I've read and re-read just about all there is to read about oil additives here and elsewhere. I've read and re-read everything I can find regarding synthetic and "boutique" motor oils versus dinos.
And I have this problem:
I only got interested in oil quality a few short weeks ago. I'm driving a '93 Ford Escort that has now about 163K miles on its little 1.9 four cylinder. I've never used a partucular oil; I've just used whatever was handy. I noticed that the last oil change I did I was using Penzoil 10W40 bulk oil from the Wally World oil change pit. That oil ran over 8000 miles, but I did top it off at least three times with a quart of, well, whatever. I've used Wolfshead motor oil once or twice to bring it back up on the stick. I recall using a house brand convienience store oil once as well.
I finally did decide to put some Delo 400 15W40 in there for the remainder of the summer and early fall. I figured from what I've read it might (yeah, a debatable "might") clean up the engine internals a bit. But if it doesn't clean it at all I'm sure it'll still oil the engine just fine.
The car is still running great. I can't complain. I get a little smoke on start up some of the time but not always. I'm very satisfied with the longevity of the engine at this point and if it blows on me tomorrow I'll still say it was a great car.
So I hear that I can put this particular oil in there, or that particular additive in there, or a combo of both--and I'll get better wear from the engine. That's very possible; I won't argue that point. Or else I can run my oil longer than I ordinarily might.
But I'm getting an oil change using the dino and a Wally World filter now (DIY) for under ten dollars. And I'm not seeing any major negative effects of the tardy oil changes and hodge-podge of different oils I've used in this car over the years.
Should I run that ten dollar's worth of oil and filter to 8000 miles? No, (I am learning!). But I will run it to about 4000 miles, perhaps 4500 miles and change it. Yeah, I could do a UOA at 4000 miles but in my case, what useful info might I get from that?
The UOA could tell me my metal count is up. It could indicate antifreeze in the oil. I guess it could show me all kinds of bad stuff. And how would I (not should I but how would I) react to a bad UOA? I'd keep right on truckin'--that's what I'd do. I would not tear the engine down. I probably wouldn't go to a different oil because from what I've learned at this forum just about any decent motor oil will keep a decent engine from self destructing.
But I'm not going to get that 20+ dollar UOA because, hey, that's enough money for two more oil changes!
I'll just get to somewhere around 4000 miles and change the oil. For me, all a UOA will do is perhaps cause me to worry more or worry less when neither action will help my engine. It's going to run only so far whether I worry about it, or ride around feeling all smug about it. I'm not going to tear it down just because a UOA says there is a problem. My guess is that most of you would do the same; you'd just keep on driving you car and hoping that nothing comes apart on you.
There are some great synthetic oils out there that would probably protect my engine better than the conglomeration of "whatever" I've been running in it. But we can't prove that just yet, as this engine is still going strong at 163K miles. It's easy to prognosticate that my engine would wear better and therefore last longer with, for instance, Amsoil or Mobil 1. But again, we can't really be sure just how much longer it would last on these higher buck oils.
Likewise, I could purchase some of the additives that are available at my local auto parts store or through mail-order. The additives with the best reputations seem to be the ones which, shall we say, "ain't cheap."
For the cost of these higher end additives I can get at least one, and maybe even two additional oil changes (at my pre-determined ten dollar cost).
So for my part, I have to say that I'm a "stick in the mud" when it comes to specialty oils and additives. I really don't believe that there is an additive out there that would make the contents of my crankcase better off than another ten dollar oil change could. And so I'll just change the darned oil, and I'll probably use good old dino in my cars; it's always worked before.
I'm sure I'll continue to peruse these pages. After all, you guys are the ones who have convinced me that going 4000 miles (or even more) on bulk dino oil has never been a terrible idea (I've seen the UOA's). Yeah, I've actually doubled that interval in the past with top-offs along the way, but I won't do that any longer. I've learned a lot here, and hope that I can continue to learn.
My plan:
I'll be using Supertech oils and filters for my two cars and my two trucks. And since they all have more than 100K on them I'll just run them 'till they quit.
Dan
And I have this problem:
I only got interested in oil quality a few short weeks ago. I'm driving a '93 Ford Escort that has now about 163K miles on its little 1.9 four cylinder. I've never used a partucular oil; I've just used whatever was handy. I noticed that the last oil change I did I was using Penzoil 10W40 bulk oil from the Wally World oil change pit. That oil ran over 8000 miles, but I did top it off at least three times with a quart of, well, whatever. I've used Wolfshead motor oil once or twice to bring it back up on the stick. I recall using a house brand convienience store oil once as well.
I finally did decide to put some Delo 400 15W40 in there for the remainder of the summer and early fall. I figured from what I've read it might (yeah, a debatable "might") clean up the engine internals a bit. But if it doesn't clean it at all I'm sure it'll still oil the engine just fine.
The car is still running great. I can't complain. I get a little smoke on start up some of the time but not always. I'm very satisfied with the longevity of the engine at this point and if it blows on me tomorrow I'll still say it was a great car.
So I hear that I can put this particular oil in there, or that particular additive in there, or a combo of both--and I'll get better wear from the engine. That's very possible; I won't argue that point. Or else I can run my oil longer than I ordinarily might.
But I'm getting an oil change using the dino and a Wally World filter now (DIY) for under ten dollars. And I'm not seeing any major negative effects of the tardy oil changes and hodge-podge of different oils I've used in this car over the years.
Should I run that ten dollar's worth of oil and filter to 8000 miles? No, (I am learning!). But I will run it to about 4000 miles, perhaps 4500 miles and change it. Yeah, I could do a UOA at 4000 miles but in my case, what useful info might I get from that?
The UOA could tell me my metal count is up. It could indicate antifreeze in the oil. I guess it could show me all kinds of bad stuff. And how would I (not should I but how would I) react to a bad UOA? I'd keep right on truckin'--that's what I'd do. I would not tear the engine down. I probably wouldn't go to a different oil because from what I've learned at this forum just about any decent motor oil will keep a decent engine from self destructing.
But I'm not going to get that 20+ dollar UOA because, hey, that's enough money for two more oil changes!
There are some great synthetic oils out there that would probably protect my engine better than the conglomeration of "whatever" I've been running in it. But we can't prove that just yet, as this engine is still going strong at 163K miles. It's easy to prognosticate that my engine would wear better and therefore last longer with, for instance, Amsoil or Mobil 1. But again, we can't really be sure just how much longer it would last on these higher buck oils.
Likewise, I could purchase some of the additives that are available at my local auto parts store or through mail-order. The additives with the best reputations seem to be the ones which, shall we say, "ain't cheap."
So for my part, I have to say that I'm a "stick in the mud" when it comes to specialty oils and additives. I really don't believe that there is an additive out there that would make the contents of my crankcase better off than another ten dollar oil change could. And so I'll just change the darned oil, and I'll probably use good old dino in my cars; it's always worked before.
I'm sure I'll continue to peruse these pages. After all, you guys are the ones who have convinced me that going 4000 miles (or even more) on bulk dino oil has never been a terrible idea (I've seen the UOA's). Yeah, I've actually doubled that interval in the past with top-offs along the way, but I won't do that any longer. I've learned a lot here, and hope that I can continue to learn.
My plan:
I'll be using Supertech oils and filters for my two cars and my two trucks. And since they all have more than 100K on them I'll just run them 'till they quit.
Dan