I changed my oil today
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I liked your previous reply better.
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
I'm tempted to tell you that a few bucks more for a synthetic is money well spent, but there are too many solid used oil analysis on this site with conventional oil for that to be a fair comment.
I think you can also discount those who say that a used oil analysis won't detect or predict sludge or varnish.
If the used oil analysis shows no indication of the oil's breaking down in service, then I don't think there's much to worry about.
There is a mod here who ran 15K on ST convetional. He posted a very clean used oil analysis of this run, so there would have been no advantage for him in running a more expensive oil.
I use mostly syn or blend oils simply because I stash them when they're either dirt cheap on clearance or close to FAR. You can sometimes even come out a few cents ahead on an FAR offer when you combine it with either a coupon or a deal.
If I had to pay shelf prices for oil, I'd probably still use syn in my newer cars, but that's more a personal choice than anything I can back up with any evidence.
Too many cars have run too many miles on bulk conventional for me to believe that synthetic oil is somehow better for most engines in most uses.
I think you can also discount those who say that a used oil analysis won't detect or predict sludge or varnish.
If the used oil analysis shows no indication of the oil's breaking down in service, then I don't think there's much to worry about.
There is a mod here who ran 15K on ST convetional. He posted a very clean used oil analysis of this run, so there would have been no advantage for him in running a more expensive oil.
I use mostly syn or blend oils simply because I stash them when they're either dirt cheap on clearance or close to FAR. You can sometimes even come out a few cents ahead on an FAR offer when you combine it with either a coupon or a deal.
If I had to pay shelf prices for oil, I'd probably still use syn in my newer cars, but that's more a personal choice than anything I can back up with any evidence.
Too many cars have run too many miles on bulk conventional for me to believe that synthetic oil is somehow better for most engines in most uses.
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I'm tempted to tell you that a few bucks more for a synthetic is money well spent, but there are too many solid used oil analysis on this site with conventional oil for that to be a fair comment.
I think you can also discount those who say that a used oil analysis won't detect or predict sludge or varnish.
If the used oil analysis shows no indication of the oil's breaking down in service, then I don't think there's much to worry about.
There is a mod here who ran 15K on ST convetional. He posted a very clean used oil analysis of this run, so there would have been no advantage for him in running a more expensive oil.
I use mostly syn or blend oils simply because I stash them when they're either dirt cheap on clearance or close to FAR. You can sometimes even come out a few cents ahead on an FAR offer when you combine it with either a coupon or a deal.
If I had to pay shelf prices for oil, I'd probably still use syn in my newer cars, but that's more a personal choice than anything I can back up with any evidence.
Too many cars have run too many miles on bulk conventional for me to believe that synthetic oil is somehow better for most engines in most uses.
GNBuick had total engine failure with a Buick but his used oil analysis showed nothing out of line metal wise. And no, used oil analysis will not predict varnish. Many have payed for used oil analysis showing every thing looked great, but slowly over a long period of time varnish formed. You have to evaluate an engine and it's oil over 100-200-300K and then only if you are using the same oil. Skipping from one oil to another proves nothing.
I'm tempted to tell you that a few bucks more for a synthetic is money well spent, but there are too many solid used oil analysis on this site with conventional oil for that to be a fair comment.
I think you can also discount those who say that a used oil analysis won't detect or predict sludge or varnish.
If the used oil analysis shows no indication of the oil's breaking down in service, then I don't think there's much to worry about.
There is a mod here who ran 15K on ST convetional. He posted a very clean used oil analysis of this run, so there would have been no advantage for him in running a more expensive oil.
I use mostly syn or blend oils simply because I stash them when they're either dirt cheap on clearance or close to FAR. You can sometimes even come out a few cents ahead on an FAR offer when you combine it with either a coupon or a deal.
If I had to pay shelf prices for oil, I'd probably still use syn in my newer cars, but that's more a personal choice than anything I can back up with any evidence.
Too many cars have run too many miles on bulk conventional for me to believe that synthetic oil is somehow better for most engines in most uses.
GNBuick had total engine failure with a Buick but his used oil analysis showed nothing out of line metal wise. And no, used oil analysis will not predict varnish. Many have payed for used oil analysis showing every thing looked great, but slowly over a long period of time varnish formed. You have to evaluate an engine and it's oil over 100-200-300K and then only if you are using the same oil. Skipping from one oil to another proves nothing.
