Switching to synthetic, hoping to do it twice a year

Any input is greatly appreciated as I am a newbie. I am on the fence on this one!

I bought my truck a few months ago with 213k. I am very happy with it.

Hate having someone else do it and don't have enough time to baby it. I don't think I drive more then 12k year.

 

With alot of miles on the truck its best to keep an eye on your oil levels

 

yes I already noticed it Burns a noticeable amount. i have yet to measure amount x miles,
thanks

also worth mentioning this truck is my seconder vehicle that i guess would share the total miles driven per year. I would do the oil change the same way in both vehicles. synthetic 2X year.. April and October!!

 

The next time you change your oil spend the money and get an oil analysis from Blackstone Labs. Just go to their website and have them send you some sample bottles and then send them a sample. The analysis will tell you if you have internal damage. I'm up to almost 10,000 mile intervals with Amsoil 10-30 Signature in my 2004 2.7. If you're engine is actually using oil synthetic is a big waste of money. Oil analysis is a wealth of information. Run Dino until you find out why you're using oil. Mine doesn't use or burn a drop at 185,000 miles.

 

You are wasting your money.

I do 6k oil changes with Walmart Dyno oil.

The 3.4 is know for not using oil between oil changes, if you losing level, the damage is already done, so you might as well run what is cheapest.

 

The cost of a top synthetic is nearly the same (or often less with rebates) then using Dino oil. Use what you want, at 6,000 mile changes you're not going to notice a difference anyways. Again, synthetic is so comparable to non synthetic the benefits out weigh the costs. I know you have a 2.7L which does have a timing chain but the 3.4L trucks have a timing belt and are some of the easiest engines on oil (possibly part of the reason they last so long).

For example, Heres some Pennzoil (a top shelf synthetic) going for $20.00 on Amazon. The manufactuer is running a $10 rebate per 5qt Jug. Your entire oil change nearly costs less than 1 quart from @TRVLR500 's entire fancy pants oil change.

$24 Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic 5W-30 Motor Oil (5-Quart, Single)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M6YFM58/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8

Blackstone (there are other, better options, in my humble opinion) is great for checking the useful life of your oil. It rose to popularity among heavy equipment operators who's heavy machinery equipment cost hundreds of dollars to service. So, the operators would syphon off a small sample of oil and send it in to be analyzed to save money on fluid changes.
Honestly, unless you're trying to go for crazy extended oil change hours, have a bypass (and again are going for crazy hours) or fear some kind of contamination from fuel, coolant, air filteration or wear, Save your money. After postage & sending it in, you're looking at another oil change $ somewhere in the $30 range.

Additionally, its typically not a good idea to base your oil change plan off just one submital to Blackstone but rather a trend. You want to see wear metals trending up or down or contamination trending up or down. This required multiple tests $$$$.
It is not fair to say an analysis will tell you if you have internal damage or not. Contamination is more likely.

If you want to spend $13+ per quart on boutique oil, be my guest. Your 2.7 Is not an engine requiring the use of boutique oil and honestly, the job can likely be done with Mobil 1 standard grey bottle or extended performance for much less.

 

You could try a high mileage synthetic that may help with the consumption issue. Mobil 1 10W-30 HM has great reviews!

 

Valvoline Maxlife is another great option, although it's a blend I think. Still would handle 6k/6mo intervals just fine as well.

 

Far and away the best oil for your engine is the stuff you change at regular intervals. Walmart brand or really expensive synthetic purple stuff... Just change it.

The only people telling you that the really expensive stuff is vastly superior to the "regular" stuff are the people who happen to make the fancy stuff or the people sponsored by those people.

If it gives you piece of mind to buy the higher end stuff, go for it.

But since you already know you're burning some oil, you'd literally be burning your money.

 

What’s your oil lab recommendation?

 

I second the wasting your money. If you are burning or losing that much it's not worth the synthetic oil price. I've done a few 15K miles on royal purple and some ultimate mileage (I think that's the name) Mobil. I sent both into oil analysis (blackstone) because I was leery of what they said they could do. Both oils (Mobil and Royal Purple) held up that whole time. 10 months to a year on the oil). There was not any noticeable break-down of the oil to make any issues. I initially sent the analysis because I had a spark plug electrode break off in the engine. Yeah - not cool. It took a while but that old 3.4 got rid of the issue and nothing happened internally to cause damage. Hence the samples.

Sounds like you have worn rings or something though.

 

I'm not an auto part store guy but its hard to beat the Napa price

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/FIL4077

Hard to beat that its walking distance from my house and the manager there has the exact same name as me and will usually cut me a deal on parts.

Polaris: https://polarislabs.com/ is expensive but they are suppose to be the most accurate when it comes to fuel dilution. There are other good ones but are mostly international/ Canada.

You've got to remember these are 16+ year old trucks at this point.

