Oil recommendation for 2003 Mazda B2300 (Ranger)

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Hi guys,

doing an oil change on my new to me Mazda B2300.

it's got 120k miles roughly with unknown maintenance. The truck is in great shape and runs really nicely.

I'll be driving short trips of 3 miles each way to work, and two 10 mile highways runs a week.

any thoughts on Oil and intervals?

I was honestly thinking penzoil conventional for 6 month changes.

I'd love to run mobil 1 for a change on annual intervals, but I'm concerned about swapping to synthetic at this point. possibly M1 high mikeage which is on sale right now.

any thoughts?

thanks.

Ryan
 
Those are some pretty short trips.

AT or MT?

Those engines are pretty easy on oil. I do yearly OC with Amsoil 8K-14K intervals; I do a few 500mile trips a year

For you, and because of the short tripping, I would roll with your 6 month intervals with PYB

Check out the differential cover; mine rusted thru in 9 years.
 
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With short trips, the thought is that moisture and maybe some unburned fuel don't get driven off because the oil doesn't have time to get good and hot. Under your conditions 6 months on coventional would probably be better than a year on synthetic.
 
thanks guys, I'm leaning towards that. the truck is s 5 speed manual.

I may go with the Castrol gtx blend we have up here now....every 6 months. might give me a bit of help in the cold mornings

thanks again.
 
thanks guys, I'm leaning towards that. the truck is s 5 speed manual.

I may go with the Castrol gtx blend we have up here now....every 6 months. might give me a bit of help in the cold mornings

thanks again.

oh! yes the difference cover does have a bit of surface rust. I lucked out in that the previous owner undercoated it regularly. it's pretty clean.
 
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Originally Posted By: barkingspider
I would run 5 or 10w30 w no more than 5k mile OCI.


thanks barking spider.

any reason not to run 5w20? there's 5w30 quake4stat3 high mileage on sale right now.
 
That engine will run on anything. 0W-20 to 15W-40, you name it. Just get a decent dino or blend and go 5-6000 miles every change. In Canada, I’d go for a 5W-30.
 
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Our old 98 ranger auto 4 cyl made it
to 300,000 on castrol gtx, sometimes PYB
It now belongs to another family member
And now approaching 400,000 miles
Just go with the maxlife and keep on driving
Mybe a few short intervals with chevron supreme
to see if any gunk falls out
 
Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
My guess is 5W-30. I'd run a decent HM 5W-30 like MaxLife...


This is not the 2.3 Lima; this is a variant of the 2.3 (2.5) used in the current and past fusions.

It is a DOHC all aluminum modern engine.
 
Those are very reliable engines when cared for. Nothing fancy is needed. Routine OCIs with any decent dino oil will keep it running a LONG time.


PS - ALL lubes are blends. They are blends of base stocks, additives, chemical compounds and elements, etc; it's chemistry. Just a pet-peeve of mine. I realize you mean "semi-synthetic blend". But just realize that ALL lubes are "blends". Even products that are predominantly PAO, still have grp II or III "blended" into them to carry the add-packs, because PAOs by themselves have poor solubility adhesion; they use a lower base-stock to hold the additives in suspension. So even a PAO will rely on some small portion of lower group oils to do part of the work. Which means that ALL LUBES ARE BLENDS of base stocks, additives, and compounds that won't show upon in a UOA.
Dino oils are blends.
Semi-synthetic oils are blends.
"Pure" synthetics are not "pure" but are also "blends".
There is no product on the market we can buy that is not a "blend" of many different things to achieve a task.

Don't worry about what comes out of the bottle. Focus on what comes out of the crankcase. Do some UOAs.
 
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My middle daughter has one of these with a stick shift. Great little truck!

We run 5W-30 for 5k miles, good name brand conventional is fine. Expect long life and great service...
 
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