Recommendations?

[RS700L]

I just read the thread "What oil should I use? What is the BEST oil?"

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-oil-should-i-use-what-is-the-best-oil.119027/

Since I'm new here, and I am very impressed with all the knowledge and enthusiasm on this site, I'll give this a whirl.

I drive a 2000 Jeep Wrangler with a 4.0L inline 6 cylinder. It's got about 117k miles on it, does not use any oil, lifters tick a little. I drive about 250-300 miles a week, most of it on winding roads and with quite a few short trips (trip < 10 minutes). No towing, some hard acceleration. The owner's manual suggests 10W-30 or 5w30 API certified engine oil.

I prefer conventional oil, brands that are readily available at a good price (naturally this is the case...I am open to more expensive suggestions). I change my oil and filter every 3K miles, mostly because I like doing it. I use 10W-30 in the summer and 5w30 in the winter for kicks, though according to my owner's manual, I could use either at any time for the temperature ranges we get in central PA. I have been fooling around with different filters, Purolator seems to be it lately, but that is a different forum.

What can you recommend to me? What are your favorite brands? Would I gain anything by using synthetic engine oil? How long should I go between changes? How about that lifter noise?

 

[hate2work]

That engine is bulletproof, you could run tar in it and it would run. OK, maybe not tar, but you get my point. Frankly, I would suggest that you keep doing what you're doing, obviously it's working well for you. And even though some will say so, there is nothing wrong with 3k oil changes using a good dino oil.

You might find an oil that is better at quieting those lifters than what you're using by experimenting. BTW, what oil are you using?

There are several good brands available these days, even the WM house brand Super Tech is a decent oil.

 

[mopar_monkey]

maxlife would be my suggestion, the 4.0 is a great engine but it tends to seep and leak oil, maxlife my slow the seepage down as well as quiet those lifters.

 

[chubbs1]

It's hard to say about that lifter tick, doesn't sound lube related with your type of maintenance. Most of us switch around brand until we find the "best" for our engine. Also you may be changing your oil too often. If you are really serious, and want to find if you can go farther, get a used oil analysis with particle count, and see how your engine is wearing. When you settle on an oil you like and are going to stick with do a UOA w/TBN, this will give you a guage on how far to extend oil change intervals (OCI's). Most Conventionals are much better than they used to be so you can stay with those. "synthetics" like PP, PU, M1, QSUD(my fave), are all mostly conventional with a little true syn. PAO [IV], or Esters[V] added. True syns are your Redline, RLI, and AMSOIL (except XL and OE). I think these are for a very small percentage of the driving pop. (racing, towing a ballistic missile submarine etc). So Welcome and see what others say, I learn more and more. On to filters tomorrow..

 

[rclint]

On the OCI length (oil change interval) I would go by the owners manual, I really think the manufacture sets a maintenance schedule that best fits the engine, in the vehicle !! Many times they will also list severe, and normal service as well.. this is a whole nother can of worms LOL.. but if your not sure on which split the severe/normal in the middle.. On the filter to use you can choose whatever you like as said above, but I wouldn't spend a ton, or any extra on a top tier filter running 5k OCI and below in this application. However you also need to look for that bang for buck issue, I would always pay another dollor or two for a top tier filter like a Puorlator Pure 1 than to save 2 bucks running say purolator white can...

On the oil I don't see a problem running 5w30 year round, but nothing wrong with running a 10w-30 in the summer either... Brands I like them all, the name brand oils are so good, and so close to each other that many times it's just advertising claims that nit pick one variable over another.. that said pennzoil, Castrol, Mobil drive clean, Valvoline, and the rest are great oils, pennzoil seems to be the rave right now, and I have used it, and do with outstanding results.

Synthetics might me a whole new thread for you, it would probably stray this thread off so far if you get into should you use synthetic, or the advantages of synthetic that any information gained from this thread would have to be searched through possible pages of feelings, family history, some facts, with a lot of personal info from buttox dino to grade up horsepower gain, and economy booms that would make the EPA blush... I will say that Motorcraft makes a great semi-synthetic, and they do have it in a 5w30, but most everyone or what i read uses the 5w-20 which is what set it as such a outstanding buy.

The high mileage oils are also worth looking into, I have had great luck with Maxlife used as an oil without trying to fix anything, it's a great oil.

 

[dtt004]

Hi.

I agree with the above posters.

 

[JimPghPA]

If the tick gets too loud have a mechanic look at it. A neighbor of mine had one of those, and the valves rattled fairly loud on it one day when he started it, and I was near. I told him to be sure to have a mechanic look at it soon. He did, and the mechanic said that had it gone longer there would have been expenxive damage.

 

[ArtDart]

I suggest Rotella 5w40 every 6 months....
or
Rotella 10w30 syn blend ( cheap at Walmart ),
or Quaker State High Mileage 10w30, if you want
to change oil every 5k or less

jringo

 

[RS700L]

I bought the car a little over a year ago with 99K miles on it...engine compartment was squeaky clean, had a Mopar filter, and I later found that the plugs were newer than 99K...so I suspect decent maintenance practices before I had it, but probably not a meticulous DIY type like me. I also suspect a Connecticut soccer mom was the previous owner, but I digress.

I put in Valvoline premium conventional 5w30 and a P1 filter last change on 10/01/2010, which I THINK is when the lifter ticking started consistently (although I do remember it from time to time in the past). I noticed that the oil got dirty rather quickly with this setup. I think I am going to try the same oil and a white can Purolator, also checking my air filter. Previously, I used Pennzoil conventional and orange cans of death, until about 6 months ago when I found out the about the whole Fram situation...

