Those with 150,000 miles or more, check in

[Patman]

I asked this same question in the LT1 section of CamaroZ28.com's message board, and the results are slowly trickling in. It should be interesting to see their results, since most of them use synthetics and everyone drives their car hard.

One guy just posted to say he's got 180,000 miles on his LT1 f-body, and has used nothing but Mobil 1 5w30 changed every 5k since new, along with either Fram or AC Delco filters. He only burns 1/2qt every 5k right now.

 

[radiometer]

I drove a 72 VW Superbeetle 300,000 miles over a period of 21 years. I used Castrol GTX 20W-50 at 3k change intervals.

I have 202,000+ on my 87 Mitsubishi Mighty Max Pickup 2.0L engine. I started out with Castrol GTX 20W-50 (Yep, the manual allows it) at 5k intervals till Castrol Syntec came along. I started using that till I suddenly noticed it started smelling like petroleum. I wondered about that and became suspicious. When I learned they had changed from PAO to Grp III Dino I went to Mobil 1 15W-50 till I learned about Schaeffers. I then went to Schaeffer's 15W-40 Blend at 5k intervals. The manual calls for 7.5k intervals for my driving conditions so I went to the 5k changes. I've been using whatever good filter is available, recently ST.

I'm now driving a 99 and a 2002 Nissan Sentra, both on Schaeffers.

 

[MillerMan]

1994 mercury Grand marquis, 4.6 V8, 157,000 miles
oil: winter penz regular dino 5w30, rest of the year 10w30 of the same, filter always napa gold.
oil changes at 3000 to 4000 miles
burns about 1 qt in 2000 miles, less now that it's cold and I am not pulling my 2000 pound bass boat ( no overdrive when towing).

before I had mobil dino drive clean in it, at about 130,000 I noticed it starting burning more oil, it burns less with penz.

owned the car since 103,000 miles, it burned very little when I bought it.


zero leaks, dry as can be underneath

 

[buster]

Great topic Patman.

Mazda Mx6 (brother has it now) with 180k. Runs great. Nothing but the cheapest oil used.

87 Corolla. Had 160k on it, cousin had and drove in until 300K. Nothing but cheap dino oil.

2001 Corolla, going strong. Switched over to M1 Trisynthetic at 18k miles. Have used Amsoil/M1 on and off ever since.

I really think the main benefit of synlubes is extended drains. 99% of most daily drivers don't need them if your only doing 5k mile drains. Even Mobil 1 seems to be great for Vettes as there are quite a few it sounds like that have well over 100k and even 300k with M1.

 

[Jason8691]

My wife has a '77 Chevy C10 with a 350 and has 214K, and is still going strong. Right now I use GC in it, but may change to Delvac 1 to try to cut back on oil consumption.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by buster:


I really think the main benefit of synlubes is extended drains. 99% of most daily drivers don't need them if your only doing 5k mile drains. Even Mobil 1 seems to be great for Vettes as there are quite a few it sounds like that have well over 100k and even 300k with M1.

---

Based on this thread, you can clearly see that engines can still get long life even with dino oil. So you're right Buster, the main benefit of synthetics appears to be the extended drain capability (although as I've mentioned, I still think it helps agressive drivers get longer engine life, and it also helps engines in cold climates live longer too and it'll also help keep things cleaner inside too so an engine's performance won't suffer as much as it ages)

As far as Mobil 1 in the F-bodies and Corvettes, perhaps even though we do see higher wear in the UOAs, it isn't something that is going to significantly reduce their engine life. Maybe I have been too hard on Mobil 1 in the past after all. It seems to work well for a lot of F-body and Corvette owners after all.

[ January 07, 2004, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[V6 Diesel]

quote:

---

Originally posted by vin_ams:
Three years ago I sold a 1972 Olds Cutlass 350 CID. I purchaced this in Oct. 1971. I sold it a little over 3 years ago, with 367,000 on the vehicle.

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Back in the 80's I took my company car to the instant oil joint and asked them what engines they had come in with a lot of miles. Said it was the V8 Oldsmobiles. This may have been skewed a little since Lansing is the birthplace of Oldsmobile and we may have had more Olds per capita.

