What brand/weight oil do you run?

White95Max · 01-02-05, 08:38

I currently use Quaker State Peak Performance 10W-30 in the summer and 5W-30 in the winter. I went out and looked for a lighter weight oil, and bought a 5qt jug of Castrol GTX 5W-20.

I thought about changing to synthetic, but I already have almost 160,000 miles on my Max. Is there a problem with switching to synthetic with that many miles?

And what do you run in your vehicles?

ZaneO · 01-02-05, 08:41

I run Castrol GTX 10W-30.

It is not recommended to switch to synthetic after that many miles using dino, due to the condition of the seals, etc.

Here is the site to answer all of your oil questions: www.bobistheoilguy.com

Scottwax · 01-02-05, 08:48

Royal Purple 5W-30. I change the filter at 3000 miles and top off. I change the oil and filter at 6000 miles.

By "I", I mean the loob goons at Kwik Kar.

Blazern00b · 01-02-05, 08:48

www.bobistheoilguy.com

check them out. Best place for any oil questions. They will advice you run some AutoRX through a cleaning cycle on the engine before switching out. Use some cheap oil like chevron/havoline for this, rinse with GTX, fill with your favorite synthetic, Mobil 1 or German Castrol 0w30.

As for oil, my Jimmy gets Castrol 5w30 for now, till i can figure out what i am going to do next, maybe 0w30 German Castrol Syntec (see bitog for info on this stuff)
Or maybe even Chevron Supreme 10w30.... Cant decide.

The lady's car has its crankcase filled with 5w30 Castrol but it is leakin like crazy from somewhere. Its about 1500 miles in from its last change, and i think i am going to switch it to hi-milage castrol 10w30.

Changes on cars are done at 3K for now. Extended might be possible later with a different oil. We'll see......

For filters, the g/f's car gets Napa gold (wix) and the Jimmy gets OEM Delco's. Next change will be a purolator pure 1.

BTW if you are going to do extended drains, i would recomend the Napa Gold, as it has the silicone ADBV. Much higher quality and it will last durring the extended interval. Stay away from the orange cans of death (fram)

Setec Astronomy · 01-03-05, 04:13

Hi Maxy,

Some people here have different opinions than I'm going to give you. I'm not sure why ZaneO doesn't want you to switch to syn due to the condition of the seals, it shouldn't deteriorate them any more than they are, and if you're not leaking now, you shouldn't leak a synthetic of the same winter weight.

For that older engine, I wouldn't recommend using an oil with a lower summer rating (the second half of the viscosity number), especially if you're using some oil at this point.

My recommendation would be Mobil 1 0W-30 for those cold WI winters. That will give you a 0-weight at startup, but the protection of a 30-weight when warmed up and during the summer. I can't find this locally anymore (used to get it at WalMart) but maybe they have it in your colder clime. You can also get it at www.mscdirect.com, but it's more expensive there.

And yes, that's what I use. I have 2 GM's ('88 and '90) in my family with over 110,000 miles each that have been living on Mobil 1 5W or 0W-30 for their whole lives, and don't require any oil between changes or drip any on the garage floor.

And yes, for those of you who use different brands or weights, I am an idiot, I was raised by wolves, I'm un-American, and I suck, so you don't need to post back and tell me that.

Bill D · 01-03-05, 05:00

Auto Zone seems to be the premier spot for oil. I've seen plenty of M1 0W-30 there as well as the hard-to-get-in the States "German Castrol" Syntec 0w-40

vapore0n · 01-03-05, 05:13

your dino oil might have gunked the seals, preventing leaks. Might have gunked the rest of the engine too, making you loose power.

Changing to syn might make your engine clean itself up, but might cause leaks.

My first car, the engine had to be rebuilt at 80k miles. I personally cleaned most parts of the block, including the valve covers. I started using mobil 1 after that. 80k miles later I removed those covers. They looked exactly as I had left them, no oil gunk or burn residue.

Setec Astronomy · 01-03-05, 05:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill D
Auto Zone seems to be the premier spot for oil. I've seen plenty of M1 0W-30 there as well as the hard-to-get-in the States "German Castrol" Syntec 0w-40

Thanks, Bill, I don't really have a convenient AZ. WalMart also seems to be the only place where the 5 gal. jugs of M1 are available (pricing is usually better on these); anyone see these elsewhere?

EDIT--that should have been 5 QUART

White95Max · 01-03-05, 05:17

Quote:

Originally posted by Setec Astronomy
Thanks, Bill, I don't really have a convenient AZ. WalMart also seems to be the only place where the 5 gal. jugs of M1 are available (pricing is usually better on these); anyone see these elsewhere?

5Gal or 5qt? I've seen the 5QT jugs at the local Walmart here.

Setec Astronomy · 01-03-05, 05:19

Quote:

Originally posted by vapore0n
...including the valve covers. I started using mobil 1 after that. 80k miles later I removed those covers. They looked exactly as I had left them, no oil gunk or burn residue.

I'll second that I have no gunk or burned film inside (looking at the top of the head thru the filler cap) after using Mobil 1 on those 2 cars for 110,000+ miles each. To be fair, I don't know that if I had used conventional oil it wouldn't be the same.

Setec Astronomy · 01-03-05, 05:20

Quote:

Originally posted by White95Max
5Gal or 5qt? I've seen the 5QT jugs at the local Walmart here.

Oops...5 QUART

Lone Gunman · 01-03-05, 05:48

I agree with vaporeOn. Conventional oil will gunk up your seals and engine. If you switch to a synthetic oil, with its much higher content of detergents, it will clean out that gunk that may have been preventing a leak.

You can look at this two ways: you can be lazy (not to offend anyone) and keep using conventional oil that will further gunk up your engine, or you can switch to synthetic and use it like an indicator. Like I said, the syn. oil will break down the gunk and may cause leaks. These possible leaks mean that you need some work done on your engine. That way you may be able to prevent more serious engine damage down the road. It's your choice.

That being said, I use Mobil 1 10w-30