Pappy

What do you guys think about changing over to Mobil 1? I always used conventional oil in the past. I change my oil and filter every 3000 miles. Your input is appreciated. Thanks.

Scrib

If you're gonna change every 3000 miles, stick with conventional.

And I don't think it's recommended to use synthetic until you've got 10,000 on the car.



I've never used synthetic, and probably never will.

Scrib

Double post...

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I switched to Mobil1 5w30 synthetic on my first oil change (around 4200 miles).... been using synthetic since although I switched to Redline since Mobil1 changed their oil to the new Supersyn, or whatever it's called.... I still run a Mobil1 filter though....

bone_stock

If you're going to change it that often dino oil is fine. However, if you feel like spending the extra money go for it. I own Mobil stock!

JasonT

Since my car is leased, I'm not spending any additionl money on maintance, so my car gets regular mobil 5W20 oil every 7500 miles as per the owners manual.

russianDude

I completly agree. I use Mobile 1 and change it every 7500 miles cause I drive city miles most of the times.... If I would be driving highway, i would let it run 10K miles.
no need to waste more money than whatever manual say.

jimcol711

can you really run mobil 1 or other synthetics for 7500 miles??? ive had mobil 1 in my car for 4000 miles and im starting to get nervous, i was planning on changing it out at 5000......is 7500 really ok???

Pappy

I'd change the oil and filter every 3000 miles no matter what oil I used. If you don't change the filter, it'd be like taking a shower and getting back into the same underwear.

jimcol711

hahaa, good analogy man!!

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Oils like Amsoil and even redline can go upwards of 10k miles (I've seen reports of Amsoil going up to 25k with no problems!! ). Regular oil can be changed, per your manual, every 7500 miles if you're doing mostly highway driving, so technically synthetics can go higher, although I personally don't feel comfortable going much over 7500, even with a good filter.....

Personally, with the Redline I've been going around 7500 miles with no problems. If you want to keep it in longer... just get a better filter, but make sure you change the filter every oil change.....

russianDude

You might as well start changing it every 1000 miles....
Changing oil to frequent is also bad.
Its all a waste of money, its been proven that synthetics can double your *regular* drain interval.

Changing oil more frequent than neccessary will not prevent your engine from failure.

someguy

Use Mobil 1 synthetic, or another premium synthetic....

Very resistant to breakdown and sludge.

jimcol711

damn, after hearing this, i might leave my oil in there for another 2500 miles...sure will save money!!!!

russianDude

From some readings I've done, they recommend leaving first oil a little longer like for 5K miles to make sure you have a good break in. Preferably, you should only start using synthetics after 10K miles.

Pappy

Wouldn't your oil get dirty whether it was conventional or synthetic? How can the synthetic oil stay clean longer?

russianDude

You mean color? Dark color does not necessarly mean oil is bad... They do chemical tests to determine whether the oil is still good ( contains all the right chemicals ). Conventional oil chemicals break down faster than synthetics.
"change your oil every 3000miles" is to conservative, this was true 10-20 years ago when car engines were not as good as modern. Modern engines can run longer than 3000 miles, also oils are better....

black97CLonbags

Use it after a while, the mobile 1 tri-synthetic is bomb...i change it every 3000 and it works great

brian

fender4

time to bring back some fun reading,

http://www.seansa4page.com/resource/autotech.html
also http://www.motoroilbible.com

NightHawk

I eally don't see why one should wait to use synthetic. Wouldn't you want protection for your car from the very beginning? I change the oil at 1K to synthetic. Manual says break-in for the engine is up until 600 miles anyway.

russianDude

This is not confirmed, but I read in several places that it is not recommended to switch to synthetics before 10K miles, synthetics are more slipery and do not let you have proper break-in.
This might not be true... But
"chage your oil every 3000 miles" is a myth.... especially for synthetics. this is a fact!

russianDude

After who cares about engine, we've got tranny problems all over the place save that oil changes money for the new tranny

NightHawk

How about synthetic trans oil? Worth it?

Pappy

Hey Fender4, that's a good site. Look what it says under the performance filter part. Basically...performance filters suck.

Pappy

Maybe...what about Slick 50 additive?

NightHawk

One of the sites said that oil additives did nothing for the car and that slick 50 may cause clumping of particles that may clog oil filters, becuase of the PTFE present in the additive.

Slimey

The fun thing about these oil threads is how much of a zealot everyone is about their own personal preference.

[begin rant]
I've yet to see real 'proof' (from an scientific point of view) as to what really is the 'best' thing to do.

What's correct? (rhetorical question)

From all my reading I've come to the conclusion that there is no 'correct' answer to these questions for regular street driving. Most of the real zealots show the 'proof' of their recommendation by citing extreme conditions of weather or racing. For most of us these conditions don't apply.

I think that the oil analysis method probably makes the most sense for critical evaluation of change intervals and engine wear. Is this process 'worth it'? Do I really want to send some oil for anaysis and use the data to do some mental masturbation about when to change the oil? No. It's EASIER to just change it at some regular interval.

I'm going by the manual's recommendations - every 3750 miles for severe conditions and every 7500 for normal conditions. As I do a lot of city driving, the summers are hot, the winters are cold, and I do make short trips, I think it makes sense to follow the severe condition schedule.

