my first Mobil 1 Purchase

[mdocod]

I own an old rodeo, that I am using diesel oils in primarily now... I rack up miles too fast to be able to afford to run Mobile 1.... but I desided to put Mobil 1, 5W-30, "Supersyn" 15,000 mile formula in our other vehicle today. A 2001 susuki swift with 56,500 miles on it currently. We just bought it a few months ago (at 53,700ish), and I was very happy to see absolutally 0 oil consumption since putting in a test run on 5W30 castrol GTX. So- with this being primarily my girlfriends car, I decided this would be a good candidate for an extended drain. (Also, because, changing oil on this is more difficult than on a truck with 3 inches of lift, lol) I combined the Mobil, with a K&N filter.

It's a 1.3L 4 cylinder, holds ~3.6quarts with filter. sees about 1000miles/month. I'm thinking about running the first change to synthetic about 6k, then moving up to around 8-10k OCIs after it has a chance to do some cleaning. (I doubt the previous owners used synthetic in it)

My girlfriend drove it to work today and thought I had done "something" to it. said it had a lot more "pep" than she remembered it having. So maybe we'll get even better fuel economy out of this thing now!!!

 

[Ugly3]

The Swift would be a good candidate for an Auto-RX treatment to get it clean to start with.

 

[mechtech]

You're gonna feel any improvement, with that small engine.

 

[Spector]

"I own an old rodeo, that I am using diesel oils in primarily now... I rack up miles too fast to be able to afford to run Mobile 1"

That is one of the primary reasons to use a synthetic, extended drains on vehicles that see a lot of miles. Not to mention reduced hassle from frequent oil changes!

 

[Curious Kid]

Sounds about right Spector, but as mdocod noted, "Old rodeo." The seals might not be up to the change in diet.

Mdocod, just how old and how many miles on the rodeo?

Having the ground clearence does seem like a nice feature when it comes time for undercarage work...as it's sometimes a pain to get the ramps out of the shed along with all my other equipment from the shop in the basement. That's the price you pay I guess when one's former garage has been converted into a living space.

 

[mdocod]

the old rodeo doens't leak any, but the 3.2L V6s in these are notorious consumers. (at least 1qt/1k, or more).

it's a 1995, with just shy of 174k (will be 174 in a few days).

My feeling is that- with all the "ticking" these valvetranes produce when they get old, i'm kinda under the belief that one of my lifters will bust before any lubrication related damage occurs- at which point i'm going to rebuild it anyway.

also- since the consumption- has to be "blowby" related, as it is not leaking any, this leads me to believe that the oil is probably recieving faster contamination than it would in most engines.. Everyone over on the isuzu board I frequent recomends against extended drains on these engines, they need clean oil frequently.

After A rebuild, I will probably go full synthetic at 5K intervals for the life of the rebuilt engine.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Yes, "don't" extend that OCI out on that Rodeo or you WILL be rebuilding it sooner.

You know it may be a long time before you'll have to do that anyways - as long as you keep to 3K OCI's at most. I've seen/heard a lot of those "tickers" go forever and I've only heard of a few, very few actually breaking.

I must be the lucky one in the crowd of the 3.2L's, mine ticks very lightly, just started at 140K, but doesn't use more then 1/4 qt in 3K miles, it's a 97.

I always had the impression that the oil users were the newer 3.2L's 98+ yrs.

Are you the original owner of your 95? How's that Delo 400 treating you?

Oh, and "off topic" sorry, but, where in Colorado are you? I'm over on the backside of Elizabeth.

 

[mdocod]

actually- I bought my rodeo last summer(fully loaded version, sunroof, power everything, security system, 16" alloy snowflakes 4WD, good condition, no rust, excellent paint, runs strong etc etc)($2700 cash)- it already had 144k on it when I bought it, so i have no idea what kinda oil/OCI the thing saw before that, however- when I bought it, it didn't tick, so I can *assume* that it must have been taken fairly good care of to not have started clicking till about 150k.

I've also heard of these clickers clicking for a long time with no failure- i'm crossin my fingers, cause I can't aford an engine now, hehe.

I'm in colorado springs. not familiar with elizabeth? location? region? town? mountain? hehe...

My oil consumption, gets worse towards the end of the oil usage, usually less than half a quart in the first 1k, then starts climbin, up to almost 2qts through the last thousand of a change. This is why I have cut back to even less than 3K intervals. usually in the 2-2.5 range latally.

The 3.2, is a notorious consumer, if you look through boards of people runnig this engine, almost everyone consumes, and, if you look at boards of people complaining about their engine siezing/throign a rod/exploding- etc etc, they are almost ALL oil related fatalities that could have been prevented by checking the oil and keeping it topped off. (which i believe to be the case with almost ALL premature engine failures)...