 

The Amsoil I buy from Amsoil isn't $13 a quart. It's $9.65 a quart and it's their "top of the line". I get a little bit of a discount because I bought some kind of 5 year membership with them and no, I'm not a dealer. No time for that crap. I'd suggest going to their website. I don't think you will find a quart of motor oil that costs $13+ dollars. Also, instead of 5000 mile intervals I change mine at over 7500 miles.

I use it for two reasons. Extended Oil and filter changes and the fact that 100% synthetic oil performs better at temperature extremes. Pennzoil Platinum is the only "off the shelf" synthetic that is a pure synthetic. The rest are blends. The last time I checked. Yes, it does cost more to run a synthetic but they do perform better than Dino oils. There is a reason Amsoil, Redline etc. etc. are in business.

I have been getting Blackstone Labs oil analysis done now for over 4 years. Yes, you are correct it adds cost. Yes, you are also correct other companies do oil analysis. My goal is to keep my Taco until it rusts in half. For those that don't have that goal or don't mind changing their oil more often? Have at it. Run whatever you want. At this point in time I am not concerned about cost. I'm concerned about having to crawl under the truck and change that oil and filter in 10 degree weather. The same reason I have Iridium plugs. I'm doing my first 10,000 mile change this time. I'll see what the analysis says. Blackstone recommended 10,000 based on all the others as I have slowly worked up the mileage.

I ran Mobil 1 for almost 15 years in another car and am a big fan of Pennzoil. My Taco had Pennzoil dino for the first 119,000 miles of its life every 3000 miles. Both are about the best off the shelf oils out there. IMO. I just choose to run Amsoil. The reason? About 20 years ago I had a '73 Cadillac CoupeDeVille. I rebuilt the engine and ran Castrol Dino in it for 20,000 miles. The shop I worked at, at the time was an Amsoil dealer. They ran it in the race cars they built. I tried the Amsoil and my idle RPM went up 200 rpm. I had to turn it down. I quit using Amsoil in that car because it always used oil for some reason. It never burned it, just used it. I switched to Mobil 1. I drove that Caddy all over the country and ran it to death at 80-90 mph a LOT. I gave it to a friend five years ago because it was ready for another round of expensive repairs after 18 years.

Arguing what brand of oil is the best is fruitless. It's like discussing how anyone wants their steak done and the OP doesn't have to listen to a word I say. I'll also add that if you change you're oil with "any" quality oil religiously there probably isn't a dimes worth of difference. Except for the performance in extreme cold or heat. Me? I deal with the cold. It's been in the single digits or below zero where I live all week. I also run Amsoil in all my gear boxes as well and I use their "PI" in the fuel. That was another product I discovered works quite well years ago.

 

What he says is true! Even cheap synthetic like Walmart Super Tech will outperform the best conventional dino oil available. ST can be bought cheaper than a lot of name brand dinos as well! There's a reason nearly every new car comes from the factory with synthetic in the engine, it's just that much better. Plus better for the environment since it can be used longer so there's less waste oil generated.

 

I'm waiting on the project farm tests of Supertech syn vs Amazon basics syn.. should be interesting

 

I am doing 3k-5k intervals with Mobil1 synthetic. It is relatively cheap and I like the peace of mind. Bought the truck with 238k and have 280k now 2 years later. Previous owner was using dino oil and since switching the oil has remained cleaner for longer it seems. Do what makes you comfortable. In my other vehicles that I don't drive as much I will use Amsoil

 

From my understanding, I would avoid synthetic if the motor is at 213k and ran conventional all its life.
Reasoning is the synthetic may help purge or clean the build-up between small cracks and seals (or so I've been told by motor people) which may actually lead to increased oil slippage and leaks.

I converted to synthetic at 71k changed the oil at 2,000 then 3,000 then 5,000, and now 6,000-7,000 intervals. The oil was dirtiest at that initial 2,000 conversion from conventional to synthetic than my current 7,000 intervals.

 

True but even at 238k I have had minimal leaks since switching and most spots the leaks came from were normal areas like valve covers. If I were to do it again I would get an oil analysis done and to see how the oil was and then switch to synthetic if all checked out

 

This theory was good 40 years ago when oils and seals we're not as advanced.

Oils and seals in the last 25 years are of decent quality, so switching to synthetic won't cause additional leaks.

Ask yourself 1 question.

Do I use my truck in a severe duty environment? If yes, switching to synthetic might be beneficial.

 

Also reading through these comments, synthetic is not a waste of money. It's far superior than conventional down to the molecular structure!
Lab testing sounds pretty neat I'll have to look into that.

But if the oil looks clean when you change it's because it probably is clean when you change it. If the oil looks dirty it's probably because it is dirty and you should lower your mileage intervals.
Would have no problem going to 10,000 intervals on synthetic