Considering Switching to Full Synthetic Oil

[Coopsdaddy]

amsoil front to back
Last decade
4runner-mine
Yaris-daughter
Lexus-wife
Worth it,not a lot more money and definitely better.Just pick the one that suits your needs.
I use xl/signature series as it’s the mid priced.
Get the best filter,research that and make sure it’s good for the amount of miles you plan to run.
Lots of research on oil and only a few stand out.

 

[Billinsd]

Just research that it is a good additive package in any oil you plan to run it ver 10k or better yet, get an oil test done with the oil you are using at 10k and see how it is holding up. Test will cost you about $30 and you might find you can go 15k or 20k and get a baseline. Might save yourself hundreds in oil thru a year.

I like that, where can I get it tested? I hate doing changes and laying on the ground. The fewer the better, to drive the car or truck to 200,000 plus miles.

 

[Billinsd]

Absolutely

Really, not even 6,000? I think 5,000 is good, safe, and brings peace of mind.

 

[Billinsd]

What does the onboard oil computer tell ya to do?

We used to call them "idiot" lights.

 

[Billinsd]

No real reason to go past 5k other than the 30 minute it takes to change the oil.

30 minutes? It takes me 20 minutes to change my clothes, get the car up on driveway, get the tools, oil, waste oil collector, filter, and remove the skid plate, LOL Actually changing the oil takes 20 minutes, then reverse the procedure. That's about an hour for me. I did three cars last Saturday, which was very efficient and it took me less 2 hours, but it was 95 and hot! I got 3 cars and 1 truck I maintain, and hate changing the fluids. The reason I changes my fluids myself, is because I'm cheap and hate having someone strip my skid plate and oil pan bolts!!!
Bill

 

[Schism]

I have been using Amsoil for several years and several vehicles. I was skeptical of the change intervals so I had the oil tested by a local CAT dealership. The oil was taken from a 6.7L Cummins at 10k and 15k miles on the oil. Both tests showed little to no breakdown of the oil, no significant inclusion of contaminants or indication of wear metals. After seeing those results I've followed Amsoil recommendations on change intervals.

I don't believe that Amsoil is the end all, be all for engine oil and it's likely that most full synthetic oils would perform the same. I have a friend that is a distributor so I support his business, otherwise I'd probably use Kirkland oil and change at 10-15k miles or once a year, whichever happens first.

 

[Shortschaf]

How does one know what additives there are? The quantities, etc? If the combination constitutes a good package?

I can read on the front of the bottle that there are "additives for wear protection" on just about all of them.

Project Farm channel had 18 different brands of 5W-30 (new) analyzed by a lab to compare their additive packages. Really good video that wraps up the results of them all. Plus it gives an idea of what your money does/doesn't go toward with oil

skip to 6:11 to view results


This link is the compilation of all 18 oil analyses he had done. Worth a look if interested in the detailed breakdown. Read the notes from the lab at the top of each report

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www.patreon.com

 

[RoaminTexan]

I like that, where can I get it tested? I hate doing changes and laying on the ground. The fewer the better, to drive the car or truck to 200,000 plus miles.

Billinsd,
A lot of people use blackstone labs. At least most of the diesel forums I get on recommend them.

Blackstone Laboratories Blackstone Laboratories

Learn what's going on in your engine with oil analysis. Our free kits are easy to use and we explain the results in plain English!

www.blackstone-labs.com

Haven’t actually used them yet but I recently ordered a *free* test kit to try it out. They send all the stuff you need for 2 separate sample, you return 1 or both samples, they run the analysis, then you pay $35 per sample for the results.

I have a 2012 diesel bmw with 175,000 miles on it…trying to see if the computers recommended 11,000 mile intervals are doing damage. I’ve started to notice some sludge/buildup in between the pleats of the oil filter recently.

 

[2five7]

Kirkland 5w30 full syn in every gas vehicle we've owned for the last decade. Big blocks, twin turbos, strokers, grocery getters, they all get it, they all run great! Buy Wix filters from rock auto when they're on sale, 10 at a time or so...

 

[SmokeMedic]

I do changes every 6k miles with kirkland oil on our honda odyssey and CRV. I've thought about going closer to 10k between changes, but they are both high mileage vehicles.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Try it out and send it in to blackstone labs for testing at your normal interval to see how far you should run it. There are more old wives tales and fudd theories in car oils than calibers.