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
I'm not saying you can't get long life with synthetics or Mobil 1 for that matter but I also did not like the engine noise or the oil consumption I was getting while using Mobil 1. Along with the elevated wear metals, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. Obviously you get good results with Mobil 1 in your vehicles and it's a good match. Since I still read about some instances of noisy engines using Mobil 1, I'm not willing to try it again.
I still own this truck today and while it only has 125,000 miles on it now, it still runs like new using conventional Pennzoil. Since I only put about 2,000 miles a year on it these days, a synthetic would be a waste.
I have a friend at work that also has a 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L and he has 325,000 miles on it using conventional oil.
Wayne
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
I'm not saying you can't get long life with synthetics or Mobil 1 for that matter but I also did not like the engine noise or the oil consumption I was getting while using Mobil 1. Along with the elevated wear metals, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. Obviously you get good results with Mobil 1 in your vehicles and it's a good match. Since I still read about some instances of noisy engines using Mobil 1, I'm not willing to try it again.
I still own this truck today and while it only has 125,000 miles on it now, it still runs like new using conventional Pennzoil. Since I only put about 2,000 miles a year on it these days, a synthetic would be a waste.
I have a friend at work that also has a 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L and he has 325,000 miles on it using conventional oil.
Wayne
I hope that you don't mean to imply that this member had an engine failure as a result of the oil used, or that any UOA should predict a mechanical failure.
In the context of this thread, this member's misfortune is irrelevant.
As I wrote originally, there are too many engines that have run too many miles on conventional oil, often with unintended extended OCIs, to make any systematic claim that a synthtetic would somehow be a better choice.
In the context of this thread, this member's misfortune is irrelevant.
As I wrote originally, there are too many engines that have run too many miles on conventional oil, often with unintended extended OCIs, to make any systematic claim that a synthtetic would somehow be a better choice.
Originally Posted By: tig1
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands.
Exactly, tig. It also conveniently ignores that used oil analysis are not a way to compare "wear" of one brand versus that of another.
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands.
Exactly, tig. It also conveniently ignores that used oil analysis are not a way to compare "wear" of one brand versus that of another.
Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: tig1
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands.
Exactly, tig. It also conveniently ignores that used oil analysis are not a way to compare "wear" of one brand versus that of another.
There is no easy way to compare the wear of any oil unless you do actual real world tests on identical engines and even that would be flawed as each individual engine will be built slightly different and may not have the same quality of parts inside.
I have never believed that anyone using any of the major oil brands whether it be using synthetics or not, will show any real difference in wear over time and I have never seen any real data that supports that either.
I, just like everyone else on here, gets caught up in the "what is the best oil" for my vehicle. Using the manufacturer's viscosity and oil change recommendations will probably get everyone perfectly fine engine health for as long as they own their vehicle.
The fact is, is that most people do not keep their vehicles forever and usually get rid of them because something else is failing or they are just tired of it way before the engine has problems.
My daily driver 1992 Cavalier just turned over 190,000 miles and still runs as good as it did when I got it with 76,000 miles on it running a 5w30 conventional oil using 5,000 mile oil changes. The oil pressure is still the same and I imagine that the transmission or something else will kill the car way before the engine gives it up.
My fiancée has put around 120,000 miles on my other 92 Cavalier that has a junkyard engine with an unknown number of miles on it running pretty low oil pressure running nothing but a 5w30 conventional oil on 5,000 mile changes and it still runs fine.
Wayne
Originally Posted By: tig1
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands.
Exactly, tig. It also conveniently ignores that used oil analysis are not a way to compare "wear" of one brand versus that of another.
There is no easy way to compare the wear of any oil unless you do actual real world tests on identical engines and even that would be flawed as each individual engine will be built slightly different and may not have the same quality of parts inside.
I have never believed that anyone using any of the major oil brands whether it be using synthetics or not, will show any real difference in wear over time and I have never seen any real data that supports that either.
I, just like everyone else on here, gets caught up in the "what is the best oil" for my vehicle. Using the manufacturer's viscosity and oil change recommendations will probably get everyone perfectly fine engine health for as long as they own their vehicle.
The fact is, is that most people do not keep their vehicles forever and usually get rid of them because something else is failing or they are just tired of it way before the engine has problems.
