[Bronze66]

I'm planning on going to a synthetic oil after break in of my new motor. Those of you that run synthetics in your Pontiac's. What's your interval between oil changes? Do you change the filter at least once before changing oil? Like 7500 mile oil change, filter at 3200 miles. Or just change filter with oil interval?

[Aaronz28]

are you planning to run a roller cam and EFI? if not, then don't waste money on synthetic oil.

your carb will contaminate the oil at 3000 miles anyway, long before synthetic oil is used up. so there is no advantage there

and new synthetic oil has less of the friction addatives needed to ensure long lobe/lifter life on your cam than conventional oil has.

Some people run Rotella T becasue it has a higher Zinc content than other conventional oils, and the valvoline Race blend is good too, although it only comes in SAE 40 or SAE 50./.. either way is fine unless you plan to do alot of below20 degree starts.

good luck

Aaron

[muzzfactor]

I use Mobil 1 in all my vehicles and change the oil religiously every 5000 miles and use only Wix filters. I don't change the filter till I change the oil. Everything runs like a "sewing machine". Except the TA which runs like a "sooped-up sewing machine"

[tqvhp]

amsoil one year on oil and filter(normal driving) If raceing I would chang more often. AMSOIL Ea Oil Filters (EaO)
Made with premium-grade full synthetic media. Ea Oil Filters feature advanced full synthetic nanofiber technology, making them the highest efficiency filters that are available for the auto/light truck market. AMSOIL EaO Filters are guaranteed for 25,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first, when used in conjunction with AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oil in gasoline and diesel vehicles in normal service, 15,000 miles in severe service(good stuf) John

[70 bird]

I run rotella-t synthetic with stp for the zink. I change the oil when it looks dirty,that is usually about 1500 miles. I know it can go longer but I dont like dirty oil. So I dont waste the oil $$ I dump it into my beater truck and run it till my bird needs another oil change.

[77birdman]

I dont have a motor right now in my bird, however I ran Mobil1 in my Toyota Tundra. I kept changing the oil at 5K but it looked and felt pretty clean. So now I ran it to 10K before changing it and sent the oil in for analysis. Will post the results here once I get it back. My Toyota has a 4.7L V8 in there and holds 6.5 qts oil.

[Hillard]

Originally Posted by Aaronz28

are you planning to run a roller cam and EFI? if not, then don't waste money on synthetic oil.

your carb will contaminate the oil at 3000 miles anyway, long before synthetic oil is used up. so there is no advantage there

and new synthetic oil has less of the friction addatives needed to ensure long lobe/lifter life on your cam than conventional oil has.

Some people run Rotella T becasue it has a higher Zinc content than other conventional oils, and the valvoline Race blend is good too, although it only comes in SAE 40 or SAE 50./.. either way is fine unless you plan to do alot of below20 degree starts.

good luck

Aaron

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. The reason to switch to synthetics is reduced friction and it won't break down like conventionals. Use of a flat tappet is all the more reason to run synthetic. If it didn't reduce friction then why did a simple oil change to synthetic of the same weight show a 15 horsepower increase on the dyno? I can't speak of all synthetics but I run AmsOil in all of my vehicles including the race car. They all get changed once a year with maybe one filter change at 6 months.

[uneasyrider]

As far as oil change interval goes synthetic doesn't change that all that much. It's really based on the amount of crud the oil is carrying not the type of oil. No matter if it's syn. or not it still builds up contaminants in the oil at basically the same rate based on the engine "type" and use and climate. The thing about a syn. is the oil itself might still be fine BUT it's got all this crap floating in it that is being carried that wears on the parts. You can change the oil too often also. Oil analysis is the only EXACT way to tell what the oil change interval needs to be. I wouldn't extend the oil change interval more than about 1,000miles with a synthetic (rule of thumb). For MOST applications people are using their cars for on a daily bases syn. is over kill. Now for something you've spent a bunch of money on and you drive real hard a syn. might be a good choice. I love the people that come into the parts store and buy Royal P. Nitro for their "hot rod" (especially Harley guys). WHAT A WASTE! They never read the application guide and are possibly even hurting the engine using an oil designed for a Alcohol/Nitro engine that craps the oil up with fuel real bad AND a type of fuel not used in their engine! People can get WAY to much "voodoo" mixed in the oil selection process. Generally, for the kind of engines we run on here, it turns out that after the reformulation of the oils here in the last few years the 15W-40 diesel oils (syn. or not) are the way to go for the old flat tappet cam carburated engines. Race applications need to be looked at individually and adding that GM EOS might be a REAL good idea no matter what. Don't base your choice of oil on price alone. Look at the spec's on the back. Some cheap oils meet all the same spec's and more than some of the more expensive oils. The ACEA A3 AND B3/B4 have 0.10-0.12% ZDDP. If it's cheap or expensive the oil has to meet the same minimum standards based on the standards claimed to be met on the package. Generally your -40 weight and heavier oils are higher in anti-wear additives like ZDDP and the diesel oils are almost always higher in anti-wear additives as compared to gas engine oils. Diesel engines a much harder on oil as compared to gas. In the end the point is the only way to really tell if you are getting the best bang for your buck out of your oil is to send a sample to the lab and it only costs a few bucks.

