Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: outsiderwv
I just bought an 09 Jeep Liberty with the 3.7L V6. The oil it calls for is 5w-20. The car has 1030 miles on it and I am going to change out the oil. My question is what should I change the oil to? I want to change to synthetic but didn't know if I should wait a little longer or not. My oil choices for synthetic are Pennzoil Platinum or Valvoline Syntec. I don't know which oil would be best for our driving. A mix between frequent short trips (very short trips in stop and go traffic) and longer drives. What are you guys suggestions? Thanks in advance.
1 - You can change to synthetic any time you want. There is no break in period needed. Engines will break in on synthetic just fine if it is used from day one at engine assembly. So use it whenever you wish to.
2 - Stick with the mfg's oil spec of 5W-20. Also, keep your OCI's to the max allowed in the owner's manual( page 414 )which is 6 months/6,000 miles. Make sure the oil has the API Starburst and meets exceeds Chrysler MS6395( both PP and VVL Synpower are good to go in that regard ). I would not follow your Oil Life Monitor( OLM )unless it goes longer than 2500 miles before tripping. The OLM in my 08 Ram trips every 2500 so far and it is way too early even for cheap dino oil and I run premium synthetic. I do my OC's every 5K to split the difference between the OLM and the max mileage allowed in the manual. You can go up to 6/6000 and be just fine warranty and oil life wise so just reset that OLM( proceedure is in the manual )if it trips early on you. You want to preserve that Lifetime Powertrain Warranty so stick to the manual guidelines and you are good.
3 - Penzoil Platinum or Valvoline
Synpower are a couple of very good choices.
2 others to consider, that meet all of your oil requirements from Chrysler/Jeep, would be Quaker State Ultimate Durability( renamed Horsepower oil )and Kendall GT1 full synthetic( or 76 Lubricants full synthetic - same stuff in a different bottle ). Both are affordable and available most places nationally.
NOTE: FYI - Castrol makes
Syntec. Did you mean Castrol? It too is a good oil if you did but I like the others you mention and I mention better.
4 - For a filter I would suggest you go with something along the lines of a Purolator/Bosch, Wix/Napa Gold, Baldwin, or even a MOPAR filter would be ok. I would avoid cheap filters like Fram like I would avoid the plague! If you want a premium filter to use with synthetic oil I suggest the new Royal Purple filters if you have a PepBoys near you( and if there is one for your application )or a K&N or Mobil 1. The RP will set you back $15 though and the K&N and M1 will set you back anywhere from $10-$13. That may be more than you want to spend. I tend to use the best I can find, so I use the RP filters now( used to use K&N ), because the cost of oil and filters vs what I paid for my vehicles( $40K+/- usually )is just peanuts.
NOTE: A few OC's a year worth of premium synthetic oil & filters for me is not a ton of money. A lot by some folks standards but not to me( I don't mean I am wealthy - the exact opposite actually ). What I mean is I drive a $40K vehicle( doubles as my work vehicle and my DD )so a little extra $$$ spent on maintenance to keep it in top running condition is worth it. On an old beater it would be different. I would still run a synthetic but the more affordable brands like PP and the others mentioned here vs the premium synthetics and I would grab a medium grade filter like Bosch or Wix.
You will get a lot of replies here( you got a doozy already - no offense meant -
^^^ )stating synthetic is a waste of money period or is a waste for your application. While they are entitled to that view I completely disagree. There are countless benefits to synthetic oil vs conventional oil.
When you buy synthetic oils on sale, or at places like Wal-Mart in bulk jugs, you can usually get it for just a few dollars more p/qt than premium conventional oil yet the benefits are tremendous over conventional. For example, you can get 5qts of Kendall GT1 full synthetic plus a filter at PeBoys for $19.99 on sale. That is a great deal. 5qt jugs of PP, QS, VVL, etc... at Wal-Mart run $20 or less. Just not that expensive. I run syntheitc oils a good 97%+ of the time since about 1988 or so. To me the extra benefits far outweigh the cost difference.
Good luck with your new ride. Hope it serves you well.
Nice!
With Walmart selling 5 qt jugs of PP for just over $20 how could you go wrong running synthetic oil?