the labels on the back of oil containers, like the Energy ConservingII or whatever???? I'm still debating, factory or synthetic, ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

AR

 

[HOndaGuy]

if its a 30 wt(i unfortunately have the world of the 20 wts like 5w20) then your fine. If your car or truck takes 5w30 petroleum oil, go with a 5w30 synthetic oil. If you want added protection and your not burning any oil at all, then go with synthetic. oh and don't worry bout that energy conserving crap, its pretty much bogus. Just pay attention the the meets specs sg, sh, sj, etc... bc thats what you want for your vehicle. Personally, id run the new mobil supersyn as it is a better oil and has moly in it for even more protection than b4. If you want to go a little further, than get amsoil's synthetic oils.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Airborne Ranger:
I have no friggin idea how to read an oil analysis chart, seems like there talking greek or something too me.

AR

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That's what Terry Dyson is for! No matter which lab you choose to do your analysis, Terry can interpret their results for just $10. It's money well spent, as he has years of extensive knowledge in this field and can spot lab errors and other anomolies. He'll work with you to determine which oil and interval works best for your particular application. Terry's contact info is on our site supporters page.

 

[68redlines73]

Bob has put together a good write-up as well...refer especially Table I.

 

[MavRick]

If you are within the Warranty period, then stick with whatever the Owners manual recommends for severe service if using Conventional oil, and Normal service if using Synthetics and you should be fine. If you are outside the Warranty period, then you can look at extending your drains beyond the recommended, but I'm personally not a fan of the 25,000 mile intervals. I definitely recommend doing analysis at least once to see if you are operating within the capabilities of whatever oil you choose. Then you can stick with this schedule with confidence.

I've heard that excessive idling is not good so I would avoid long warm-up periods. My new Ford tells me no warmup period is required, just start it and go.

 

[Quick_lude]

Synthetic oils, especially group IV and higher outperform conventional oil 99% of the time. You will be safe to use them. I don't think Ford can void your warranty if you use synthetic oil.. Can they?

 

[oilpan49]

I have a 93 Ranger, so warrenty is not an issue here. I currently have Amsoil 5W30 orginal synthetic oil in there. I have been running it for about 4K miles now with no problems. The truck only has 52K on it and it runs like a top. Owners manual says that they reccomend oils that are fully certified and are compatiable with my truck. I don't think Amsoil is certified, or are they???? Prolly when I hit the 5K mile mark on the oil, thinking about switching over to M1 and see if anything changes. I doubt I will notice anything abnormal or the way the engine runs. I'm pretty sure M1 is certified too, right??? I think now since i have been using synthetic since about 38K, I'll just stick with that. Tks for the help and advice all.

AR