Will I change to synthetic? I don't know yet. I ran Mobil 1 5W30 for about 125K miles in my Integra with oil changes about every 3K to 4K miles. Did I waste a lot of money? Probably. Was good motor oil and frequent changing 'cheap' insurace for the engine. Maybe. Did I prolong the life of my engine? I doubt it - I sold the car at about 150K miles, so who cares?

Is there any data that an otherwise properly cared for automobile given the cheapest dino oil at regular manufacturer intervals (7500 miles for normal driving in the CL-S) will suffer from early engine death or severe wear? Not that I've seen. Is there a true randomized blinded trial running multiple different oils in the same production engine for the same running conditions? I've never seen it.

What have I decided? I'm not going to be an oil zealot.
[/end rant]

bill99gxe

Yes, it is quite interesting.



Ask and ye shall receive:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=100060

Download the Excel spreadsheet and click on the "Foreign Vehicles" worksheet if you want to see Hondas, including CLs and TLs.



Such conditions and use are stipulated to in the spreadsheet linked above.


Perfectly acceptable attitude. However, with the V6 VTEC Hondas, oil filtration seems to be a real issue for anyone going over 4 to 5,000 miles, especially on an OEM filter (Honda US filters are made by good ol' Fram). So, for example, changing the filter at 3750 miles in a 7500 miles interval, regardless of oil selection, is a wise thing to do.


Best bang for the buck oil filter that is a quality product: SuperTech ST3950 at Wal-Mart: $1.97. Oversized construction, made on same line as Mobil 1 filters that are $12, and use a similar synthetic media paper for filtration (although Mobil 1's is a full synthetic paper media). There are members here and on the TL forums using this filter (Acutally, its the STP S3950 filter, but it's made on the same line as well, but it is painted a pretty blue color and costs $2.99).

Use of such an oil filter with 4-5,000 mile Castrol GTX dino or 8,000 mile Mobil 1 synthetic oil changes will lead to many happy miles and the best bang for your buck and a sense of caring for the environment and reducing foreign oil dependence.

Leave the bickering about EXACTLY how long such oils can go to the zealots such as myself.

SilverBullet_RENAMED

Oh man, Fram makes the factory filters?! Argggg that bites!

fender4

I sent in my oil for analysis last week, cl had 9600 miles since the last change. Results should be here anyday. On work travel nxt week (SJ Ca.)will post results next fri.

Ken Schwartz::: Air filter discussion has also been beaten to death by Roadrage on the TL board. Oil analysis should show signs of any "Bad" particals inside the engine. I have X CAI intake.

bill99gxe

Just the US-spec filters. Japan filters are much better and even the Canadian-made ones are a little different.


The www.ntpog.org filter report alludes to this in their oil filter breakdown.

bill99gxe

Don,


Thanks for the update. I look forward to getting those results.

JokerABC

Fram for US Honda filters? then i'll stick to my Purolator PureOne filter.

bill99gxe

They are made by Allied Signal, which makes the Fram filters. Disappointing, isn't it? It's real disappointing when you consider that Tennex makes the Japanese-spec Honda filters and they are much better in construction and paper media.



Why buy a $6 filter when a $2 or $3 one will do just as good? It's not until you consider the Mobil 1/K&N synthetic paper media that there is a significant filtration difference between STP, Bosch, SuperTech, etc. And even that is fairly trivial. Although I do concede the PureOne paper media is probably a slight step above STP and Bosch.

Slimey

I really appreciate your efforts and the organization for this exercise. I agree - it is the closest thing to obtaining some credible evidence for oil recommendations.

However, this is just a random trial of random oils in random engines. It is just a collection of anecdotes, not true science.

Do a prospective, randomized trial with the drivers and analyzers blinded to the oil. Check out multiple oils in multiple engines of the same build subjected to the same conditions - then we'll get some real science.

For instance, take 10 CL Type S that came sequenially off the assembly line with the same engine, subject them to same break-in conditions, and the drive them 10000 miles under the same conditions, then check the oil - you would think that police forces, city works vehicles, FedEx, UPS, or trucking companies are already in a situation to do such an analysis. Has anyone seen any data from these mass auto fleets subjected to similar hard driving? This sort of data may be useful, but none of these organizations drive CL Type S's or Maxima's for that matter.

bill99gxe

I'm too lazy to do such a thing.....:o



I understand the science aspect, but I prefer just seeing real world results from real people and looking at simliarities of how engines wear, if there are any.

One consistency about Honda VTEC V6s is they have a relatively high level of metal wear from bearings and seem to stress an oil filter after 4 to 5000 miles. Some conclusions can be extrapolated without the need for rigorous scientific testing.

Slimey

And the cost to run such a study would be prohibitive for the average consumer.

Agreed.

Fabvsix

READ the manual. Syn is fine from the get - go "after that so called break in oil" .....................Been on Mobil Sys for the past 50,000 miles (5w30)

Pappy

Ah yes, Fram...from Framingham, MA.

someguy

Many cars come from the factory with Synthetic, there is nothing wrong with using them from the beginning....