My daily driver 1992 Cavalier just turned over 190,000 miles and still runs as good as it did when I got it with 76,000 miles on it running a 5w30 conventional oil using 5,000 mile oil changes. The oil pressure is still the same and I imagine that the transmission or something else will kill the car way before the engine gives it up.
My fiancée has put around 120,000 miles on my other 92 Cavalier that has a junkyard engine with an unknown number of miles on it running pretty low oil pressure running nothing but a 5w30 conventional oil on 5,000 mile changes and it still runs fine.
Wayne
Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: tig1
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands.
Exactly, tig. It also conveniently ignores that used oil analysis are not a way to compare "wear" of one brand versus that of another.
This is true. Yet some people believe if one oil is showing 30 ppm of iron and changing brands brings it to 15 ppm of iron that oil is performing twice as good in reducing wear. I take UOA reports with a grain of salt. They are useful, but when it comes to determining engine wear they are useless. JMO
Originally Posted By: tig1
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands.
Exactly, tig. It also conveniently ignores that used oil analysis are not a way to compare "wear" of one brand versus that of another.
This is true. Yet some people believe if one oil is showing 30 ppm of iron and changing brands brings it to 15 ppm of iron that oil is performing twice as good in reducing wear. I take UOA reports with a grain of salt. They are useful, but when it comes to determining engine wear they are useless. JMO
Originally Posted By: wtd
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
I'm not saying you can't get long life with synthetics or Mobil 1 for that matter but I also did not like the engine noise or the oil consumption I was getting while using Mobil 1. Along with the elevated wear metals, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. Obviously you get good results with Mobil 1 in your vehicles and it's a good match. Since I still read about some instances of noisy engines using Mobil 1, I'm not willing to try it again.
I still own this truck today and while it only has 125,000 miles on it now, it still runs like new using conventional Pennzoil. Since I only put about 2,000 miles a year on it these days, a synthetic would be a waste.
I have a friend at work that also has a 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L and he has 325,000 miles on it using conventional oil.
Wayne
Wear metals from a typical 25 dollar used oil analysis don't really mean anything. A used oil analysis is not a good method to measure wear and to be honest high wear metals mean nothing.
There is a thread here posted by Doug Hillary iirc where he ran the oil til iron hit 100 ppm,then changed the oil.
After 1000000 or more miles the engine was torn down and parts were measured and guess what,no wear.
Iirc he reused most of the old parts in the rebuild.
So high wear metals don't mean high wear.
A 25 dollar used oil analysis is meant to check the serviceability of the oil,not measure wear. It's just that simple. You are reading more into the used oil analysis than you should be.
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
I'm not saying you can't get long life with synthetics or Mobil 1 for that matter but I also did not like the engine noise or the oil consumption I was getting while using Mobil 1. Along with the elevated wear metals, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. Obviously you get good results with Mobil 1 in your vehicles and it's a good match. Since I still read about some instances of noisy engines using Mobil 1, I'm not willing to try it again.
I still own this truck today and while it only has 125,000 miles on it now, it still runs like new using conventional Pennzoil. Since I only put about 2,000 miles a year on it these days, a synthetic would be a waste.
I have a friend at work that also has a 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L and he has 325,000 miles on it using conventional oil.
Wayne
Wear metals from a typical 25 dollar used oil analysis don't really mean anything. A used oil analysis is not a good method to measure wear and to be honest high wear metals mean nothing.
There is a thread here posted by Doug Hillary iirc where he ran the oil til iron hit 100 ppm,then changed the oil.
After 1000000 or more miles the engine was torn down and parts were measured and guess what,no wear.
Iirc he reused most of the old parts in the rebuild.
So high wear metals don't mean high wear.
A 25 dollar used oil analysis is meant to check the serviceability of the oil,not measure wear. It's just that simple. You are reading more into the used oil analysis than you should be.
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: wtd
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
I'm not saying you can't get long life with synthetics or Mobil 1 for that matter but I also did not like the engine noise or the oil consumption I was getting while using Mobil 1. Along with the elevated wear metals, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. Obviously you get good results with Mobil 1 in your vehicles and it's a good match. Since I still read about some instances of noisy engines using Mobil 1, I'm not willing to try it again.
I still own this truck today and while it only has 125,000 miles on it now, it still runs like new using conventional Pennzoil. Since I only put about 2,000 miles a year on it these days, a synthetic would be a waste.
I have a friend at work that also has a 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L and he has 325,000 miles on it using conventional oil.
