I'm new...how do I know...?

[vregan]

Hello,

I've known about, and lurked on, this site since '04 when I joined the Corvette Forum. Your site is terrific!

What is the best way to find what the best oils are for my:

'99 Ford Taurus DOHC w/120,000 mi.?
'04 Buick Rainier SUV 2/70,000 mi.?

I especially wonder about the Castrol Syntec European formula and the Mobil 1 truck/suv synth. (for the SUV)

Thanks alot, folks!

 

[Gary Allan]

Annual mileage? Typical daily/weekly drive cycle? Extraordinary or exceptional instances encountered?

How much do you enjoy changing oil? Is it important to you to do it as much as you can ..or as little as possible?

 

[Steve S]

What have you been running for the first 120,000 and 70,000 miles? stick with it, oil is oil

 

[lazaro]

I have used the Taurus SHO platform since 1998, I have 6 of them, I used to have 7, one was stolen recently.
The engines are similar to yours 3.0 and 3.2 Yamahas.
Im driving a 93 ATX SHO now with 158,000 and it gives good service ,considering all the maintenance I was forced to perform on it.
My 1991 SHO I used to own, I put 80,000 miles on it and I did 20,000 mile drains with that vehicle for the 9 years I owned it.
I had just started doing UOA/ Used Oil Analysis on it then it was stolen from me. I had one UOA done with 7,000 miles on the oil and the sample was still good.
the 1993 ATX Im driving now has over 3 years and over 26,000 miles on the oil. I dont like to change the oil if it is still good, that is why I wait so long before service.
I make sure the filters, Air/Oil are top of the line and serviced when necessary. I learned how to strech out the OCI Oil Change Interval from reading here on BITOG.

as you can see opinions vary and there is always many ways to peel a banana

 

[vregan]

I put 12K-13K annually on both. The Taurus is used to-from work (10 mi. each way) and some trips w/in 250 mi. The SUV tows a 3K trailer up/down high and steep mountain passes (high Sierras and Rocky Mtn's) on long trips and does local commute duty, too. Usually use Mobil 1 5-30 or 10-30 in both but wonder about it now that both Ashland and Castrol say that Mobil 1 does not protect from wear "as well as ours!"

I change oil every 5K w/synthetic using Napa Gold filters.

 

[lazaro]

Ashland? here let me help you out just a tad, below is a very small list of Oil Companies to choose from that all outperform each other

http://eolcs.api.org/DisplayInfo.asp?Info=CompanyNames
when you decide on the best one let me know ok?

Look for the manufacture of Ashland Lubricants while you are at it...

 

[Steelhead]

""both Ashland and Castrol say that Mobil 1 does not protect from wear "as well as ours!"""

and now we know why marketing execs make twice as much as oil tribologist lube chemists

trick question
Did P.T. Barnum get his start in the lube oil industry?

Fear of engine failure sells oil, SEX just sells

run the Mobil 1 and be happy. or save a bunch of money and buy SM mineral oil on sale at less than $1.50 qt and stock up for the lean times

 

[vregan]

Just to mix it up a bit, how about I run the Walmart brand (Super Tech?) of synthetic and save some $'s?

 

[vregan]

Originally Posted By: lazaro
Ashland? here let me help you out just a tad...


I thought I was referring to Valvoline's manufacturer. My mistake!

 

[Steelhead]

just the straight ole mineral oil Walmart, half the price of the "SexySynthetic?", both will get either of your rigs to 6k oci's

 

[MrBiglund]

I'do go for the SM mineral oil, can't beat that!

 

[sicko]

Originally Posted By: vregan
Just to mix it up a bit, how about I run the Walmart brand (Super Tech?) of synthetic and save some $'s?


That's close to what I was thinking while I was reading this thread. More specifically I was thinking, if you're going to NAPA to buy the filters, why not just pick up some NAPA oil while you're there. It's made by Ashland, and some people say it's exactly the same as Valvoline, however Valvoline supposedly says it's the same but with a slightly weaker additive package. Either way it should be able to handle 5k without any problems, and right now the NAPA synthetic is on sale for $3.29 a quart until the end of the month.

Personally, if I was looking to try something new purely for grins and laughs, that's what I'd do right now. The NAPA oil should be SM and GF-4 rated for both the conventional and synthetic, and I'm going to assume that the NAPA high mileage is SM but not GF-4...most high mileage oils will state on the back label that they meet the mechanical protection necessary for GF-4, the reason they aren't GF-4 certified is because they don't mean the "Energy Conserving" requirement.

I've never used it, but I've never seen anyone say anything bad about the NAPA oils, and you get to save a few bucks if you grab it on sale right now, which is why I figured I'd suggest it for consideration