What oil for 97 Ranger 4.0L?

[Bill in Utah]

I'd take back the Mobil1 and get the Castrol GTX, Pennzoil dino, Havoline or any name brand dino and change it out every 5k or 6months unless you do only short trips (less than 10 miles one way most of the time).

If you do that, then I'd go 5k miles or 4 months.

Take care, Bill

PS: Unless your using oil, NO need for the High Mileage oils like Max life and such..

Stay with normal oils...

 

[kendogg441]

Ya, but, I know in my '05 Subar Outback Sport, I could tell that the Castrol GTX was pretty well spent by 2500-2800 miles. You could tell by the way the engine ran, the power, and cause thast about when it started to burn oil. I drive a vehicle quite hard. My theory has always been that when it starts to burn it, it's not lubricating anymore. Why would the GTX last any longer in this engine?

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

---

I could tell that the Castrol GTX was pretty well spent by 2500-2800 miles.

---

Did you do a UOA to see how it was doing?

I've run GTX 5k and it was doing good in all areas (Engine sounded good, ran good, Oil looked clean on drain and UOA said a-ok) so I've had good luck with it.

And I've heard that the boxer motors are easy on oil so I can't tell you much.

I'd try a UOA with that and see how "spent" the oil is.

If you don't want to use GTX then try Pennzoil. My Uncles 4.0 Exploder has 175k on it and never seen anything but Pennzoil 5w-30 and 10w-30 and runs great. His OCI have been 5k or 4 months.

Halvoine is good too.. So is QS.. And Chevron..

(they all are good)

Take care, bill

PS:

quote:

---

My theory has always been that when it starts to burn it, it's not lubricating anymore.

---

In my 2005 Toyota Corolla 1.8l engine driven 90% highway and some short trips Mobil 1 burnt the most (like 3/4 of a quart in 5k miles) so, I hope that is not correct. The Mobil drive Clean plus which was a 10th of the cost used NONE on the previous oil change!

 

[kendogg441]

Yes, bill, but what does it mean when it starts to burn it on a regular basis by 2500-2800 miles on the oil? I've always been under the impression that is it's starting to burn oil, it's not doing it's job of lubricating anymore, and it's starting to blow past the rings. Am I correct? I'm not saying that when I change it at 2800, it's low, I'm saying that if I check my oil evey tiem I get gas, it never starts to burn till about 2800. If it burns a lil over the entire range, then yes, that could well be somewhat normal. But to all of a sudden start burning oil around that time, no, I don't agree that that is good oil anymore.

Also, as for dino oil, GTX is by far my favorite.

 

[kendogg441]

Also, I drive 17 miles one way to work, not too far, but far enough to get the engine fully warmed up. Takes me about a half hour. And in the subaru at least, it was a 5 speed, adn I hit redline almost daily, if not more. Might not be quite as hard on the truck, but, when I need it to do something, it'll do it, and thast it.

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

---

burn it on a regular basis

---

If you use GTX and it starts to use it @ your 2800 miles, try something else.

My Toyota sometimes uses oil and sometimes does not. Since I've stopped trying out other oils for the last few oil changes, it's started to use about 2 oz per 1,000 miles. (33k on engine)

Before it did not use any except 4oz with Castrol Syntec blend(under 10k miles on engine) and 24oz using Mobil 1 (around 20k on engine)

I think engines use oil, some more than others. I can't say why your Suburu is doing that. Like I said, try other oil and let's see if it's the oil or the engine..

Take care, Bill

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I have a '97 vehicle as well, with 152k on the clock. I attempted one true synthetic oil in the last 10k miles, GC (German Castrol) 0w-30, and I was NOT happy.

Engine got REALLY noisey and just didn't run right. This was after having used Havoline regular 10w-30 oil for it's first 140k miles.

I then ran a couple rounds of Rotella synthetic (but not a TRUE synthetic) 5w-40, truck REALLY likes this stuff as it has good ZDDP (?)additives. But it's too thick for winter use in my 3.2L sohc and got hard to find when I needed to change the oil.

I'm now running 5w-30 Havoline blend at 152k miles, and the truck REALLY REALLY seems to like this oil, I have 2k on it now, and has not used any.

I haven't decided whether to use the 10w-30 blend for summer or stick with 5w-30. But either way, I'm back to Havoline for good - unless it can't be found anywhere, in which I'd run the Rotella.

I also, just out of curiousity, ran one OCI with Havoline HM 10w-30, didn't notice any goods or bads, just didn't see the need to keep using it as I'm not fond of the supposed "seal conditioner" additives that they contain.

 

[kendogg441]

OK, well, whats with this Havoline oil that everybdoy is RAVING about? Is it plain old basic cheapo havoline, or is it some special blend, or synthetic, or partial, or what? Is it better than mobil 1, for my application? I'm sorry I don't understand yet all of the things you guys are talking about, but, I'm tryig to learn. At thy point, I think I just need to be led in the right direction. Thank you everybody though, for al of your help.

 

[mikemc]

Havoline conventional oil has gained a following here because it has turned in some outstanding used oil analysis in members' vehicles and it generally sells for less than other top shelf dinos. New and used oil analysis helps us cut through wive's tales and personal opinion to see how an oil really performs. The only way to know for sure what oil is best for your truck is through used oil analysis. That would be a good idea anyway to make an early detection of internal problems such as coolant leak, fuel dilution, etc.

 

[kendogg441]

Well, I dunno *** do do anymore, *****. I'm very confused now.

 

[kendogg441]

OK, so, consensus says I should take back the M1 0W-40 I bought, case I still have the receipt. Now, when I do go to buy oil, it won't matter is I buy an SL or SM rated oil? And you are all saying I should stick wiht the 5W-30 weight that OEM suggests?

I have a buddy that uses Valvoline Maxlife. He swears by it. Is it that good of an oil? As far as I know, the engine leaks no oil as of now. Should I use Castrol GTX, or would Valvoline Maxlife be a better choice? I'd like to make this exchange today if possible. Thnak you everybody for all of your help.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Personally, run what the previous owner has been running, it's made it this far.

Otherwise just stick to any good regular oil with a good filter, there truly is no real need to run synthetic unless your extending your oil change intervals to 6-10k.

FWIW - my personal opinion, Mobil 1 synthetic is not all that it's cracked up to be.

 

[Woody]

quote:

---

Also, as for dino oil, GTX is by far my favorite.

---

kendogg, run GTX but do a used oil analysis (UOA) at 3K. Then post it in the UOA forum to see how it is performing.

 

[kendogg441]

Well, I just took the M1 0W-40 back. While at k-Mart, though, they had M1 EP 5W-30 there, so I bought a case of that. I'll try it out, wiht the Pure One filter I bought, and see what hapens. I'll just keep an eye on it. Thanks for all the help everybdoy.

 

[kendogg441]

OK, well, I'm going to take the Mobil 1 back today, adn just buy a case of Castrol GTX 5W-30. I'll run that, and see what happens. If it starts to burn that off by 3k miles, then I'll look into another oil. I personaly believe that it's how hard I am on a car that makes the oil degrade much faster. Frequent trips to redline, add in some engine braking and a lil stop adn go driving every once in awhile probably isn't too good for oil.