What kind of motor oil do you use?

I

imported_Luster

New member
Synthetic or conventional?

Change it yourself or have it done?

Advantages and disadvantages..... etc.

Here's my list:
2000 Pontiac T/A LS1 V8: Mobile 1 Synthetic 10-30
2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP 3800 V6 S/C: Quaker State 10-40 Conventional
1982 Chevrolet Corvette 350 V8: Castrol GTX 10-50 High Mileage

Wix Filters in all vehicles; I change it myself every 3000:cornut:....:D

What are you using?????
 
My 240sx

Greddy GR-1 or 2 depending on the time of the year i buy them in cases ...
Greddy Oil Filter

Change it myself
Advantages- Cheaper not really but i just want to do it =)

Mainly because it is an amazing oil for turbo'ed engines i run 18lb's on the street and thats pretty high boost gotta make sure the motors being lubed properly - Track days see close to 26lbs

S2000

Greddy GR-3 same i buy it in a case
Usually mobil 1 filter

Change it myself

Its not boosted but its just a nice oil and it keeps the internals looking very nice you dont get that yellowing on the cam caps its just worth the money for me

Audi

taken to dealership just because its a brand new car low mileage and i can keep all service records so resell will be higher
 
Royal Purple 5W-30. Buy it at the local parts store, take it to a drive-thru oil place and have them change it. Expensive at the counter, but cheaper in the long run because I can go longer without having to change it. I used to change every 3k but now I can change it about every 6-8K.
 
I have M1 5w-30EP in the Denali truck with the M1 filter. Change it about every 10k miles.

Wifes 99 740il-last change I put M1 5w-40 Truck and SUV oil with a purolator filter. It takes a cartridge filter so my choices are limited. Change it every 10k.
 
Synthetic - Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30

I change it myself...still have to send a sample or two more to Blackstone Labs to get down my change interval.

Advantage for me is that it's better at dealing with Direct Injection fuel dilution issues than some other synthetics and I can get 6 quarts at a good price.
 
I'm actually at about 10k right now since my last change. If the oil isn't too dirty on my next visit then I think that I'll start changing it every 10k miles. Any recommendations on a good oil filter? I'm not sure if I trust the plain filter that I buy, to work any longer than 6-8k.
 
RustyBumper said:
I'm actually at about 10k right now since my last change. If the oil isn't too dirty on my next visit then I think that I'll start changing it every 10k miles. Any recommendations on a good oil filter? I'm not sure if I trust the plain filter that I buy, to work any longer than 6-8k.
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Ive always trusted Mobil 1 ... Im pretty sure its one of the best
 
'73 VW Bug - Valvoline 5W30 Conventional...car doesn't have a filter. If you have never seen one, there is a plate with a wire mesh screen you remove on the bottom of the engine (About 4" in diameter). The oil drains out of here, you clean or replace the screen, install a new gasket between the plate and engine, and put the plate back on. I change the oil once a year, and adjust the valves in the engine at the same time (I put about 3000 miles a year on it). I change it myself, because an oil change place would probably be confused with it (and not have the gasket anyways).

2002 Hyundai Elantra (120,000 miles). Since new, the oil has been changed every 4,000 miles with 5W30. Currently running Valvoline synthetic blend and Wix filters. I change it myself. My wife had bought this car new when we were dating. She came from a Honda family, and always had Civics and Accords. I was a little afraid when she bought this car (being a Hyundai), but I must say it has held up AWESOME. Everything still works on it, it looks like new, and gets 30mpg around town, and 38 on the hwy.

2006 Honda Element. I think it calls for 5w20. I use Valvoline synthetic blend, and Wix filters. Just came out of warranty last month, so I'll be doing the oil changes on it myself now. I put 9000 miles a year on it, so I change the oil every 6 months.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer. Dealer takes care of this one, since it's under warranty.
 
Mobil Synthetic

Luster said:
Synthetic or conventional?

Change it yourself or have it done?

Advantages and disadvantages..... etc.

Here's my list:
2000 Pontiac T/A LS1 V8: Mobile 1 Synthetic 10-30
2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP 3800 V6 S/C: Quaker State 10-40 Conventional
1982 Chevrolet Corvette 350 V8: Castrol GTX 10-50 High Mileage

Wix Filters in all vehicles; I change it myself every 3000:cornut:....:D

What are you using?????
Click to expand...