This. I’m baffled by the people who still fall for the old myths. They don’t apply to newer, cleaner engines.

I don’t change my oil until 10,000 miles unless the change engine oil indicator comes on. So far 234,000 trouble free miles. I’ve had my oil tested twice a year for the last 5 years and it always comes back good.

My son is driving my hand me down 2004 Z71 and it has 406,000 miles on it and to my knowledge it’s never had a drop of synthetic oil in it and it’s been changed when the computer indicator tells us to.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Shortschaf]

This. I’m baffled by the people who still fall for the old myths. They don’t apply to newer, cleaner engines.

I don’t change my oil until 10,000 miles unless the change engine oil indicator comes on. So far 234,000 trouble free miles. I’ve had my oil tested twice a year for the last 5 years and it always comes back good.

My son is driving my hand me down 2004 Z71 and it has 406,000 miles on it and to my knowledge it’s never had a drop of synthetic oil in it and it’s been changed when the computer indicator tells us to.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I'm not opposed to taking oil samples and doing condition based maintenance

But its honestly just as easy to just put $3k in oil changes into a vehicle vs $1.5k over 300k miles

What does an oil sample analysis cost?

 

[Bugger]

I'm not opposed to taking oil samples and doing condition based maintenance

But its honestly just as easy to just put $3k in oil changes into a vehicle vs $1.5k over 300k miles

What does an oil sample analysis cost?

$30ish bucks. Blackstone gives you the all the stats and explains whether each one is good/bad/ugly, plus an overall synopsis and recommendation at the end that tells you how they think your seals, valves, gaskets, etc are doing based on the oil deposits and condition. There’s no reason to do it every time but once every year or two is pretty informative.

 

[jimh406]

YMMV, our mechanic recommends every 10K mile changes with full synthetic. Of course, he could suggest any number.

I have heard about some engines leaking with full synthetic, but that could just be the synthetic dissolves the old oil which exposes the leak that was already there.

 

[Shortschaf]

$30ish bucks. Blackstone gives you the all the stats and explains whether each one is good/bad/ugly, plus an overall synopsis and recommendation at the end that tells you how they think your seals, valves, gaskets, etc are doing based on the oil deposits and condition. There’s no reason to do it every time but once every year or two is pretty informative.

Gotcha. For a deisel maybe I'd do it, but $30 is well over have the cost of an oil change on a gasser. So I'll probably stick to changing the fluids rather than testing

 

[Weldor]

That old saying seems to be true for jeeps. If you go from dino oil to full syn, th rear main will most likely develope a leak. It has happened to 5 of mine. maybe just my bad luck. I did check with Ram for my 6.7 diesel. They only recommend valveoline dino oil for the cummins. I know plenty of guys run full syn, but to keep my extended warranty worry free I will follow their recommendation. I run full syn in my Wranglers and Can am change them at reccommened intervals for extreme duty living in the desert. My neighbor was a Lucas distributor when he moved he gave 10 free oil changes for the wranglers 5w20 and 2 cases of oil stabalizer.

 

[Jagger0502]

I like that, where can I get it tested? I hate doing changes and laying on the ground. The fewer the better, to drive the car or truck to 200,000 plus miles.

Lots of places depending on your location, blackstone is popular, Horizon Labs. Google something close.

 

[Jagger0502]

How does one know what additives there are? The quantities, etc? If the combination constitutes a good package?

I can read on the front of the bottle that there are "additives for wear protection" on just about all of them.

It might take some research or getting the data online for which additives they have and how well they work. Product Data Sheets will have some good info. An oil test will show you the actual additives and how they are holding up. If I was going to compare any oil available on the market they would be compared to Lubrication Engineers or Amsoil, and in that order. Not to say there are not others out there that perform well but those two will outperform most any oils on the market. For the big name brands, Rotella has tested out well for Diesel oils but nothing really comes close to Lubrication Engineers or Amsoil.

 

[TxLite]

Rolled 157k yesterday on my 2012 5.7 Tundra. Oil changes with full synthetic in 7000-7500 intervals. Oem Toyota filter at each oil change.

 

[Beendare]

I have a friend, a UK guy that moved over here and he never changed his oil. He had one of those little Mercedes and his dad told him it’s best just to leave the same oil in there.

He was bragging to me that his little Mercedes had 70,000 miles on it without an oil change…… then motor seized up