Mobil 1 and Oil consumption
- Thread starter buster
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M-1 was consumed in all vehicles I have owned to one extend or another. And significantly more than I saw with comparable conventional oil. 2 Ford Mustangs (88 and 1997 DOHC Cobra), 1997 M-B S600 and 1994 BMW. Yes, engine size and design and driving style all have an impact, but FWIW if it's "the best for your car"....it certainly didn't live up to it since comsumption is a measure of performance in my books.
I'm surprised you guys don't know how much oil you drained out. Out here in Los Angeles, we have to put them in containers and take them to the recycling center. So that's how I know exactly how much came out.
Leo
Leo
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Well, yeah, I put the used oil back in bottles and return it to the place where I bought the new oil, but I don't measure the amount. It wouldn't make sense anyway, because I top the oil off every 3k miles or so. I like to keep the oil level at the "Max" mark at all times. I'm also too lazy to drain the oil filter for two hours in the attempt to remove as much oil as possible.
As I've said before, just by keeping track of how much oil you need between oil change intervals and by keeping track of the distance driven, you'll be able to determine oil consumption accurately. And of course, the car must be on level ground, with the cool oil settled down in the sump.
As I've said before, just by keeping track of how much oil you need between oil change intervals and by keeping track of the distance driven, you'll be able to determine oil consumption accurately. And of course, the car must be on level ground, with the cool oil settled down in the sump.
I've got a 15 qt oil catcher that I use on 3 different cars and empty into a 5 gallon pail. I dump the 5 gal at Autozone when it's full...no way to accurately get measures this way without going through a lot more effort.
I just go by the dipstick. It's pretty easy to compensate for the dipstick being off by keeping track of how much oil you add and where the new level shows on the stick. I'm finding my dipsticks are pretty darn close...the difference between the bottom and top of the crosshatch seems to be about 1 qt...what it should be.
You have to figure out the surface volume of the cylinders. The more cylinders/size of engine the more oil you will use. If it uses a half qt every 1000 miles, then a 4 cylinder will likly use less than half of that. And of course any engine if you fill it with heavier wt oil will use even less.
Leo
Leo
I've got one of the giant plastic pans with a spout on one end. After I drain my oil I pour it into empty oil bottles which go into a used oil carton which goes to the local Autozone.
I do use my dipstick to keep my oil topped up too. I checked it today on a white paper towel. It's light brown with no black particles now at over 6000 miles on Royal Purple 15w40. I also visited my local NAPA and stock up on another 10 qts at $3.99/qt. I asked the guy at NAPA which was the better oil. Royal Purple or Mobile 1. He said Royal Purple. And he said diesel owners prefer the 15w40 Royal Purple to anything else they sell there. Made me feel great!
Leo
I do use my dipstick to keep my oil topped up too. I checked it today on a white paper towel. It's light brown with no black particles now at over 6000 miles on Royal Purple 15w40. I also visited my local NAPA and stock up on another 10 qts at $3.99/qt. I asked the guy at NAPA which was the better oil. Royal Purple or Mobile 1. He said Royal Purple. And he said diesel owners prefer the 15w40 Royal Purple to anything else they sell there. Made me feel great!
Leo
I'm only going to go 10000 miles so that is not long enough to be concern about UOA. It's conservative. You see this weight is what longhaul truckers use for extremely long drains. Those guy do do UOA I hope. A nickname for this oils is "the million mile oil". I'm only at over 6000 so far.
If you look at the specs for this oil, and the oxidation resistants, it is identical to the Delvac 1 5w40 another extremly long draining oil truckers use.
Leo
If you look at the specs for this oil, and the oxidation resistants, it is identical to the Delvac 1 5w40 another extremly long draining oil truckers use.
Leo
I think you're crazy to run this oil that long. The engines in typical tractor-trailer rigs have sumps that hold SEVERAL GALLONS of oil. That makes all the difference when it comes to long drain intervals.
Let's face it: if you look at the UOAs of Royal Purple that have been posted, this is a mediocre oil at best, and utter crapola at worst.