1999 Mercedes E320 ...synthetic required...I do it myself..change about every 7k or 1 year. It can go up to 10k between changes..but depends on driving conditions. I use the suction method through the oil filler neck now....no need to climb underneath the car and removing the drain plug. It works pretty good using the Mityvac.
I know people using regular oil that has over 200K on their car and it is still running good. The key is regular changes regardless of conventional or synthetic oil. Technically the synthetic is better...but for a price. The way I see it, it is a matter of saving time...if you use regular oil..you need to change it every 4-5k...if you use synthetic you need to change every 8-10k.
Thus, you save time by not having the oil changed as often....but you pay more upfront for the convienience.
 
OIL - Castrol Syntec 0W-30 aka German Castrol

FILTER - AC Delco but have used other brands

INTERVAL - Roughly 6500-7500 miles

WHO DOES THE WORK? Me. Only had it done by someone else once. They spilled oil on the exhaust manifold and made a mess. Not going to do that again.

ADVANTAGES - GC is, in my opinion, the best oil money can buy at retail. I like it a lot better than Mobil One as it reduces the typical GM cold start knock/piston slap issue common in the Vortec V8 engines. Mobil One made my engine sound like an old diesel. There are many other excellent products on the market for me to use something I don't really like, so no more Mobil products for me.

GC has been great, excellent oil analyses, does everything I want at a reasonable price. I'm sold.
 
OIL: Pennzoil Platinum 5w20 (MKZ), SynPower 10w30 (Dakota), Castrol Syntec 10W-30 (Sebring).

Why price....I will switch back to MC 5W-20 if I cannot PP on sale.

Filters: MC or Purolator.
 
1996 Honda Prelude VTEC: Castrol GTX 10W-30 conventional. Every 3-5k
2007 Honda Accord EX-L V6: Motorcraft 5W-20 synthetic blend. When computer says it's time.
2008 Lexus IS350: Valvoline 5W-30 synthetic. Every 5k.

The Prelude is my toy car. It gets few miles a week. I change the oil based more on time than miles.
The Accord is my wife's DD. She drives is 500 miles a week. It's currently at 36k. The Motorcraft was the cheapest at Walmart ($10.36 a gallon):)
The IS is my DD, but I don't drive that much. It just hit 15k. Advance Auto had the Valvoline synthetic for BOGO a while back and I bought about 100k's worth for the IS.:D
Yeah. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a DIY kind a guy.:)
 
I use MOBIL 1 0-w40 in my Benz...and thats what it calls for and i have the guys at Lambo dealership where i work do it...saves me alot of Cash
 
Works as a mech for 30+ years i would never recommend to any of my customers to change there oil every 10 thousand miles even using a full syntheic or a syntheic blend.The heat todays engines produce from having turbo's or just the day to day driving the oils start breaking down why before that.The auto maker i work for changed there recommend serv from 5000 to 7500 and since most people figure well if it's 7500 i can push it to 9000 miles .We started to track these customers engines and the sludge build up was unreal some to a point that the cars came in with no oil pressure.I thought that this was only our car line but after speaking to other techs i know at least five other car lines had the same problem.I really don't want to mention the car lines but they are all very high line cars.Bottom line is an engine loves an oil change and filter if you do this every 5000miles it will give you alot less headaches in the future .It still is the cheapest and the best maintance you can perform.Also try WIX oil filters they also out last the big 3 companys .If you read about oil filters look WIX and compare there specs to others or if you find a store by you that sells them pick one up and in the other hand pick up another filter and compare the weight of each .It's not the metal that makes it heavier but the material inside that does the filtering.Just my 2 cents and yes i understand everyone has an opinion.
 
I run Valvoline 10w30 in my '96 Mercedes E320, usually have the local indie mechanic do it. Running 3,000 mile intervals and it's running perfect at ~264,000 miles. Little bit of seepage around the head gasket, but no noticable drop in level between changes.