 

[buster]

quote:

---

As far as Mobil 1 in the F-bodies and Corvettes, perhaps even though we do see higher wear in the UOAs, it isn't something that is going to significantly reduce their engine life. Maybe I have been too hard on Mobil 1 in the past after all. It seems to work well for a lot of F-body and Corvette owners after all.

---

Well, I think for people like you and I, we want the best wear possible so M1 doesn't always come through with that in certain engines, like the LS1. One thing I forgot to add though is that for many of the cars that are out now, that push 250 HP +, I would ONLY use a synthetic oil. So other then extended drains, performance cars also really benefit from synthetic oil.

 

[Matt Heitker]

I had a '92 Volvo 740 wagon which I traded to the Chevy dealer when I bought my '00 Silverado. IIRC, he gave me $4K as a trade in.

The Volvo had well over 165,000 miles. Lots of stuff was wearing out, but it was still fixable and would eventually pass NYS inspection (more and more $$$ each year

). The oil was changed at the Dealer every 5k-7.5k miles (factory OCI was 10k miles), with Castrol GTX 10W30 and a Mann filter.

When I let it go, the engine was in tip-top shape. The tranny was OK, but it slipped a little in reverse (in spite of changing the tranny fluid at the recommended 20K intervals), and the suspension and brakes needed some work (as it always seemed).

Another story about the success of regular oil and filter changes. It almost seems that keeping a car running well depends mostly on servicing it regularly.

 

[DEWFPO]

1985 Mercury Topaz, 4 cyl. 2.3L, 5 speed Manual Trans. 240,000 miles. M1 10W30 and Castrol Syntec 5W-50 all it's life with Fram Filters (all pre- BITOG).

1995 Volvo 960, 6 cyl. Auto. 151,000 miles. M1 10w30 since bought (109,000 miles) and Mann Filters.

DEWFPO

 

[Dr. T]

1994 BMW 850 (5.6L V-12) - 175k mi.
9-10k mile intervals it's whole life (dash computer)
BMW 5-40 Synth for first 70k mi. - (consuming .5 to 1qt.)
BMW 5-30 Synth for next 60k mi. - (consuming from 1qt. to over 2 qts. near 70k of use - brown sludge visible - decreased HP and performance)
Havoline 5-40 Synth (2 x 3k intervals) - no longer available OTC
Mobil 1 0-40 Synth (2k interval - engine sounds like bag of bolts)
Mobil 1 5-30 Synth (1k interval)
Mobil 1 15-50 Synth (3k interval - persistant cold and hot knock)
Delvac 1 5-40 Synth (2 x 3k intervals - excellent cleaning visible)
Mobil 1 15-50 Synth again (5k mi. interval) - no more knock except temps. below -5C - 1qt ev. 2k)
Castrol Syntec 5-50 (3 x 4k mi. intervals) - HP and performance improvement - excellent cleaning - knock only below -15C starts
Castrol 10-60 Synth. (3 x 5k mi.) - continued performance improvement from the Syntec 5-50. Cleaning not as good. Knock at temps below -5C.


My summary (from reading other posts):

5-30 dino - works great with 3k intervals (ie. change at severe service interval)
5-30 Synth - 7k mi. intervals (ie. normal service interval)
A3 oil - anything over 7k ie. 9k (extended service interval.

However I've had problems with A3 5-30 and have moved up in grade concurrently. So I think this grade of A3 is only a starting point with consumption being a huge red light to move up in viscosity asap before other problems (eg. sludge/varnish) ensue.

 

[Tyrolkid]

'88 Ford Thunderbird 5.0, 175k before I sold it. Dino oil and Fram filters, mostly 3-4k. Started with 10w30, ended at 20w50 to keep the oil pressure gauge from bottoming......no oil burn....

 

[Sumerduckman]

1993 Camry 5sfe 4 cyl 5 spd bought new, 236000 miles, 5000 mile oci with Mobil 1 10/30 since breakin. Various filters, Fram, Wix, Purolator, OEM. Motor never opened except for timing belt replacement. Valves still in spec, as of 230000 miles. Now is teenage daughters car. She is trying daily to kill it. She tried extra hard today.....
Still runs great, and I prefer it to the wifes new 03 Camry.