[tqvhp]

you should take a closer look at the diesel oils again.Due to new emission laws for 2007 a lot of oil's have lowered there zink and other additives.like you said read what you are using.John

[uneasyrider]

Originally Posted by tqvhp

you should take a closer look at the diesel oils again.Due to new emission laws for 2007 a lot of oil's have lowered there zink and other additives.like you said read what you are using.John

They have been lowered but I think they still are higher than the gas engine oils. The 15W-40's that meet the ACEA A3 AND B3/B4 have 0.10-0.12% ZDDP which is higher than the gas oils.

[GOAT490]

The two vehicles that I have run Mobil 1 in and have always run a MINIMUM of the suggested oil change interval as just a filter change and usually double if not triple the suggested interval for an oil & filter change are doing very well. Actually with usually 5 or 6 vehicles around the house sometimes the oil change interval was 15K plus(Woops!) One has 278k and the other 206K. Both were/are pounded on pretty hard. They both are fuel injected 4bangers. I run 15w50 Mobil1 in my GTO with the 497 but like most racers change the oil probably way more than required just cause it's my baby. I had a friend back in the seventies that changed from conventional oil to AMSOIL in his 440GTX and it was so slippery he had to turn the idle down a couple of hundred rpm. That convinced me.

PHILLYGOAT

[Murf'sDad]

I run synthetic in my '96 Impala SS and change it at about 10,000 kms (6250 miles) but most of my driving is distance at highway speeds. In the TA I run Shell Rotella diesel 15w40 mostly to get the extra additives not in the later oils and I change it every 3000 miles.

Stewart

[shotgun]

Wife's Pontiac SV6(minivan) gets mobil 1.It has an oil life monitor.
The first time it comes on after a oil change, I replace the filter only(filled with new oil) and hit the reset.
Second time it comes on it gets the full oil change.
Seems to average between 6000 to 8000 miles between full changes.

[Murf'sDad]

Originally Posted by shotgun

Wife's Pontiac SV6(minivan) gets mobil 1.It has an oil life monitor.
The first time it comes on after a oil change, I replace the filter only(filled with new oil) and hit the reset.
Second time it comes on it gets the full oil change.
Seems to average between 6000 to 8000 miles between full changes.

Shotgun:

Ignore the oil change monitor. I've got the same thing in my '96 Impala SS and and I've only had to re-set it about 5 times in it's life, which is currently about 135K kms. It has little or no bearing in reality.

Stewart

[77birdman]

Just got back my oil analysis for my 2003 Toyota Tundra 4.7L V8 with 65,000 miles on it. It holds 6.5 qts of Mobil 1 5W-30 with a Toyota oil filter. I ran the oil for 10,000 miles and sent it in for analyis. Here is the summary they sent me, this shows you can go extended intervals:

You wouldn't know the engine had 65,000 miles on it from looking at the wear data.
Universal averages show typical wear metals for oil from this type engine after about 5,565 miles run
on the oil. We don't know how long your oil was in use but we found all wear at around average levels
and in the correct balance to show normal mechanical parts inside. Air and oil filtration appear normal.
The viscosity was slightly high but there was no gas or anti-freeze in the oil. The TBN was 3.3, still
going strong.

[James408]

FYI - The new Mobil 1 15w50(not the extended performance) has the extra additives for out flat tappet valvetrains. I contacted Mobil and they stated that the new Mobil 1 15w50(silver cap) has 1200 ppm of zinc and will work fine in my 400. I switched to it last week and my motor runs smoother, cooler, and has great oil pressure. So far so good.

[Bronze66]

77Birdman where did you send your oil to? Be nice to do on a yearly basis or X amount of miles. Mobil 1 15w50 sounds like the way to go. Easy enough to get. I'm using Rotella for breakin. It's either stick with that or synthetic. I've got to make a decision before Friday. It's dyno time and I have to change the oil before I go..

[77birdman]

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

[Bronze66]

Thanks. I just might send in some oil from my break in. I think I'm going with Mobil 1. I'm running a solid lifter cam w/cool face lifters. Hopefully the synthetic will be better than the Rotella CI. Anybody got a reason not to?

[shotgun]

Murf's Dad,I like the light since it hard for the wife to ignore!!!

When I was a Service Mgr,we used to have people try to get thier siezed engine replaced under warrenty even know they did no,I mean no,oil changes.A Saturn motor lasts about 22,000 without an oil change!
I would say no problem,assuming the results from BlackStone Labs shows the engine was maintained.
At that point 9 out of 10 would fess up.
On the 10th,I would copy the report,they would call a lawyer and about a week later they would fess up.
Blackstone Labs is good stuff!