In the early 90s, my dad had about 180,000 on a '86 300E. He decided to run Mobil 1 in it. The car almost immediately started using oil, you could even see it puff a bit if you followed him. After a couple changes, he went back to regular Valvoline and it went back to normal. Pretty sure my car's always had dino oil in it, and will continue to. Nothing against synthetic, I think it's great stuff, just not in a high milage engine that's always had regular.
 
DigTheRide said:
I run Valvoline 10w30 in my '96 Mercedes E320, usually have the local indie mechanic do it. Running 3,000 mile intervals and it's running perfect at ~264,000 miles. Little bit of seepage around the head gasket, but no noticable drop in level between changes.

In the early 90s, my dad had about 180,000 on a '86 300E. He decided to run Mobil 1 in it. The car almost immediately started using oil, you could even see it puff a bit if you followed him. After a couple changes, he went back to regular Valvoline and it went back to normal. Pretty sure my car's always had dino oil in it, and will continue to. Nothing against synthetic, I think it's great stuff, just not in a high milage engine that's always had regular.
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Good to hear your e320 is still running good at those mileage. I knew the key was the regular oil change and not so much convention versus synthetic.
But I believed 1999 or newer models were required to run synthetic..so I have no choice on my 1999 e320...I have 77K miles on it...and I have been replacing it with synthetic since new...and so far it is not burning oil..knock on wood :D
I hope I get at least 300k on mine :D
 
I bet you're right about the newer cars using synthetic. They changed engines from the inline6 to the v6 about that time. It'd also explain a guy at a oil change place giving me a hard time about running regular. Thought he was just giving me the hard sell.
 
DigTheRide said:
I run Valvoline 10w30 in my '96 Mercedes E320, usually have the local indie mechanic do it. Running 3,000 mile intervals and it's running perfect at ~264,000 miles. Little bit of seepage around the head gasket, but no noticable drop in level between changes.


Funny you should mention the seepage thing. I take care of my mom's 95' E320. It currently has 84k miles. She doesn't drive much. I just took it in last Monday to a Benz tech because it was running really rough. He told me a few of the spark plug wires were bad and there was also oil leaking around two of the cylinder heads. He said it's a common occurrence with that model. :huh:
Click to expand...
 
Harleyguy said:
Works as a mech for 30+ years i would never recommend to any of my customers to change there oil every 10 thousand miles even using a full syntheic or a syntheic blend.The heat todays engines produce from having turbo's or just the day to day driving the oils start breaking down why before that.The auto maker i work for changed there recommend serv from 5000 to 7500 and since most people figure well if it's 7500 i can push it to 9000 miles .We started to track these customers engines and the sludge build up was unreal some to a point that the cars came in with no oil pressure.I thought that this was only our car line but after speaking to other techs i know at least five other car lines had the same problem.I really don't want to mention the car lines but they are all very high line cars.Bottom line is an engine loves an oil change and filter if you do this every 5000miles it will give you alot less headaches in the future .It still is the cheapest and the best maintance you can perform.Also try WIX oil filters they also out last the big 3 companys .If you read about oil filters look WIX and compare there specs to others or if you find a store by you that sells them pick one up and in the other hand pick up another filter and compare the weight of each .It's not the metal that makes it heavier but the material inside that does the filtering.Just my 2 cents and yes i understand everyone has an opinion.
Click to expand...

I've never heard of WIX filters. Do you know if any of the chain auto parts stores carry them?
 
Amsoil 15w-40 HD Diesel & Marine for the '97 E300.
Amsoil XL 5w-20 for the '05 Taurus.
Amsoil XL 5w-30 for the '05 Corolla.

I've gone to Amsoil as I can always order the same product when needed and for all of our vehicles at one location. I used M1 from the local WalMart, but everytime I needed to change the oil, they or the other locals stores never carried what I needed in stock. In addition From what I can recall, Amsoil is fairly consistent with the base stock that they use for the synthetic oils, Group 4 if I'm not mistaken. Mobil is always changing their formulas... can't leave something good alone without trying to make more money.

And I usually have an oil analysis run from AVLube for every change. This helps keep me informed on the health of the engine, and how long I can safely run the oil in the engine, or keep it in the engine if it's a garage queen without getting too acidic, etc...
 
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