If I called this Delvac 1 would you feel more confident? It's just as good! The real name for this weight of Royal Purple is "Longrider Ultratec Synthetic Oil" found at truck stops. Like Patman said this is a "fleet oil" or commercial oil that truck companies use for extremely long drains to save money in the long run because it lasts so much longer, and the additives save fuel and maintenance wear.
If it looked bad I would have taken it out already. But the color is still light brown, and my oil pressure is at 70psi at start up, and it still drops to where is was when new after warming up. Also it cleans up easily with a new oil filter install.
It's just like you saying you don't use a drop of oil after 7500 miles. Some things have to be seen to be believed.
Leo
If it looked bad I would have taken it out already. But the color is still light brown, and my oil pressure is at 70psi at start up, and it still drops to where is was when new after warming up. Also it cleans up easily with a new oil filter install.
It's just like you saying you don't use a drop of oil after 7500 miles. Some things have to be seen to be believed.
Leo
Patman
Staff member
Fuel doesn't really affect the oil level as shown on the dipstick though. Think about it, how often do we see UOAs with more than 1% fuel in the oil? So even that high of an amount won't change the level on the dipstick, since 1% of 5 quarts is not even 50ml.
That's just the point, Leo. Unless you do a UOA, you haven't "seen" how well the oil is doing. You're going by how it looks on the dipstick, and trusting marketing hype and a faulty paradigm regarding the supposed capabilities of the oil.
But, hey...it's your engine and you can do whatever you want. More power to you.
Well I can honestly say that I have not yet owned a car that would burn M1 15W50 or 10W30. I must be lucky. I drive 108 miles round trip each day. the first 18 miles is combination city secondary HWY. THe rest is interstate at 80-90 MPH for the duration. So I change my oil at about 7000-7500 at around 3 months. I have not been able to burn enough to read on the dipstick. My wife drives 20 miles a months so I change her's every 6 months. I have only owned two new vechiles in 30 years the rest have always been used.
Leo, it is just foolish to reiterate advertising and anecdote, and make performance judgments based on the the appearance of the oil on the dipstick.
That's not intended to be a personal slight. This forum is all about getting to the empirical truth about oils and lubrication. Your reluctance to analyze an oil in which you believe and about which you have made some significant claims simply smacks of confusing what you desire with what you know.
I'll be the first to congratulate you on the performance of your motor oil once you post an analysis for us. Until then, you're just whistling in the dark.
Edit: My apologies, Buster, for contributing to the hijack of your thread.
[ June 22, 2003, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: YZF150 ]
That's not intended to be a personal slight. This forum is all about getting to the empirical truth about oils and lubrication. Your reluctance to analyze an oil in which you believe and about which you have made some significant claims simply smacks of confusing what you desire with what you know.
I'll be the first to congratulate you on the performance of your motor oil once you post an analysis for us. Until then, you're just whistling in the dark.
Edit: My apologies, Buster, for contributing to the hijack of your thread.
[ June 22, 2003, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: YZF150 ]
Great advice from everyone. I would like to do an UOA, but I have already added a couple qts of make up oil just to top up, plus a filter change at 5000 and another qt of make up oil for the filter. I don't think my UOA will be very accurate. But will sure to keep everyone informed of my progress to 10000 miles.
Thanks!
Leo
Thanks!
Leo
Patman
Staff member
It's still worth it to do a UOA. If you've got a car that uses oil, and this is your normal practice to add this much oil between intervals, then this UOA will be relavent to you. It might not show exactly how that particular oil performs (it will make it look better obviously) but it's still important info.
I personally don't think it's wise to let an engine run low on oil just to have a UOA without any top up oil in it. I add just as much oil as the engine needs in between my intervals (and luckily with my wife's car and with my sister's car, they use virtually no oil, and my own car only needed 400ml in the last 5k interval)
My turbocharged 94 Miata will burn M1 10W30 at a pretty good clip; no use for about 2k miles after a change and then whoomp! about 1q/1200 miles. Much less with 15W50, and I've just switched to 0W40 (down about a quarter quart in 950 miles). Dunno if I'm burning it or if it's flashing off; only 60k on the motor so it's still pretty tight...
Robert
Robert
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