The Simple Oil Maintenance Plan

Joined
Jan 25, 2003
Messages
5,348
Location
Decatur AL USA
1996 Ford Mustang GT
4.6L OHC 2V V-8

0-60,000 mi
Motorcraft 5W-30 and MC FL820S
Every 5,000 mi

60,000-120,000
Motorcraft 5W-20 and MC FL820S
Every 5,000 mi

12 years and 120,000 mi odometer quits

Valvoline Maxlife 5W-30 and MC FL820S
Every 6 months

After 25+ years and an estimated 250,000+ mi (who really knows) as a daily driver it's still going strong.

Tell me again why we want to overthink this?
 
We don't.
Sure we do or we wouldn't be here.

It's a buddy's car. He ran plain old 5W-30 until the factory backspec to the 5W-20 then switched to Maxlife 5W-30 when it got to 120,000 mi and MC started getting overpriced and he couldn't get ML 5W-20 at the time.
 
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I was kinda joking with you.

Yeah the car you mentioned made it that far on routine oils.. . Not surprising.

Main thing is its being changed regularly.


My car has 364k miles on it. Ran 30+ different oils in it . Not too shabby.
I have used about 15 different brands (5W20 & 5W30) of oils in my 07 F150 (166K miles). I'm currently using M1 5W20 AFS. My next OCI will be VML 5W30.
 
I just find it kind of amusing it's been 13 years since he knew how many miles he had been between oil changes while we are paranoid about it.
 
You followed the manufacturers recommended maintenance intervals (something a lot of people here cannot comprehend and continuously overlook) and got to enjoy the fruits of your decision. Congratulations, wish there were more people like you on this board

Now imagine if you would have used top priced oils and filters (amsoil, royal purple, etc) and changed at similar intervals. You’d still have a 27 year old vehicle worth a couple grand but with less money in your pocket.
 
I have the same engine in my Grand Marquis. It's going to get yearly changes with whatever cheap oil I can find in 5w-20 for it. Maybe a 0w-20 one year if I get it cheap enough. Right now it's Supertech synthetic 5w-20 but I bought a bunch of napa syn-blend for cheap ... that's going to be the next change on it, no doubt. And I'll run that a year also.

That will come out to 8,000 miles or 10,000 miles depending on how much I feel like driving our Nissan. I generally drive 20,000 miles a year between all of our vehicles. Now that I've been renting trucks for out of state trips with the Jeep, that's a bit less on mine ...
 
I have the same engine in my Grand Marquis. It's going to get yearly changes with whatever cheap oil I can find in 5w-20 for it. Maybe a 0w-20 one year if I get it cheap enough. Right now it's Supertech synthetic 5w-20 but I bought a bunch of napa syn-blend for cheap ... that's going to be the next change on it, no doubt. And I'll run that a year also.

That will come out to 8,000 miles or 10,000 miles depending on how much I feel like driving our Nissan. I generally drive 20,000 miles a year between all of our vehicles. Now that I've been renting trucks for out of state trips with the Jeep, that's a bit less on mine ...

If people would stop giving me oil I would likely just buy NAPA (Valvoline) Blend for $2.59 a qt for most of my apps but I apparently attract homeless M1 like.a dog attracts fleas.

I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with the MC or Mopar 5W'50 although my Honda supposedly allowed 20W-50 in Australia so that's a thought. Maybe a 60/40 split of 20 and 50 grade?
 
If people would stop giving me oil I would likely just buy NAPA (Valvoline) Blend for $2.59 a qt for most of my apps but I apparently attract homeless M1 like.a dog attracts fleas.

I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with the MC or Mopar 5W'50 although my Honda supposedly allowed 20W-50 in Australia so that's a thought. Maybe a 60/40 split of 20 and 50 grade?
Yeah! These 2 valve modulars aren't picky at all. And without the cam phaser stuff and paper tensioner gaskets, they can handle a longer oil change just fine.

But free anything is free!
 
Yeah! These 2 valve modulars aren't picky at all. And without the cam phaser stuff and paper tensioner gaskets, they can handle a longer oil change just fine.

But free anything is free!

The 2V isn't mine. My current driver is a 20 year old Accord.

Sold
2022 Bronco - Sold for 120% of new (Never even drove it).
2014 Mustang - Sold for 80% of new.
2018 Lincoln MKX - Sold for 80% of new.
2018 F150 - Sold for 105% of new.
Isn't the used car market crazy?
 
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That 2v has a great reputation for lasting on any old oil so not sure that's a meaningful scenario. However, to answer your question - because maybe it could have been just a tad better! We do tend to get carried away, like an engine is going to meet premature doom if we don't run the absolute best oil for it, as if we could even figure that out.
 
That 2v has a great reputation for lasting on any old oil so not sure that's a meaningful scenario. However, to answer your question - because maybe it could have been just a tad better! We do tend to get carried away, like an engine is going to meet premature doom if we don't run the absolute best oil for it, as if we could even figure that out.

I know there was a 2003 Accord Coupe V6 Manual with M1 10,000 mi, M1 AP 15,000 mi and M1 EP 15,000 mi oci that was over 800,000 mi with no add oil required between services a few years ago. Of course people will tell you that leads to an early death (wonder if he only changed the oil filter every other OCI per Honda recommendation?).
 
For one thing, when this forum started (and you were here pretty early), there were major differences between oils (brand, weight, dino, blend, synthetic, "fake" synthetic" etc...) and an extended oil change was still 6,000 miles for many.

Today's oils are just so much better, and it is to the point so long as the oil and filter are changed on a regular interval with an appropriate viscosity, you will not have an oil related problem with the engine.

Yes, some do obsess with which oil, which weight, what interval, which filter. And with some motors there may be some small differences (mostly in interval length), but over all, nothing to worry about.
After a few years here, most come to realize there really is not much difference between oils, and regular changes are what matter more.

I have never been stuck on any oil.
If one of my vehicles gets more than 2 changes with the same brand and weight oil it is because I got a great deal on a bunch of oil.
My Santa Fe is on its 4th fill of Pennzoil Platinum 10w-30, just because I got it for qt.
With all the 5w-30 Rotella Truck I have in my stash (like 40 qts?), it will be a common oil for a year or so in my fleet, but once that stash is gone, I will switch to whatever synthetic I can get for the lowest price (Supertech, Quaker State, Havoline, Mobil on rebate, etc, I am not picky) and just don't worry about what oil is in the crankcase anymore.
 
I have never been stuck on any oil.
If one of my vehicles gets more than 2 changes with the same brand and weight oil it is because I got a great deal on a bunch of oil.
My Santa Fe is on its 4th fill of Pennzoil Platinum 10w-30, just because I got it for qt.
With all the 5w-30 Rotella Truck I have in my stash (like 40 qts?), it will be a common oil for a year or so in my fleet, but once that stash is gone, I will switch to whatever synthetic I can get for the lowest price (Supertech, Quaker State, Havoline, Mobil on rebate, etc, I am not picky) and just don't worry about what oil is in the crankcase anymore.
About 10 years ago I was away from BITOG for various reasons. After I retired I started to poke around on here again. My brain now says Oil is Oil. Honestly I don't think I ever used the same oil more than 3 times in a row. Always a sale on something else. None of my cars since I got rid of my last Ford Vulcan 3.slow have used oil. My OCI's are every 5K or so after engine break in. Ever since I put my bargain Castrol Edge 0W-16 in my Venza, my mind is always scanning for 0W-16 sales.
 
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