Suggestions for Mazda3 & Grand Am GT

[mshu7]

Hey everybody, I've been reading around the forums for a little while now and have really learned a lot. However, my head is about to start spinning. I need some advice on what to use for my two cars.

Lets start with the older one. It's a '00 Grand Am GT with the 3.4L V6 with about 88K miles on it. I plan on driving it till it dies. I've been using Mobil 1 with AC Delco filter since 15K miles. My OCI's are 4K, which after wondering around here, I've learned is way too short of OCI for Mobil 1. When the car hits 100K miles, I'm going to do an AutoRX cleaning. But, my question is, would I be safe to extend my OCI to 10K instead of 4K? My car is driven mostly on the highway. My daily commute to work is about 22 miles, 17 of that is highway. I typcially drive about 20K miles per year.

Ok, the next car is a '05 Mazda3 SP23 with the 2.3L I4. My wife & I just purchased the car a little over a month ago. Right now it has about 1200 miles on it. This is her car and again, mostly highway. Not as much as my GA, but still the majority is highway. I did an oil change at 1K miles. I used Pennzoil 5w20 and a Purolator filter. 5w20 is what is recommended for this car, but I've seen other posts on here hinting that 5w20 is too thin for any application. I plan on using Mobil 1, but am not sure what OCI I should use. Are 10K OCI's ok with Mobil 1? Also, should I stick with what is recommended for the car (5w20) or should I something else?

One last thing...If I do go to 10K OCI's, will the oil filters hold up ok? Should I buy more expensive filters at that point like Mobil 1 or K&N? Or should I just stick with cheaper (but good) filters and change them mid-way through my OCI?

By the way, I'm not interested in using Amsoil or anything else that I can't get at my local parts store.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[haley10]

I'd recommend on the GrandAm to go 5,000mi. and do a used oil analysis before drawing any conclusions. Make sure you don't have any internal coolant leak issues with this engine before extending oil change intervals. Verify engine health first!

 

[mshu7]

Great, thanks Haley! I had the infamous "leaky intake gasket" replaced when it was still under warranty. As you said, I should probably do the UOA though.

 

[benjamming]

quote:

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Originally posted by mshu7:
I had the infamous "leaky intake gasket" replaced when it was still under warranty. As you said, I should probably do the used oil analysis though.

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How many times?

Seriously though, the leak can happen multiple times. If you go to extended OCI, I would do a used oil analysis pretty much every time b/c you can get coolant weeping before the gasket fully blows out. It's happened to me on my 94 Grand AM GT.

 

[mshu7]

quote:

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Originally posted by benjamming:

quote:

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Originally posted by mshu7:
I had the infamous "leaky intake gasket" replaced when it was still under warranty. As you said, I should probably do the used oil analysis though.

---

How many times?

Seriously though, the leak can happen multiple times. If you go to extended OCI, I would do a used oil analysis pretty much every time b/c you can get coolant weeping before the gasket fully blows out. It's happened to me on my 94 Grand AM GT.

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Just once so far. It's probably a good time to do a up close & personal inspection on it again along with the used oil analysis.

 

[unDummy]

GrandAm, 10k/6month OCIs, if the vehicle is in tune, seems easy enough for Mobil 1.

5w20 is perfect for the Mazda. It isn't too thin.
10k OCI's would be OK. But, you should stick with the owners manual recommendations for time/mileage(which is?) until the warranty expires.
What purolater PN are you using on the Mazda3? is it a cartridge?

 

[CDTMAZDA3]

Just to offer my 2-cents, I purchased an '05 Mazda 3i on March 1 and have about 5,700 miles on the car now.

I've changed the oil twice so far @ 1,300 & 4K miles. For the first change I used Motorcraft 5w20 semi-synthetic motor oil (which supposedly is the same as the original factory fill) plus a Purolator Pure-One oil filter, and for the second change I used Havoline 5w30 conventional motor oil. For subsequent changes I'll may use Mobil 1 since it's never let me down in the past and should be good for (at least) 5K to 6K OCI's. Right now I'm also planning on sticking to Purolator Pure One oil filters since they appear to be generally well regarded on this forum and are not overly expensive and can generally be purchased between $5 & $6.

Frankly, since summer temperatures commonly climb into the mid-to-high nineties in this area, I just don't trust Mazda/Ford USA's 5w-20 oil recommendation for all seasons, particularly after I found out that for the same engines sold in other parts of the world, Mazda doesn't make the same viscosity recommendation. From now on I'll probably use 10w30 in the summer, 5w30 in spring and fall and may use the recommended 5w-20 only during the coldest months (if at all).

I'll also note that since changing from 5w-20 to 5w30 at the last oil change, I haven't noticed any consistantly measurable decrease in my car's fuel economy. In fact, for the last tank my car averaged 40 mpg (511.1 miles on 12.791 gal) and has averaged 37 mpg overall since purchase (5,525.2 miles on 149.323 gal). To say the least, I've been pleasantly surprised and pleased by my Mazda's fuel economy.

Unfortunately, since your wife has the 2.3 liter engine, based on posts I've seen at the Mazda3forum, I doubt if she'll be able to duplicate my mileage results-especially if her car has the 4-speed automatic. Note: My car has the 2.0 liter engine & 5-speed manual.

Anyhow, I hope she's enjoying her 3 as much as I am.

 

[bighead]

mshu7, does your 00 GT have the OLM? If so, just go by that, if not, I'd take it to around 7500 at first, then UOA, if it's all good, then try 10K. My 04 GA with the 3.4 just didn't like the Mobil 1 5w30, so I changed it at ~5K (engine was too noisy). The 3.4 runs good on the GC though

 

[mshu7]

Yes, it does have the OLM. However, I've never trusted it enough to actually use it.

You're idea sounds good....I'll try it out.

And yes, my engine does get a little noisey. Sounds like the rockers make a lot of noise.

 

[bighead]

Ok, try another oil besides the M1, a slightly thicker one (again GC is wonderful in that engine). Seems like it has made alot of other engines noisy. The OLM's were designed around dino usage, so you could safely run a synthetic oil using it. I did a run of around 5K on M1 and the light never came one, it might have gone till 7K and still not came on. Can't say I'd trust it with dino myself lol.

 

[JohnBrowning]

To check the gasket on the cheap simply spray ether around the manifold and valve cover area with the engine running. If you hear the RPM's climb you know it is takeing in ether through the gasket ie leaking. This is much cheaper then buy a vaccum guage or doing UOA etc... I recomend you do it every other month. One can of ether will last you a while!!!!