Synthetic Oil change intervals

Ok saw a few threads where people talk a little about their oil change intervals, but actually wanted to see the results in a poll. Please only vote if you use synthetic oil.

 

No more than 5k for me. Oil is like the blood life of the car. But that's just my theory.

 

I always found that a key part of running synthetic is good filtration. I usually try to find a larger filter of good quality and put a band of rare earth magnets around it. You can get the magnets cheap on ebay.

 

Thats interesting, I have never heard of that before, have you ever seen any evidence or read any studies that they help?

 

Try them one time and cut the filter open to take a look. They do a great job, same as a magnetic drain plug. Having those little shavings floating around in your oil only helps cause more damage.

 

I use the Mobil 1 "Extended Performance" filter and normal mobil 1 5-30. IMO 5k is just right for me, but everyone will be different depending on their driving conditions and styles.

 

5k for me until warranty is done then probably 8k using a mobil 1 filter, the extended performance filter looks like a good choice though I've read that the toyota filter for this truck is good one, not for 8k I suppose.

 

can you re use the magnets? please explain how you attach them as well, thank you

 

amsoil xtended life oil /filter here.every 20,000 miles.got 10,000 on it right now.

 

woah i wonder how that works....

 

well im on the 2nd run of 20,000 miles and going to do oil sample next service.i was using mobile 1 every 5000 and it was costing me ALOT more.WAS driving it 20,000 to 25,000 a year.i think after hunting season im going to change it here.with around 10,000+ on it.i do no i will stay with amsoil though.

 

5k not matter what...period. Even with a quality filter you are saving your vehicle and being preventive. I have been running synthetic for years always change it at the proper manufacture intervals...never any problems.

 

Let me get this right, Longer the OIL FILTER the better it is ? I know walmart usually sell those short oil filters ?

Also the day I picked up my 2010 from Dealer, they told me not to use synthetic oil until my truck reach 10,000 miles ATLEAST. I was told that Brand does not matter as long as I change oil/filter after every 5k Miles. And this truck will stay with me forever.

 

I voted 5,000 due to the dirt and combustion junk the will accumulate in the engine.
Oil is cheep and now that we have extended drain periods (over 3k) WHY push it to much more???????


Yuma Taco,

 

Funny that while Im reading this thread, Im am watching HorsePower on tv and they are touring the Royal Purple filter production plant. It is a really well made and filters 99.9% to 25 microns which is as good as it gets. I am going to give one a try...after I paint the gay purple filter black.

 

Conventional oil is good for 5000 miles. Synthetic will last much longer than that. I've even heard of people changing the filter and then just topping off the oil after wards.?? I haven't heard of the magnets on the filter, makes sense though.

 

Synthetic does not break down as quickly as dino oil so it should last longer. Many brands say 15-25k miles or 1 year. I figure even though the oil itself may still be good at lubricating, you're still accumulating foreign matter (dirt, metal, etc..) some of which will still get through the filter. I wouldn't go more than 10k no matter what they claim. Anyway, I heard the synthetics damage your seals. No idea if it's true or not.

 

Have any of you guys who are paranoid about the longetivity of your (synthetic) oil and who may be changing it too often and wasting oil actually taken the time to send in an oil sample for an oil analysis? Actually wait a second, I think I answered my own question there. You haven't. So you may be changing it too often and subsequently your paranoia is causing you to potentially be recommending/suggesting for other people to waste their $$$ on more frequent oil changes that they may not need.

First off - not all synthetic oils are created equally. AS far as I know there is only one synthetic oil manufacturer that will back up their recommending extended oil change intervals (one year or 25,000 miles for their ASL 5w30 and ATM 10w30 oils and one year or 35,000 miles for their SSO 0w30 - but they do stipulate if you drive in severe conditions they cut those mile numbers in half, and you must use their oil filter, which is around twice the cost of your average filter but it is a much, much better filter - not bigger, better) with a warranty (Amsoil). This is mainly because they have tried, tested, and true research on the subject, and they don't use Moly in their oil. Moly is an excellent lubricant, that many oil manufacturers use, some more heavily than others, but overtime it can come out of suspension and gunk up engines. Amsoil mentions that Cummins, for example, will void the warranty of their engines if an oil using Moly is used. This is one reason why some synthetic oil manufacturers do not recommend extended intervals.

I recommend that all of you guys changing out your oil at 5000 miles, next time do an oil analysis. It's very easy to do. Send an email or phone one of the oil analysis companies (I use Blackstone) and they will send you a kit. Change the oil and get a sample, and mail it in - it costs about the same as an oil change but it can provide some valuable information not just about your oil but also about the condition of your engine. They will have your results emailed to you the day they get the sample basically, so for most it's less than a week til you get your results back from the day you send it.

I did an oil analysis on a company van I use (I'm a Plumber), a 2005 Chevy Express 3/4 ton with the 4.8 Liter V8, where I used Amsoil Signature Series 0w30 syntetic oil with an Amsoil EaO 32 Oil filter. I use this van for a fair amount of city driving, often up and down hills quite a bit too, as well as some highway driving mixed in. I ran in from september '08 til september '09 and in that time I put 19,399 km's on it (12,125 miles) in that time. I then got a sample and sent it in to blackstone labs. The oil analysis they sent me said the oil and the engine were in great shape, and that next time I should extend my oil change interval to 25,000 km's (15,625 miles) and send another sample. My engine & oil with 19,399 km's had the same wear metal levels an as their universal averages for this engine that they have on record with about 8000 km's worth of oil change interval on it. And it had a TBN of 2.5 suggesting it still had some life left (they recommend you change your oil when it gets down to about 1.0), hence why they recommended changing it with more mileage next time.