Wayne
Wear metals from a typical 25 dollar used oil analysis don't really mean anything. A used oil analysis is not a good method to measure wear and to be honest high wear metals mean nothing.
There is a thread here posted by Doug Hillary iirc where he ran the oil til iron hit 100 ppm,then changed the oil.
After 1000000 or more miles the engine was torn down and parts were measured and guess what,no wear.
Iirc he reused most of the old parts in the rebuild.
So high wear metals don't mean high wear.
A 25 dollar used oil analysis is meant to check the serviceability of the oil,not measure wear. It's just that simple. You are reading more into the used oil analysis than you should be.
You forget that I also had more engine noise and oil consumption using Mobil 1 so those were my other two reasons along with the cost to change back to a conventional oil. I didn't base all of my decision just on the oil analysis.
Wayne
Originally Posted By: wtd
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: wtd
Back in the early 2000's, I used 5w30 Mobil 1 in my 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L V8. I did 3,000 mile oil changes because that was what the manual stated for the type of driving I did.
When my warranty was gone, I decided to take the Mobil 1 to 5,000 miles and do an used oil analysis to see if the oil was suitable to go that far. Mobil at the time claimed you could extend oil changes.
My used oil analysis came back with elevated levels of lead and some of the other elements. Blackstone Labs recommended staying at 3,000 mile changes. I did multiple used oil analysis after that on this engine at 3,000 mile intervals and the results were better but not great, especially for what I was spending on oil and BL still recommended staying at 3,000 mile intervals.
I decided to go back to a conventional oil which I chose Chevron, and my wear numbers improved quite a bit and BL said to start going up to 4,000 mile intervals.
I'm glad I didn't blindly follow some of the advice on here that I could extend my oil changes because I was using Mobil 1 full synthetic because my used oil analysis results didn't support that belief.
Not every oil works good in every engine. Back then as in now, Mobil 1 was highly regarded and I used it religiously but my 5.7L engine and the 3800 in my ex-wife's 98 Grand Prix GT didn't like it either as the used oil analysis on it were not that great either. Both engines had tapping noises while using this oil and used more oil than I liked. The change back to Chevron conventional in both of these vehicles caused the tapping noises to go away and decreased the oil usage.
Since then, I have not used a full synthetic and have not used a Mobil product. I'm sure Mobil 1 is better than it was back then, but I lost confidence in it and have no desire to try it again.
I just don't think a synthetic is needed in most driving situations and I have yet to see any good evidence to prove that you get longer engine life by using them.
Wayne
Actually if you follow used oil analysis you will see GM engine often show very high metals compared to other brands. However as we know this does not translate to actual measured engine wear. GM engines are known to be long lived engines. I have a friend that had 325K on his 99 Gm 5.3 doing 15-20K OCIs with Mobil 1 5w30. Finally dumped the truck after his 3rd trans failed, but the engine still ran strong.
I'm not saying you can't get long life with synthetics or Mobil 1 for that matter but I also did not like the engine noise or the oil consumption I was getting while using Mobil 1. Along with the elevated wear metals, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. Obviously you get good results with Mobil 1 in your vehicles and it's a good match. Since I still read about some instances of noisy engines using Mobil 1, I'm not willing to try it again.
I still own this truck today and while it only has 125,000 miles on it now, it still runs like new using conventional Pennzoil. Since I only put about 2,000 miles a year on it these days, a synthetic would be a waste.
I have a friend at work that also has a 1998 chevy truck with the 5.7L and he has 325,000 miles on it using conventional oil.
Wayne
Wear metals from a typical 25 dollar used oil analysis don't really mean anything. A used oil analysis is not a good method to measure wear and to be honest high wear metals mean nothing.
There is a thread here posted by Doug Hillary iirc where he ran the oil til iron hit 100 ppm,then changed the oil.
After 1000000 or more miles the engine was torn down and parts were measured and guess what,no wear.
Iirc he reused most of the old parts in the rebuild.
So high wear metals don't mean high wear.
A 25 dollar used oil analysis is meant to check the serviceability of the oil,not measure wear. It's just that simple. You are reading more into the used oil analysis than you should be.
You forget that I also had more engine noise and oil consumption using Mobil 1 so those were my other two reasons along with the cost to change back to a conventional oil. I didn't base all of my decision just on the oil analysis.
Wayne
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