How long should I run Mobil 1?

[SteelheadGuide]

I recently started my own business,and won't have much free time for a while,so I want to run a semi-extended drain on my wifes 1999 S-10 Blazer.

I'm going to take advantage of the Pep-Boys M1 deal,and use a Pure one filter.

She drives 15K miles a year,which is mostly freeway,but not always at freeway speeds,its about 50/50 stop and go with regular freeway speeds.

If I run Mobil 1 10w30 with the P1 filter how long is reasonable for OCIs? I'm not interested in analysis,so I was thinking 7500 miles. Any thoughts?

 

[Bryanccfshr]

6 months or 7500 miles unless you want to do an analysis to confirm it will go further. But your regimen is sound without analysis. It is something you should be very comfortable with.

 

[goldwing]

quote:

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Originally posted by SteelheadGuide:
I recently started my own business,and won't have much free time for a while,so I want to run a semi-extended drain on my wifes 1999 S-10 Blazer.

I'm going to take advantage of the Pep-Boys M1 deal,and use a Pure one filter.

She drives 15K miles a year,which is mostly freeway,but not always at freeway speeds,its about 50/50 stop and go with regular freeway speeds.

If I run Mobil 1 10w30 with the P1 filter how long is reasonable for OCIs? I'm not interested in analysis,so I was thinking 7500 miles. Any thoughts?

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One good oil analysis a year cost about 35.00. Replacing a head gasket due to an engine coolant leak can cost thousands. Early detection can save crud and corrison in your engine. Think of it as buying cheap insurance with the benefit of maximizing you automotive investment.
I would try one UOA before subjecting the vehicle to a 7500 mile oil change program.

 

[Stinky Peterson]

Coolant leaks are not that common in gasoline engines and I question the value of doing one oil analysis a year. In order to be effective it should be done every oil change. Its like weighing yourself once a year vs every week, doesn't really tell you much. If you are wanting to extend drains (correctly) then you need to have at least a 3 or 4 sample trend before you even start, so you will quickly spend more for sampling than you will for more frequent oil changes. Also if you are paying $35 a sample you are paying too much, shop around.

Now as to the original question, if you warm the car up regularly then changing twice a year should be good. I use Mobil 1 5w30 and change it in the spring and fall.

 

[totttalled]

You might be interested in this study, where a guy ran Mobil 1 in his Camaro 18000 miles, with a used oil analysis every 1000.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

 

[Brons2]

quote:

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Originally posted by Stinky Peterson:
Coolant leaks are not that common in gasoline engines and I question the value of doing one oil analysis a year. In order to be effective it should be done every oil change. Its like weighing yourself once a year vs every week, doesn't really tell you much. If you are wanting to extend drains (correctly) then you need to have at least a 3 or 4 sample trend before you even start, so you will quickly spend more for sampling than you will for more frequent oil changes. Also if you are paying $35 a sample you are paying too much, shop around.

Now as to the original question, if you warm the car up regularly then changing twice a year should be good. I use Mobil 1 5w30 and change it in the spring and fall.

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Cough cough...coolant leaks not that common? Try telling that to the millions of GM V6 owners.

There is a case also of a guy on this here board saving his engine from an internal coolant leak (was getting into oil) through an oil analysis.

 

[Don Stevens]

Steelhead,

I agree with Bryan that 7500 mile should be Ok. Once your under there, take one sample, have it analyzed, and see what it says. You might find it is fine for another 7500. If so, you can go 1 year intervals. Anyone can 1 oil analysis per year.

Not interested in oil analysis? Extended drains are not really safe without oil analysis.

Don

 

[Pablo]

I second the 7.5K/6 months depending on driving style (without analysis). If the driving style really leans toward 90-100% highway then you could go probably 15K, but not without an analysis.

I hedge, because I too live in WA and know that short non-full warm-up trips without really reving for a bit of time is VERY hard with all the moisture.

