Synthetic switch the wrong way?

[CBC]

Hi Iam a newbie here and see from all the threads you guys know your stuff! Quick question: I have a 99 explorer with a 4.0L SOHC motor 38k miles and on my last oil change made the switch to 5-30 M1. I have about 300 miles with the fresh oil/filter and had planned to change the filter to handle whatever sludge was knocked loose. From reading other posts this may not have been the best idea, the thought of sludge clogging my oil passages has been haunting me. Do you guys think I will have problems? After how many miles should I change filter? Or what should I do? Thanks guys

 

[Thomas Pyrek]

If you are going to be that paranoid, then peace of mind isn't bad.

You don't have to change your filter until you change your oil. Obviously, since this is your first time using the stuff, don't run a really extended interval, just 3-5k miles.

You won't find much crap in your filter unless you never changed the oil. I even found less crap than you expect in my filters when I ran cleaning agents in a 150k motor.

 

[Ken4]

If you had regular oil changes before, even with dino, you'd have nothing to worry about. 38k miles still sounds like a pretty new truck. Synthetics have better cleaning ability, but they dont clean that well to dislodge all the sludge in your engine. You'd have to use Auto-RX for proper cleaning.

 

[Pablo]

The other guys nailed it.

I'll just say RELAX. Synthetic may clean, but it's a very slow clean. As concerned as you sound you must have been changing your oil. 38K? My car is approaching 250,000 miles....RELAX.

 

[Schmoe]

Ditto on all those comments. 38K with regular oil changes should not and is not a "sludger." Now, if we were talking about a certain Toyota, that would be a different story.