oil choices

[justinf89]

For my next OC in my explorer, I'm making the switch to synthetic. I plan to do 6k changes instead of the 3k I'm doing now. My choices are

$21-5qts
Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0w-30
Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30
Pennzoil Platinum 5w30
VSyn 5w30

$20-6qts
Formula shell 5w30


Any opinions on what I should run? This will probably be my oil for a while. I'm sure they all can go the 6k and the motor has been babied all its life, so I'm not worried. Any thoughts on going 7500mi? Thanks.

 

[Johnny]

Pennzoil Platinum 5w30

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: justinf89
Any thoughts on going 7500mi? Thanks.


I have gone with 7500 mile intervals for many years. In one truck, I did even 10K intervals. All of my rides make 250,000 miles, with either minimal or no consumption. Unless you do lots of short trips, 7500 should be the minimum with quality syns.

 

[tinmanSC]

Valvoline Synpower! And a Purolator filter. Now, ignore my forum signature.

7.5K is no problem, IMHO.

 

[tig1]

Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 would be excellant as well as any of the M1 30 wt. oils. I've done 10K OCI with M1 for 32 years, mostly in Fords.

 

[fdcg27]

I've had good results (no used oil analysis, but also no bad noises and no consumption) with both Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0w30 and Pennzoil Platinum 5w30.
Both oils seem to hold up well in the used oil analysis seen here, and either is reasonably priced.
The M1 may have a slightly better basestock combination, but Mobil won't tell you what they use.
Grp V/IV/III, who knows? Nobody who will tell us.
At least SOPUS tells you that their oil uses a Grp III basetock, honest and up front.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I've had good results (no used oil analysis, but also no bad noises and no consumption) with both Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0w30 and Pennzoil Platinum 5w30.
Both oils seem to hold up well in the used oil analysis seen here, and either is reasonably priced.
The Mobil 1 may have a slightly better basestock combination, but Mobil won't tell you what they use.
Grp V/IV/III, who knows? Nobody who will tell us.
At least SOPUS tells you that their oil uses a Grp III basetock, honest and up front.


I see you`re using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 15w50 in one of your cars. Have you been able to find any nos at a good price anywhere? Target here a year or so ago clearanced theirs out at $2-$3 a quart. I haven`t seen anywhere else who still has it. I`d love to find someplace that still has it stashed somewhere in their store.

Here`s something interesting. A seller on Amazon advertising 15W50 red cap,BUT,I guarantee if you order from them it`ll be the new silver cap :^P
http://www.amazon.com/Mobil-Supersyn-Ful...6805&sr=1-3

 

[Spyder7]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Pennzoil Platinum 5w30

+1

 

[fdcg27]

I bought what I had at Targier and Meijer in the spring of '09.
I bought a total of 23 quarts.
I still have nine quarts left, having used ten on two changes in the '99 Accord, and four on one change in the '97.
It was dirt cheap on closeout.
Wally is getting rid of the same EP that I bought, but prices are still absurdly high, like five bucks a quart.

 

[Steve S]

You probably will never tell the difference in engine life between any of the oils.

 

[fdcg27]

You, sir, are probably right.
Still, following your reasoning to its logical conclusion, there is no reason for this site to exist.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You, sir, are probably right.
Still, following your reasoning to its logical conclusion, there is no reason for this site to exist.


Why would you say that?

What is happening with this site is tales are being proven wrong. Tales like 75,001 miles you have to run a High Mileage oil since that engine has "high miles".

Tales like once an engine makes 100k its worn out. How about the only way to make 200k is with a certain type of oil?

Plenty of reasons why this site DOES exist. And the sheer number of unique visitors prove it!

Take care, Bill

 

[shpankey]

Imo, Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30 #1 and Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0w30 a very VERY close 2nd. Though I'm not saying the others are bad at all. But those would be my picks.

 

[subiedriver]

Mobil 1 5w30 HM gets my vote, very stout oil. My subie is on a strict diet of 5w30 HM in winter and 10w30 HM in summer. They are awesome oils. I also run pure one filters.

 

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You, sir, are probably right.
Still, following your reasoning to its logical conclusion, there is no reason for this site to exist.


Why would you say that?

What is happening with this site is tales are being proven wrong. Tales like 75,001 miles you have to run a High Mileage oil since that engine has "high miles".

Tales like once an engine makes 100k its worn out. How about the only way to make 200k is with a certain type of oil?

Plenty of reasons why this site DOES exist. And the sheer number of unique visitors prove it!

Take care, Bill

 

[bigmike]

To the OP, I'll play devil's advocate and ask why make the switch? Consider extending your OCI to say 4k or 5k with what you're using now.

I agree with Bill and SteveS. SteveS is right on doubting you'll notice much difference with any of the oils you listed. They are all good choices. If you really are into it, check the UOA/VOA section.

That idea doesn't take away from this site. Read the HTHS thread - that's some meat to chew on and without BITOG, I doubt you'd find discussion like this anywhere else.

 

[justinf89]

I appreciate all the posts. I knew they were all good but I kind of figured there would be a favorite out of the bunch. The only reason why I wanted to switch is because I wanted to extend my oci and save some money. It's $21 for 5qts of synthetic and about $14 for 5qts of dino, and synthetic is better all the way around. So to bigmike's question, why not extend dino to 4k or 5k? I have no problem with this but I never thought of it. Is this just trading for motor life or is this not a problem?

 

[bigmike]

That conclusion would arrive with some more information. If you're up to entertaining the idea, let us know what your driving habits are (short trips, city/highway miles, etc.), how long it would take you to extend to 4-5k miles, etc. I'm sure you'll receive some good recommendations.

 

[justinf89]

I really never understood what city driving was but yes there's traffic lights where I live. Maybe 1 every mile. I don't drive during stop and go traffic. I really don't drive much on the interstate but I wouldn't consider it city driving either. I drive about 12k a year.

 

[bigmike]

My thoughts on this are pretty simple.

Per year, you could do 3 conventional oil changes or 2 synthetic changes for roughly the same price (according to the prices you posted).

If you drive alot of short trips, I'd do the 3 conventional changes per year.

If the trips are longer in nature, I'd consider the switch to synthetic and 6 month changes.

Considering your Explorer has over 100k miles, I think I'd stick with what you're doing and extend the conventional changes to every 4 months or so.

Others may have differing viewpoints.