The emphasis here is on the driving style as with any oil - it just gets much more accentuated when you are talking extended drains and synthetic oil.

 

[rshaw125]

A coolant leak should show up on the dip stick. Or on the bottom of the oil fill cap.
10,000 miles OCI with Mobil 1 is used by thousands of people. Unless you were considering it in one of the few sludge prone engines I would not be concerned about going 10,000 miles. Top it up as necessary.
I bought the Pep Boys Mobil 1 with coupon and intend on putting it in my old Intrepid 3.5. I don't plan on changing it before 10,000 miles. It had 5,000 mile OCI on Motorcraft before and runs like a top.

 

[Stinky Peterson]

I know I shouldn't say this, but doesn't the lab interpret or results and tell you if you have a coolant leak? Is it really necessary to send it to a consultant? I'm not trying to take anything away from Terry, but it almost sounds like you lab isn't doing it's job if you have to have to hire someone else to interpret the results.

Al, sodium can come from other places too, such as salt spray, pressure washer soap, residue on rebuilt parts, etc. It isn't always easy to identify a coolant leak. Glad you had a good save, I have a Camaro with a V6 so maybe I should test it for coolant.

 

[SteelheadGuide]

My wifes commute is 25 miles each way,and she does this 5 days a week. On the weekends she drives in town,but all the trips are long enough to get the oil hot.

Is 7500 miles really an extended OCI anyways? Its the normal service OCI in her manual. I know freeway traffic really isn't on the normal service side,but almsot all her driving habits fall into the normal side.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by Stinky Peterson:
I know I shouldn't say this, but doesn't the lab interpret or results and tell you if you have a coolant leak? Is it really necessary to send it to a consultant? I'm not trying to take anything away from Terry, but it almost sounds like you lab isn't doing it's job if you have to have to hire someone else to interpret the results.

Al, sodium can come from other places too, such as salt spray, pressure washer soap, residue on rebuilt parts, etc. It isn't always easy to identify a coolant leak. Glad you had a good save, I have a Camaro with a V6 so maybe I should test it for coolant.

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They might flag the potassium/sodium and they might not. I hear what you are saying. I think though that for an extra 15 bucks Terry provides a good writeup that might make the difference in whether the warranty is done or not.

What engine is in your Camaro?? If its the 3800 that's not a problem.

 

[haley10]

Al, I did get a recall notice on my 2000 Regal back last year. On some certain 3800 Series II's they wanted to use different(improved) fasteners and put the seal tab pills in the radiator.

The service manager says this is a rare problem and not like the 3.1 and 3.4, of course. He also said they had seen a couple of the plastic manifolds melt, but I didn't ask why.

 

[White 03]

quote:

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Originally posted by SteelheadGuide:
My wifes commute is 25 miles each way,and she does this 5 days a week. On the weekends she drives in town,but all the trips are long enough to get the oil hot.

Is 7500 miles really an extended OCI anyways? Its the normal service OCI in her manual. I know freeway traffic really isn't on the normal service side,but almsot all her driving habits fall into the normal side.

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I think you are right, it is not extended. You should be fine. You should be fine even with regular oil. You will get rid of the truck before the engine dies of anything related to oil with your plan.

I think the tread got lost on other issues.

Any steelhead running now?

 

[goldwing]

quote:

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Originally posted by Stinky Peterson:
Coolant leaks are not that common in gasoline engines and I question the value of doing one oil analysis a year. In order to be effective it should be done every oil change. Its like weighing yourself once a year vs every week, doesn't really tell you much. If you are wanting to extend drains (correctly) then you need to have at least a 3 or 4 sample trend before you even start, so you will quickly spend more for sampling than you will for more frequent oil changes. Also if you are paying $35 a sample you are paying too much, shop around.

Now as to the original question, if you warm the car up regularly then changing twice a year should be good. I use Mobil 1 5w30 and change it in the spring and fall.