The 98+ issues you are refering to... are the newer 3.5L V6's.. the first few years of them were TERRABLE... there was a major flaw in the design, and many of them shipped with undersized rings and or- oversized bore. There was also a major flaw in the number and size of the oil drains in the piston behind the rings. They clog up too easily and start to limit the correct draining on the downstroke, so oil is forced passed the ring instead. They corrected the issues in 2001, or 2002, somewhere around there. The problems have been linked to very new vehicles consuming several quarts/1k. and numerious engine failures. Huge warrenty claims.

[edit]: oh yea... and about the delo.. I ended up using about 2qts of delvac 1300 15W40 mixed with the delo just to get it used up. I also threw in a bottle of "add-anytime" rislone (the little 15oz bottle).. SO i've got about 3.5qts delo, 2 qts delvac, and a little bit of rislone in there coupled with a Pure-One filter. I really can't say I am experiencing any major good or bad here. The clicking has been worse latally on cold starts, and the overall noise level just seems to keep getting worse.. I might resort back to using the "engine restore".. which was the ONLY stuff that actually reduced the noise. For about 10k, it totally eliminated the noise, after the noise started coming back even while using it, I decided to stop using it and try to clean out anything it may have left behind for awhile. Maybe i'll try the Mobil T&SUV formula on the next change and see if I notice anything. I've heard lots of isuzu users swear by Mobil as being the only thing that keeps that tapping under control. Another thing I want to try, is that valvoline oil treatment, the stuff with the high moly levels... maybe that would help.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I wonder if your ticking is a lot louder because of using a 15w. The 40 isn't the issue, but a 15w is kind of thick for Colorado, even in the summer.

I wonder how a 5w-40 would do for you? It's so hard to say, as it seems every rig is different. And this "tick" is enough to drive a person insane, but from what I've heard this is more of an audible inconvienence then an actual mechanic problem.

Actually the 98+ issue's I'm refering to are of the 3.2L DOHC's & the 3.5L's, yes they are highly notorious for being oil users because of the flaw. Which is a shame that there ever was a major flaw as it gave Isuzu a bad name.

The 93-97 are the 3.2L SOHC engines, which have been known to use some oil, but not to the same extent of the newer Rodeo's - at least I never thought so. These 3.2L's have been known for being bullet-proof, unless, of course, owner neglect.

I sure hope your's provides you with several years of performance.

I've often wondered about Mobil 1 as well - kind of hesitant to try it though, not sure why.

 

[mdocod]

I had a guy at the dealer suggest I switch to 0W20 pure synthetic or 0W30 pure synthetic for a few intervals and see if it helps... aparantly, some folks have had good luck with this aproach. His suggestion is pretty much textbook from the TSB.

well, 15W diesel oil dino should theoretically pump down to 0F... But here in the summer, The lowest temps I see are about 40F at 5 in the morning when a cold front is moving through. By the time I crank it over, it's back up to 60 or higher...

I figure... the upcoming winter months would be a good time to try the 0W20. I'll probably use Mobil 1, Amsoil, Redline, Or penz Platinum- though I don't like supporting penzoil because of their affiliation with iffyloobz.

I have this bizzare, "physcological disorder.".. I can't seem to buy the same oil twice in a row. I am ALWAYS trying a different one.

Things I want to run: Trop arctic 5W30 blend, redline, M1 T&SUV, Delvac 1, Havoline (for moly), GC (if i can find it, lol), Valvoline Max life.

Things I have run: Penz dinos, quaker dinos and syn blends, and 5W50 pure syn, Mobil syn blend high milage 10W40, Supertech 5W30 dino, 10W30 synthetic, 20W50 dino, Castrol GTX 10W40, Valvoline regular dino. probably others i have forgotted about.

I don't know why, but I just feel the need to try something different with every oil change. Sometimes I use addatives, sometimes I don't. sometimes I notice differences, good, and bad, sometimes I don't. I just want to say I have run it all I guess.

 

[mdocod]

bringing my old thread back up to the top for a little update...

The swift... has consumed some of the oil since switching to the EP. (didn't consume a drop on castrol GTX over 3k). In ~700 miles it has consumed what looks to be on the stick- about 1/4 of a quart. Nothing major... most people on these boards have said it is common to see a consumption issue when first switching to a synthetic. I'm crossing my fingers that the consumption will deminish.

