Well, my g/f has had this 2001 Eclipse GS with the 2.4 4 banger and a 5-speed transmission for a couple years now. Maybe 3. Anyways, when we first got it, it was 2 quarts low on oil. Telltale signs of someone not taking the best care of it. The previous owner was a female..
Well, I remember shortly after this, we went to the beach. Came back, tried to crank the car, and couldn't without giving it some gas. Oil had leaked through onto the plugs. It blew some blue smoke out the exhaust, and I knew there was some ring or seal damage somewhere. Probably from being neglected (run low on oil and too long of OCI's, my guess). I don't know what it had been ran on, but we went to 10w30 Castrol GTX for it's new diet, and since I thought it had blow by, we changed it every 3000-3500 miles. Next year, the beach, we came back a day later than the last time, and it cranked right up. Take that how you want it, but that oil cleaned and sealed something up.
Ok, skip a few more months ahead. All that time, her car had averaged 28mpg. EVERY TIME. 28mpg. Well, I switched her transmission to some Mobil 1 75W-90 gear lube and then we switched her engine to Castrol Syntec 0w30 (GC). The transmission shifted smoother, but engine wise, the only difference I "think" I could tell was that it revved a little quicker from 1000RPM - 2500RPM. Just seemed a little slicker. But, not really anything else.
Ran that for probably 200 miles before we filled the tank up, again. Next fill up, ran it til the light came on... BAM, 32mpg. I credit this to the transmission gear oil mainly, but I'm sure the synthetic helped give 1mpg extra due to better start up flow.
Just posting my experience. I'll be sure to update if the [censored] thing starts leaking oil. It got swapped to synthetic with 150k miles on the clock.
Well, I remember shortly after this, we went to the beach. Came back, tried to crank the car, and couldn't without giving it some gas. Oil had leaked through onto the plugs. It blew some blue smoke out the exhaust, and I knew there was some ring or seal damage somewhere. Probably from being neglected (run low on oil and too long of OCI's, my guess). I don't know what it had been ran on, but we went to 10w30 Castrol GTX for it's new diet, and since I thought it had blow by, we changed it every 3000-3500 miles. Next year, the beach, we came back a day later than the last time, and it cranked right up. Take that how you want it, but that oil cleaned and sealed something up.
Ok, skip a few more months ahead. All that time, her car had averaged 28mpg. EVERY TIME. 28mpg. Well, I switched her transmission to some Mobil 1 75W-90 gear lube and then we switched her engine to Castrol Syntec 0w30 (GC). The transmission shifted smoother, but engine wise, the only difference I "think" I could tell was that it revved a little quicker from 1000RPM - 2500RPM. Just seemed a little slicker. But, not really anything else.
Ran that for probably 200 miles before we filled the tank up, again. Next fill up, ran it til the light came on... BAM, 32mpg. I credit this to the transmission gear oil mainly, but I'm sure the synthetic helped give 1mpg extra due to better start up flow.
Just posting my experience. I'll be sure to update if the [censored] thing starts leaking oil. It got swapped to synthetic with 150k miles on the clock.
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