My manuel states I can change it every 5k. Can I trust it? Ive always done the 3k intervel.

 

Before going synthetic I was going 5k on trucks that go alot, no troubles.
If you drive alot 2-3-4-5k a month then the 5k is fine.
IF you are only driving 1k every 2 months or lots of short trips the 3k is probably a good idea because it will get nasty quicker.

 

Well my 78 Mercury Zypher manual said change the oil & filter every 7500 miles for "Normal" service, but I've never let it go that long, maybe 4500 a couple of times, but mostly around 3500, or twice a year, using dino oil.

Now when I read the ownes manual small print, for what constituted "Normal" & "Severe" service, it listed a number of things that constituted severe service, then said, if you do any ONE, or more of those things, you qualify for severe service, whereupon the drain intervial was shortened to 3500 miles!!!!!

When YOU should change it, will really depend on a number of factors.

Like the kind of driving you do, the environment your doing it in, the kind of oil & filter your using, the engine & drivetrain in your ride & your owners manual definition of "Normal & "Severe" service.

Then the only way to be really safe for extended drain itervals, is to have UOA's done on the used oil.

Or to save $, just spend the UOA money on changing the oil & filter sooner, rather than on the cost of a UOA!!!!

Your owners manual will give you an idea of what "Normal" or "Severe Sevice" driving is.

Truth is, if we're honest about it, most of us do "Severe Service" driving & thus should follow that oil change time listed in our owners manual.

If you use a staight dino oil & a motorcraft filter & do the 3-4K miles or twice a year oil change, you'll likely be just fine.

If your using a synthetic blend, like Motorcrafts offerings, with their filter & your manual says the 5K intervial fits your driving conditions, then that should be ok.

If your using a full synthetic oil & a long life synthetic media filter, you might be able to extend the drain intervial beyond 5K miles, but you won't know if it's safe to do so, without spending some money on a UOA to find out.

With UOA's at about $20 a pop, you could just do an oil change & know for sure!!!! LOL

So refer to your owners manual & be honest about it's definition of the type of driving you do & follow it's guidelines for change interval.

BUT be aware, our owners manual guidelines are based on using Motorcrafts recipe for oil & filter, so if we choose to use something else, we should MAKE SURE it meets or exceds Fords specifications for oil & filter quality!!!!!

 

I use a good name brand 10-30 oil and a good filter every 3,000 miles. (I use 5-30 in the winter months) I do more than change the oil, I service the vehicle. It is an excuse to check everything else over like brakes, ball joints, tie rod ends fluid levels and the like. When I find something wrong, I fix it before it causes more problems. I have well over 215,000 miles on my old Ford Tempo and 152,000 on my 98 Ranger. None of them burn any oil at all. I have never owned a vehicle that I have gotten rid of with less than 150,000 miles (even a 78 Pinto and an 81 Chevette). My opinion on synthetic oil is use it if you want to pay the extra money. Synthetic oil doesn’t break down and loose its viscosity like regular oil does, thus your vehicle will (or should) start better in the cold weather, but it sure costs a lot more. In 3,000 miles, breaking down is not a problem for regular oil. I feel that people who choose to use synthetic oil should also be changing their oil filter and adding a quart (+/-) new oil every 3,000 miles. When that expense is added in to the equation, you really don’t save that much. Remember that just because the oil will last longer, doesn’t mean that the filter will. You are still using the same filters that are designed to hold 3,000 miles worth of engine contaminants. When the filter gets plugged, they bypass so you don’t loose oil pressure, which is good. This allows the dirty oil to circulate back into the engine, which is not good.

 

I've been reading a lot of good reviews about Havoline.

 

My dad runs AMSOIL (long life synthetic) in is 95 GMC 1500, my brother runs it in his 72 Chevelle, and I'm about to put it in my '02 Ranger. The life is 25000 miles or a year. Works great, hardly shows wear on the 1500, nothing else has needed a change yet.

 

I have a 4.0 OHV in my '99 and I change oil and filter every 3,000 miles. Pennzoil 5-30w and Fram filters.

 

Over at BITOG they talk bad about Fram filters. They call them the orange canisters of death.

 

more known as the "ATOMIC ORANGE CAN OF DEATH""

 

I change mine on my 7.3 psd at 5,000 miles

 

But of course there's always the guy who swears by Fram and changes oil religiously with SuperTech (Wally Worlds) brand and still gets >300k trouble free miles.

 

Molil I every January.
Dono

 

yeah i know. i have used supertech products will no problems. fram i have had issues with ADBV's moving. however supertech oil is no deal anymore now that it is 1.50 a quart. it was .88. the filters are still a good deal at 2.07 but i can get wix for .60 more.

 

Can you even buy DOT2 anymore? I can't remember the last time, if ever, that I've seen the stuff.

I change my oil every 5k with conventional oil and every 7.5k in the cars I've run synthetic in. I typically stick with 5w20 MC and MC filters in the Ranger and I'll switch to Mobil 1 10w30 in the Mustang once the motor has 1000-1500 miles on it. IMHO, 3 month 3k oil changes are still pumped just to sell more oil. You'll note that many manufacturers specify 6 month 7.5k oil changes these days in many vehicles with conventional oil. Oils resist sludging and contaminant buildup much better than they used to.

 

I am not a mechanic nor do I think I know more than anyone else, but I keep reading about you guys that use penzoil, and I just cant understand it. That stuff is almost as bad as quacker state. I have seen the sludge build up and it kills me to think about puting it in an engine. Just my 2 cents on a 1/2 price day.