I changed my mind about "affording" the synthetic for the rodeo. I just can't stand the thought of this engine dieing anytime soon and I really want to do anything I can to prolong it's life(i'm sure joining bitog influenced my decision also, lol). I decided on GC(green)... reason being, from what I have seen it returns incredably UOAs on a regular basis, and it has an addative package similar to an HDEO. Not to mention- it is a 0w30 synthetic, which isuzu has recomended for hydrolic lifter problems. I have stocked up 39 quarts at $4.39/ea in the last week or so. The "hunt" is kinda fun anyways. The price has also been cheaper than most of the other synthetic options available.

Ok.... I plan on using the GC in my rodeo- but i'm trying to decide if I should switch the swift over to the GC also- or just keep it on a steady diet of EP. (or possibly switch the swift to GC gold, since it is easy to find and it won't deminish my precious greens, lol). I don't mind spending EP prices on the swift, because it only holds about 3.5 quarts, and will probbaly only need to be changed every 6 months. But I still like the idea of running a 0W for the winter benifits (last winter here in the forest, I did look out and see -17F one night at about 3 in the mornin, eek.)

any input or ideas or recomendations or random thoughts would be greatly apreciated.

 

[gudmund]

have 98 & 01 Swifts also and run M1 in both- neither use any oil(ok the 98-110thou++miles- will be down maybe 1/4qt after 7thou miles on it's 10000mile oil change run) use Motorcraft FL-400s oil filter which add 1/4qt oil to the total 3.75qt instead of 3.5 stock. Have use GC and Amsoil also for 2 of the 10000mile changes, they both showed some lower iron reading than the M1 with about the same TBN's (3.3 to 4.1) but they both also started thickening and my mpg started going down because of it. The M1 mpg stayed good. Blackstone recommended going 12000miles after 4 of my 10000mile samples so far. I have M1-EP in the car now and will be testing it probaly around Nov after 10000miles and if it still is good I may run it the 15000miles and see how it does. 43-45mpg is great in the days of almost $3.00gal gas.

 

[mdocod]

ours is the 3spd automatic. Unfortunatally doesn't get the fuel milage of the sticks. (which I've heard from lots of people regularly get over 40mpg.)

Haven't had the chance to get an accurate milage reading since switching to Mobil EP.... we were getting ~34MPG in town on the dino before. Would like to get up over 35mpg...

any ideas on whether or not the automatic would be harder or easier on the oil? It runs higher rpms pretty much all the time for cruising speeds than it's 5spd alternative. (at least, i'm assuming it does).. this thing would probably get way better economy as an auto if it just had a locking torque converter. Anyone know of an aftermarket converter that could do this?

I'm excited to see you are getting good results on the EP. What weight EP are you using? 5W30? I was wondering if these engines would do better on 5W20 for fuel economy. I'm only going to run it about 6k for the first change or 2. then start increasing the interval. Maybe i'll get a UOA done on the next change after about 7500 to get an idea how much longer to run it. I think 10k would be about as long as I could ever convince myself to keep oil in a car, no matter what, hehe.

 

[gudmund]

am using 5w30 EP, and yes the auto's are a little lacking. Have driven a 97 with the auto and it was like there was another gear that you were expecting it to shift in too but it just never does. The 3 speed auto should have been a 4. They get 34/35mpg out of it. I would think your Swift should do better as a auto being it has 9 more HP over my friends 97 which has the 2v cyl's w/thottle body injection not the 4v cyl's w/port injection like what you and I have. I found there was more of a feel of more power when I got the 4v engine over the 2v than what there was going from the 3cyl Metro to the 4cyl. The 3cyl only had 55HP and the 96 Metro 4cyl I had had 70HP but like I said when I went to the 98 Swift 4v with 79HP, it felt like there was more of an increase with the extra +9HP than the 96's +15HP felt over the Metro 3 cyl. I bought a 98 3cyl after the 96 and what a let down that was to be getting the same mileage as the 98 Swift 4v 4cyl(43/45). Sold it when I found the 01 Swift with 40thou on it. Have two now and am saving the 01 for when the 98 goes to greener pastures. The one thing that I use that I feel helps my mpg is I put about 2oz of Lucus UCL(upper cyl lube) in at each 6 to 8 gal fillup. Have been doing it for the last 75+thou miles and do feel it is doing it's job. The EPA on mine was 39/43 which I am beating. 43/45 and 48 on long runs numerous times.

 

[blsnelling]

Any vehicle I have ever used Mobil 1 in has begun to use oil at the switch or to use more than it did before.

 

[Solo2driver]

'94 Suzuki Swift GT, 113hp (modified) 4-cyl DOHC. Uses a little Royal Purple Racing 21, but nothing to be concerned with.

36-38mpg normal mixed highway/city, max at 42mpg long highway trips (no traffic).

It's great to get Metro or other Swift owners in my car, nothing like an extra 35hp in a 1770lb car!

-JamesW