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[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: SilverC6
I like the PP but I still can't get past 7500 mi. on a change.

That's 2 1/2 times my conventional oil change interval.

I feel like I've got my money's worth at 7500.


thats how i feel too. at 7500 my oil is BLACK lol not totally but you get the point. i know color doesnt really indicate how the oil is at that time but still/. 7500 is a good run for a good synthetic esp with no UOA's

 

[kbohip72]

Personally I'll never go over 5k miles on any oil, synthetic included. PP is $20 for 5 quarts at Wal-Mart. What is the old saying about being penny wise and pound foolish? Every driver is different though, and the miles I put on my car are what I'd consider severe. I live at 6,500' above sea level so my engine is working about 20% harder than an engine at sea level. I'm into the gas pedal that much deeper than sea level. I do a lot of city driving (95%+) and a lot of stop and go. I used to own a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I was going to start doing 7,500 mile oci with it. I occasionally used it to tow a boat in the summer. At 5k miles, I took a sample of the oil and sent it in for an analysis. They told me the oil was already within 1k miles of needing changing. Keep in mind this was Mobil 1.

Now if I were to do 95% highway driving and a lot of it? I'd definitely go for a longer oci. I'd never consider it on a vehicle I was towing with, especially for summer driving. I wonder if those people with the Toyota's and VW's that were going with the 7,500 mile factory recommended oil change were surprised when their engines prematurely sludged up? That could have been avoided by just changing the oil more often.

http://www.autosafety.org/oil-sludge-woes-plague-vw
http://www.schleeter.com/oil-sludge.htm
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050514/news_lz1d14sludge1.html

Oh, and I know a lot of people here do the oil analysis on a regular basis just to extend their oci, but really, what's the point? An analysis costs $22.50 a pop, and for just a bit more on most cars, you can buy all the PP you need to do an oc plus the filter. No analysis needed as the oil is then new!

 

[ZZman]

PP does have alot of Calcium in it for cleaning. On an older or high mileage car that might have built up some crud it would be a good idea to run a shorter than planned oil change of say 3-5,000 miles so the oil will be able to clean and suspend the contaminants until you change the oil.

 

[roushstage2]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Originally Posted By: roushstage2
I'm switching to PP tomorrow when I get back from another trip. Car had 87,000 miles on it and changing it every 4-6 weeks (3,000 miles on MaxLife) was getting old. I plan on running it for about 7,000 miles when I put it in and going from there with a UOA.


I'd do a few shorter OCI's with the PP to start so that it doesn't keep the liquefied gunk churning around in your engine for an extended period. The other option would be to run some Auto RX before you switch. I did a 2,500 mile clean with Auto RX, then a 2,000 mile rinse, and a second short 1,000 mile rinse to get as much stuff out as I could before I switched over. I didn't want my PP getting dirty too fast.

The MaxLife has been fairly clean when coming out. I'm not going the ARX route because of the cost to do it. I'm unemployed ATM so anything above and beyond isn't an option really. I'm going to be running the PP with a Fram XG. Most of the mileage on this car comes quickly because of my long commutes. A single commute is ~100 miles if I don't have to go anywhere else along the way.

Haven't been able to put the PP in though as it decided to start raining Thursday night and hasn't stopped since (I have no cover).

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: roushstage2
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Originally Posted By: roushstage2
I'm switching to PP tomorrow when I get back from another trip. Car had 87,000 miles on it and changing it every 4-6 weeks (3,000 miles on MaxLife) was getting old. I plan on running it for about 7,000 miles when I put it in and going from there with a UOA.


I'd do a few shorter OCI's with the PP to start so that it doesn't keep the liquefied gunk churning around in your engine for an extended period. The other option would be to run some Auto RX before you switch. I did a 2,500 mile clean with Auto RX, then a 2,000 mile rinse, and a second short 1,000 mile rinse to get as much stuff out as I could before I switched over. I didn't want my PP getting dirty too fast.

The MaxLife has been fairly clean when coming out. I'm not going the ARX route because of the cost to do it. I'm unemployed ATM so anything above and beyond isn't an option really. I'm going to be running the PP with a Fram XG. Most of the mileage on this car comes quickly because of my long commutes. A single commute is ~100 miles if I don't have to go anywhere else along the way.

Haven't been able to put the PP in though as it decided to start raining Thursday night and hasn't stopped since (I have no cover).


If the MaxLife is clean-ish coming out, there's no need for ARX or any other cleaner, additive as ML has a lot of calcium. You could try to drive a little longer with some MMO added to the crankcase as sort of a gentle flush...