 

[RS700L]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
maxlife would be my suggestion, the 4.0 is a great engine but it tends to seep and leak oil, maxlife my slow the seepage down as well as quiet those lifters.


It does seep a little, but not even enough to make a difference on the dipstick. Maxlife will improve it? I see that Valvoline claims it "conditions engine seals." What is your experience?

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: RS700L
Iuntil about 6 months ago when I found out the about the whole Fram situation...


LOL! up north pretty much 80% of aftermarket oil filter users are on "orange can of death". Are we afraid of them exploding on us? hexk no!

Price-wise, there maybe something better out there than orange, but then again: all the "echoing" and unsubstantiated guessings (by taking apart an oil filter to guess the quality...ha..haa...) is not very constructive nor is it beneficial, just like the pennzoyl sludge hype... (all about unsubstantiated "reverberation" of urban folklore, and yet many gullable internet surfers still falling for that, go figure)


Afterall: statistically-speaking: how many cars (out of millions and millions operated in NA on a daily basis) failed due to "orange can of death"? how many?

Q.

 

[RS700L]

Originally Posted By: chubbs1
It's hard to say about that lifter tick, doesn't sound lube related with your type of maintenance. Most of us switch around brand until we find the "best" for our engine. Also you may be changing your oil too often. If you are really serious, and want to find if you can go farther, get a used oil analysis with particle count, and see how your engine is wearing. When you settle on an oil you like and are going to stick with do a UOA w/TBN, this will give you a guage on how far to extend oil change intervals (OCI's). Most Conventionals are much better than they used to be so you can stay with those. "synthetics" like PP, PU, M1, QSUD(my fave), are all mostly conventional with a little true syn. PAO [IV], or Esters[V] added. True syns are your Redline, RLI, and AMSOIL (except XL and OE). I think these are for a very small percentage of the driving pop. (racing, towing a ballistic missile submarine etc). So Welcome and see what others say, I learn more and more. On to filters tomorrow..


Yes, on to filters later today...which is actually what has gotten me interested in this site (reformed OCOD user...). I would like to pull the valve cover to check the crud situation, and I guess checking the valve lash might lead me somewhere in the ticking case. Thanks!

 

[RS700L]

Originally Posted By: Quest
Originally Posted By: RS700L
Iuntil about 6 months ago when I found out the about the whole Fram situation...


LOL! up north pretty much 80% of aftermarket oil filter users are on "orange can of death". Are we afraid of them exploding on us? hexk no!

Price-wise, there maybe something better out there than orange, but then again: all the "echoing" and unsubstantiated guessings (by taking apart an oil filter to guess the quality...ha..haa...) is not very constructive nor is it beneficial, just like the pennzoyl sludge hype... (all about unsubstantiated "reverberation" of urban folklore, and yet many gullable internet surfers still falling for that, go figure)


Afterall: statistically-speaking: how many cars (out of millions and millions operated in NA on a daily basis) failed due to "orange can of death"? how many?

Q.


None that I have known personally, and like you said, we all used Fram filters since high school. Not to mention, I changed them all at 3K miles because I believed I had to do that too! However, it seems I can do better for my money, and at least gain some fractional quantity of peace of mind.

 

[mopar_monkey]

Originally Posted By: RS700L
Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
maxlife would be my suggestion, the 4.0 is a great engine but it tends to seep and leak oil, maxlife my slow the seepage down as well as quiet those lifters.


It does seep a little, but not even enough to make a difference on the dipstick. Maxlife will improve it? I see that Valvoline claims it "conditions engine seals." What is your experience?

maxlife has some additives that swell seals slightly. i have used it on a 93 grand cherokee i had with a 4.0, it had a pretty good leak and was fairly noisy, after the maxlife the leak slowed quite a bit and had much less noise. i'm not saying it will fix your problems but it really worked well in in my 4.0.

 

[hate2work]

Originally Posted By: Quest
Afterall: statistically-speaking: how many cars (out of millions and millions operated in NA on a daily basis) failed due to "orange can of death"? how many?

Q.


Probably more than one, and that's too many.

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: hate2work
Originally Posted By: Quest
Afterall: statistically-speaking: how many cars (out of millions and millions operated in NA on a daily basis) failed due to "orange can of death"? how many?

Q.


Probably more than one, and that's too many.


Say, if it's just 1 out of 1 million that failed, which lead to oil related engine failure, statistically-speaking, that's 0.000001%.

While you may say that is one too many, to me, that's a miracle.

Try achieving that mark statistically (from manufacturing + QA standpoing out of modern manufacturing facilities + knowhow) and see what you think.

Q.

 

[RS700L]

I noticed The Rotella Syn-blend at Walmart the other day. What do you like about it?

I know Rotella is popular with heavy equipment and truck people. It would be great if I could get the same performance for my car.

 

[sleepery]

I had a 1988 Jeep Comanche . I did 3k oci's . At around 2k after each oil change I would hear ticking . Never had to top off the oil but the ticking was instantly gone after I changed the oil . I was using Valvoline or Castrol dino 10w30 most of the time . I switched to 10w40 and substituted a quart of 40w on the advice of a friend . It improved the ticking by about 50% .

 

[KW]

Rotella T 5W40 and a Motorcraft FL1A oil filter every 5K. No need for a special winter oil.