Recommend synthetic oil? Change at 3k or 5k

[alanwagen]

The car guys on PBS would recommend 5k intervals with conventional oil. Anything less is a waste of oil and a boat payment for the quick lube. Oil and engines are much much better so this is not your grandad's Oldsmobile with a carburetor.

BTW, the Prius interval is 10k with synthetic and even then the oil looks real clean.

[nortonfb]

With Mobile 1 extended mileage, I changed the filter at 5,500 miles and oil at 9000.
I'm trying out Total/Elf now and will change the oil & filter at about 7000 miles.
Both oils are 5w/30. I look at the oil color on occasion, real scientific.
Norton

[garrettbeachy]

We have a 2004 Scion XB that now has 291,000 miles on it. It has had full synthetic and an upgraded air filter in it for most of its life, with oil changes at around 10k. The engine still runs great and will probably continue past 400k.

[alanwagen]

Read the url below. Even Click and Clack would say no sooner than 5k.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop...-your-oil.html

[caaront]

At 120,000 miles I will have 7000 miles on the synthetic, will get on a 5000 schedule or, whatever then.

[Jcp123]

Originally Posted by alanwagen

this is not your grandad's Oldsmobile with a carburetor.

BTW, the Prius interval is 10k with synthetic and even then the oil looks real clean.

I'd take Opa's Olds over modern cars any day. Modern cars are, shall we say, overrated. And this from someone with much love for my Echo.

Prius doesn't run its engine all the time, so longer OCIs make sense.

[MoneyT8]

I put Mobile one full synthetic and change at 5,000 miles or 6 months. I'm thinking about going longer maybe 7-8k. My car has 151,000+ so I would like to ride my car until the wheels fall off. I only use toyota OEM oil filters which can be purchased at the dealership.

[alanwagen]

Originally Posted by Jcp123

I'd take Opa's Olds over modern cars any day. Modern cars are, shall we say, overrated. And this from someone with much love for my Echo.

Prius doesn't run its engine all the time, so longer OCIs make sense.

I can see a nostalgic affection for old cars, but changing plugs and rebuilding carbs all the time gets old. You would be lucky to get 100 k out of an old car without extensive repairs: shocks, front end, alternators. What I don't miss the most of old cars is the tweaking the automatic choke and hesitation, stalling and balking when the engine was cold. Back in those days, you had a good car when it would start on the second crank. And lets not even get in to the ignition points and setting the dwell.

[bairjo]

If your car is still under warranty, change the oil as they require on the maintenance schedule. I don't care what claims are made on here about the super duper oil, you will risk voiding your warranty. Unless anyone on here is an official Toyota spokesman making a statement saying "go ahead and change the oil whenevr you feel" i would not risk voiding my warranty regardless of the spin put on here.

[alanwagen]

My son puts Mobil 1 extended performance in his Yaris. Guaranteed for 15k but he changes it at 10k. Synthetic is supposed to have a more consistent molecule size for better performance. I guess there must be some value to synthetic as that is what is required in some high performance cars as well what is used in the racing circuits.



https://mobiloil.com/en/motor-oils/m...ed-performance

[ex-x-fire]

I go by the light which is every 5k, I use name brand dino oil(like shell or others) & USA made Q-state filters. I spend about 10 bucks to change the oil.
One thing that is important is to get your car up to operating temp to boil away the moisture that collects in the oil. If you do a lot of short trips, try and get the car out on a long run to get the oil hot once a month.
I hope you guys (who are going 15k on oil changes) are changing your oil filters at 7.5k.

[fnkngrv]

Oil analysis is the only real way to determine when you should be changing your oil. period. I was running usually 13-14,000 miles between changes before my build motor with AMSOIL Signature Series and their EA15 series filter. Now that I have the built motor and the full setup I am switching to 3-4,000 again to reduce coking in the turbo and with how the setup is designed.

[fnkngrv]

Also for those that are seriously misinformed you can't "look at" any lubricant and have any clue whether or not it is "clean" or serviceable. another tidbit is that conventional oil is only designed to lubricate the system. synthetic is designed to not only lubricate, but also suspend debris in ita structure to keep it away from the system's components however even that can only be taken so far.

[sheekeebut]

I'll go with every 8,000 km or 6 months per manufacturer's schedule, with full synthetic purchased on sale days, for a self-rewarding placebo-induced peace of mind.

I won't busy myself with trying to calculate my oil change cycle based on fuel consumption, driving habits, seasonal changes, etc. That's something a furious race driver like fnkngrv must do. I'll leave the land speed records to him, thanks. I just want my go-kart sedan to last me another 3-5 years or so of domestic life.

Is it not better to just get it done at the same time as the other regular maintenance?

Do you take showers once a week because your shampoo has three times the conditioners in it? Do you drink water less often because it's Evian and it's like pristine French alps cleaner, purer, cleaner water than tap water? Do you change your clothes less often because they have better breathing and sweat-wicking technology?

Some do... I don't.

I'd say until you know how your car behaves in the long run, just giving its due maintenance at regular intervals is much more important than the decision to give it full synth vs conventional. I think the point at which I switched to fill synthetic was when I realized I didn't care if it cost me that much more, because at the end of the year, I could more than afford it. Yet another advantage to, or side effect of, owning a Yaris.

[bairjo]

[quote=sheekeebut;756909]I'll go with every 8,000 km or 6 months per manufacturer's schedule, with full synthetic purchased on sale days, for a self-rewarding placebo-induced peace of mind.



Do you take showers once a week because your shampoo has three times the conditioners in it?

Soft water or hard water?

[alanwagen]

[QUOTE=bairjo;756948]

Originally Posted by sheekeebut

I'll go with every 8,000 km or 6 months per manufacturer's schedule, with full synthetic purchased on sale days, for a self-rewarding placebo-induced peace of mind.



Do you take showers once a week because your shampoo has three times the conditioners in it?

Soft water or hard water?

Actually I use synthetic shampoo and conditioner. Very slippery. I keep falling in the tub.

[tmontague]

I run synthetic (Canadian Tire Formula 1) for easier starts in the climate here. During the dead of the winter I started running Mobil 1 0w30 since I got it on sale. The >-20 morning starts are much easier and the temperature wamr up much quicker than my fiancees echo w/ conventional (mind you her Echo is also an '02).

I change every 8-9,000km depending on the amount of traffic I am in during that time frame as well as is it winter or not. So far engine has been running without a hitch and it looked extremely clean when I removed the valve cover.

[sheekeebut]

The hardest water known to man: moonshine