 

[roushstage2]

I don't mean to be Mr. Obvious, but is MMO = Marvel Mystery Oil? Would that be a good idea to put some in with PP? I'm not running MaxLife anymore because of how quickly I rack up the miles.

 

[Badlees]

I'm going 6K on platinum. That's three months of driving and towing. Luckily, I don't tow very far so no worries. I'm about three weeks away from changing the current run of MC out with the Platinum.

 

[ADFD1]

Originally Posted By: roushstage2
I don't mean to be Mr. Obvious, but is MMO = Marvel Mystery Oil? Would that be a good idea to put some in with PP? I'm not running MaxLife anymore because of how quickly I rack up the miles.


MMO will work fine with PP. I usually add it toward the end of the OCI, about a pint for the last 500-1000 miles. It works great and keeps a clean engine very clean if used that way. A dirty engine would require a longer run and a stronger dose.

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[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: kbohip72
. . .
Oh, and I know a lot of people here do the oil analysis on a regular basis just to extend their oci, but really, what's the point? An analysis costs $22.50 a pop, and for just a bit more on most cars, you can buy all the PP you need to do an oc plus the filter. No analysis needed as the oil is then new!


That's really not correct. Fleet operators with vehicles on the roads for millions of miles per year use UOA as a way to economically extend their OCIs. Small timers, like most of us at BITOG, do it primarily to see how the oil, AND THE ENGINE, are holding up. Now, for some of my cars, I've used the results to lengthen my OCIs (look at my old Sequoia UOAs from 04 and 05, for example), but for the most part, the dominant element of the curiosity is how the engine is doing.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Originally Posted By: roushstage2
I don't mean to be Mr. Obvious, but is MMO = Marvel Mystery Oil? Would that be a good idea to put some in with PP? I'm not running MaxLife anymore because of how quickly I rack up the miles.


MMO will work fine with PP. I usually add it toward the end of the OCI, about a pint for the last 500-1000 miles. It works great and keeps a clean engine very clean if used that way. A dirty engine would require a longer run and a stronger dose.

AD


^^What he said...

I can't prove it conclusively beyond my own anecdotes and observations, but I used a pint of MMO with Pennzoil Platinum for the last 300 miles of the last OCI. I looked in my oil filter and had some debris in it and the oil quickly got darker...

Conversely from you, I'm now running MaxLife 5w30 and the oil is still very clean with 1700+ miles and six weeks on the oil...

 

[roushstage2]

OK. I will look into the MMO then towards the end of my run with PP. That will give me time to try and scrounge up some money for it. I'm down 1/2 quart at about the 2,500 mile mark on the oil, so at that point I will use up the last 1/2 quart of oil, then towards about the 5,000 mile mark, I will just top it off with 1/2 quart of MMO then and finish my 6,000 or 7,000 mile run?

Again though, I'm only switching to a synthetic because of the large amounts of highway driving I do. Obviously, spending $20 every 4-6 weeks adds up faster than spending $28 every (hopefully) 8-12 weeks with the extended OCI from PP and the Fram XG filter.

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[ADFD1]

That should work fine. A pint added toward the end of the OCI will do some cleaning, and in your case if you decide to run it 1000-2000 miles you aren't going to have any problems.

Most people are a little afraid to use the suggested 1 qt dose of MMO and run it the full OCI as per directions. If I decide to use it that way I do it during the winter time. You'll notice the car will start a little easier, and the oil will flow a little faster.


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[chevrofreak]

I don't know how much additional cleaning it's going to do. PP does a darned good job of that on its own.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
I don't know how much additional cleaning it's going to do. PP does a darned good job of that on its own.


Agreed...

 

[roushstage2]

Finally had the chance to change to the PP today (amongst fixing other things under the hood)! Have the MaxLife sample all ready to go once I can afford it.

Not sure what to say about it. Good price for the 5qt. jug and...the color is nice? lol.

6,000 here I come, have about 10 down so far!

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
I'll get blasted here, but ANY synthetic oil will go 10k miles in a non-sludging engine.



No way. My communte is 6 miles each way in all kinds of heat and cold. The OLM on my GMC would get to zero at 5900-6800 miles. 10k is way off that for sure.

 

[addyguy]

The OLM is 'calibrated' for dino. It assumes you're running dino, and would have you change THAT at 5900-6800 miles.

Synthetic would easily go the extra 3-4k miles to 10k. I stand by me statement.