1988 Toyota 4WD Pick-up,22re 4 cyl 5 spd 166000 miles. Up to 96000 miles, Pennzoil 10/30. After 96k, Havoline 10/30. Various filters. 3000 mi OCI's. Just valve adjust and waterpump. Still runs great. Looks like #$%&.

1990 Chevy Celebrity Wagon, 3.1 v6 168000 miles, 3000 mile OCI, whatever 5/30 was on sale. Various filters. Bought at 79000 miles, cheap. Replaced alt and waterpump and ran to 168000 with no other probs.
Just gave it away a couple of months ago. Typical GM paint peeling and falling headliner, it was just getting too ugly. The much trashed 3.1 v6 ran great, did not use a drop of oil between changes, got 25-27 mpg avg, and was one of the cheapest overall cars in terms of total cost I have ever owned.

 

[Hookem]

Vehicle: 94 Chevy S-10 (standard cab)
4.3 V6 w/ 5 speed manual

Miles: 196K

Used Mobil 1 10W-30 since new. Oil changed every 10K miles with any oil filter except Fram.

Motor does not leak or burn oil nor has the engine had any unuscheduled maintenance performed. Regular engine maintenance has consisted of plugs, wires, cap/rotor and air/fuel filters. I did use auto-rx on it at 175K miles. The engine ran much smoother after the treatment

I would attribute the success of this engine to 3 things. 1) The quality of oil. (2) quality of the GM engine. The 4.3 is basically a small block chevy minus 2 cylinders. (3) location where I live. I live in Houston so I don't have any hills or cold weather to deal with.

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman:

Originally posted by Last_Z:[qb]

There is a guy on Corvette Forum who at last count was at 317,000 miles on his 99 Corvette. He has done 5000 mile changes with Mobil 1 5w30 (probably could've doubled those change intervals and still been safe though since he does all highway driving) It's his daily driver, he is a salesman who travels all over Michigan.

---

80k miles a year!

Sounds like the perfect candidate for Amsoil S2k 0w30 changes every 35k.

 

[Alan]

I'm jealous of you guys,my 79 Bimmer 320i only got 129,000 miles.Engine is strong with 10W40.

 

[UncleS2]

152,8xx miles on the Neon. I've posted pretty regularly about the maint & UOA's here on BITOG. Before I found BITOG, I was a pretty religious 3K'er. Sometime later, I may have a new crackpot theory to post on cold temps & motor oil.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by buster:

quote:

---

As far as Mobil 1 in the F-bodies and Corvettes, perhaps even though we do see higher wear in the UOAs, it isn't something that is going to significantly reduce their engine life. Maybe I have been too hard on Mobil 1 in the past after all. It seems to work well for a lot of F-body and Corvette owners after all.

---

Well, I think for people like you and I, we want the best wear possible so M1 doesn't always come through with that in certain engines, like the LS1. One thing I forgot to add though is that for many of the cars that are out now, that push 250 HP +, I would ONLY use a synthetic oil. So other then extended drains, performance cars also really benefit from synthetic oil.

---

Yes, I agree with this. Most of the people I know drive pretty hard, and they would see longer life with synthetics most likely. Most of the people posting in this thread who have gotten long life out of dino oil haven't done it in a high performance engine which sees a ton of full throttle driving. So synthetics definitely do have their place, without a doubt.

 

[Draftmaster3]

88 fullsize chevy pickup 4/4 5.7 245k on it pennzoil 10w 40 hasting filters, never had a valve cover or anything off motor and a 89 chevy S-10 pickup 4.3 275k , pennzoil 10w 40 hasting filters never had a valve cover or anything off motor ( they both get the **** drove out of them)

 

[moribundman]

I had a Canadian-made '84 Buick Century Wagon with the 3.0 V6. I bought that thing when it had 160k miles on it, and I drove it another 100k miles. I used synthetic 10W-30 and 3k mi oil changes, and when the engine was torn down due to a leaking head gasket, there were nice big chunks of metal missing from the piston crowns. Oil consumption was about a quart every 800 miles. The mechanic thought the engine might have had actually 100k miles more on it than I had thought. Could be, who knows?