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I own a 1995 Ford Windstar that I purchased new. Ford extended the warranty because of thousands of head gasket failures. They replaced two on their $$$. I paid a Ford Mechanic lots of $$$ to replace the third one. The vehicle is well maintained and only has 104,000 miles. The Ford mechanic told me this is a common problem on th 1995 3.8 L engines. He said the gaskets almost always fail between the number 3 and 4 cylinders. He said the new models have a redesign head that changes the way fuel enters the head of the engine.
Talk to a Certified Mechanic and ask him about how many coolant leaks he fixes in a month.
web page

 

[goldwing]

quote:

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Originally posted by goldwing:

quote:

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Originally posted by Stinky Peterson:
Coolant leaks are not that common in gasoline engines and I question the value of doing one oil analysis a year. In order to be effective it should be done every oil change. Its like weighing yourself once a year vs every week, doesn't really tell you much. If you are wanting to extend drains (correctly) then you need to have at least a 3 or 4 sample trend before you even start, so you will quickly spend more for sampling than you will for more frequent oil changes. Also if you are paying $35 a sample you are paying too much, shop around.

Now as to the original question, if you warm the car up regularly then changing twice a year should be good. I use Mobil 1 5w30 and change it in the spring and fall.

---

I own a 1995 Ford Windstar that I purchased new. Ford extended the warranty because of thousands of head gasket failures. They replaced two on their $$$. I paid a Ford Mechanic lots of $$$ to replace the third one. The vehicle is well maintained and only has 104,000 miles. The Ford mechanic told me this is a common problem on th 1995 3.8 L engines. He said the gaskets almost always fail between the number 3 and 4 cylinders. He said the new models have a redesign head that changes the way fuel enters the head of the engine.
Talk to a Certified Mechanic and ask him about how many coolant leaks he fixes in a month. The article below states that the mechanic did an UOA on the oil to confirm their findings. web page

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[ January 08, 2005, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: goldwing ]

 

[haley10]

Yep, Goldwing and the afore mentioned GM problems. Cutehumor's newer Nissan Sentra is not all that uncommon either. He saved it by uoa under warranty if I remember correctly.

 

[SteelheadGuide]

quote:

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Any steelhead running now?

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It been pretty good recently,but we got some snow the past few days. When the snow melts it'll blow the rivers out for a few days.

 

[goldwing]

quote:

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Originally posted by jthorner:

quote:

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Coolant leaks are not that common in gasoline engines

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Oh really? I guess that you do not have much experience with modern GM 3.1/3.4l V-6 engines where these things are very common.

By the time you see coolant on the dip stick damage is being done.

Checking once a year for $20 is a complete no brainer in my book. Just do it. Less than the cost of one tank of gas. If you can afford to run a vehicle, you can afford an annual oil analysis. Otherwise you should be on the bus/train/bicycle.

John

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John I agree totally. Where not looking for WMD's here. Just small samples of H20 and antifreeze. I'm willing to pay a few more dollars to find a lab that provides these simple test. Using a lab with less Bells and Whistles in order to save a few dollars defeats the entire purpose of doing used oil analysis.

 

[goldwing]

quote:

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Originally posted by goldwing:

quote:

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Originally posted by jthorner:

quote:

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Coolant leaks are not that common in gasoline engines

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Oh really? I guess that you do not have much experience with modern GM 3.1/3.4l V-6 engines where these things are very common.

By the time you see coolant on the dip stick damage is being done.

Checking once a year for $20 is a complete no brainer in my book. Just do it. Less than the cost of one tank of gas. If you can afford to run a vehicle, you can afford an annual oil analysis. Otherwise you should be on the bus/train/bicycle.

John

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John I agree totally. We are not looking for WMD's here. Just small samples of H20 and antifreeze. I'm willing to pay a few more dollars to find a lab that provides these simple test. Using a lab with less Bells and Whistles in order to save a few dollars defeats the entire purpose of doing used oil analysis.

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