Do any of you guys run this kind of oil? Is it worth the extra money? If I do put it in, will the engine react differently since it is already used to conventional oil?

 

It maybe good oil, but why pay for mult-level marketing?

 

I wouldnt do it. Not because of any other reason then. I couldnt leave oil in my engine or tranny or axles, that long. Ya it will mix, conventional synthetic, what ever. To me, It doesnt matter what those people that market there product say. Foreign auto mfg use creative marketing tools, then people actually believe them. I giess if your going to change it every 5000 miles, go ahead. 10000 miles or more. Good luck

 

What kind of oil would you guys recommend?

 

Really, I believe the Expy owners manual says 150K for tranny fluid? I run full synthetic in my expy, change it every 5-10K miles,depending on driving conditions, and my oil still comes out a nice color. I know there are some old school folks who still swear by 3K mile oil changes, but they are just wasting their money. New engines and new materials are so much more efficient than yesteryears components that it is just isn't needed. Some of the newer cars, such as Pontiacs and Caddies actually monitor oil filter differential pressure and tell you when the oil needs changed. It may be 4K miles or 8500 miles or 6243.5 miles, either way, no sweat.
If you can get a good deal on Amsoil, I would go for it, but I certainly wouldn't pay the 8 or 9 bucks a quart.

 

I agree. Our trucks run so much more efficiently now. The 3,000 mile deal is/was just a money maker for the oil companies/lube job locations.

 

I agree 3k is just excessive. may shops I have talked to recommend Blackstone labs to test your oil to see how long you can run. Seems some motors like long runs on oil and others of the same make want shorter. By shorter I am not talking 3k more like 5200 miles not 7400 miles between changes.

 

I switched my van from Motorcraft syn blend 5W20 to Quaker State Torquepower full syn 5W20 when it had about 62k miles on it...only because I got 24 quarts of the Quaker State for a buck a quart (Advance Auto closeout). No diff in gas mileage. I have extended the change interval from the 3-4k that I'd always used with the Motorcraft to 6-7k miles, which is still within the current Ford recommendation of 7500.

Gas mileage did not change, nothing else changed. It seems to consume a bit less oil, for what it's worth--the last 6500 mile change interval saw the engine consume zero oil.

I have one more change of the QS left. After that, I am not sure if I will try to stick with synthetic oil or go back to the Motorcraft. Probably depends on whether I can find some sales on full syn. I have a lifelong habit (40 years of oil changes) of doing changes at 3k miles, and with full syn (which I have not used before a year or two ago), I have no problems with my conscience pushing the change intervals out. Engines are so tight these days that I don't worry nearly as much about oil being contaminated, etc.

It should be clear that I'm a cheapskate, so I would never use Amsoil. It's probably decent stuff, but if it didn't exist, the world would not be very much different and nobody's engine would blow up if they simply used a major brand oil of their choice.

George

 

Are you saying the $3,000 Kirby vacuum my step dad bought in 1980 may have not really been worth $3,000? How dare you!

 

IIRC, it is a big no no to switch between synthetic and back to normal oil and back and so on. It may be snake oil advertising for synthetics, but I can't remember where I read that. I personally have used the QS torque 4x4 in my Isuzu, good stuff, and a decent price. I will never go back to conventional oil again....

 

It *used* to be a problem in the early days of syn oils. I forget the chemical (esters?) in synthetics that would cause the seals to harden/shrink if you went back to regular oil, but this is no longer the case, and I have read many more recent accounts of people who switch back and forth, mix oils, etc. And the syn blends are already blends... So I'm not really worried.

On my van, I may decide to stick with full syn only to keep my oil changes at longer intervals...it is really convenient just to go 6k before I worry about changing oil. The QS looked great when I drained it after 6.5k miles on it.

George

 

it looks like i will be going with the motorcraft oil

 

I wouldnt use M/C oil either... I use Mobil1 and mobil1 filter, but if I cant get it, for one reason or another, I use Castrol... Never use a Fram oil filter, no matter what. Here are some links. SO you can make your own educated decission.

http://www.goodoil4u.com/pdf_forms/g...il_Testing.pdf

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfi...lterstudy.html

The one link is an Amsoil link, only because it has many oils tested, and I have yet to find a good comparrison

I honestly dont believe that these products are made better, lord knows with all the plastic, and alluminum, in the engines now. I just think the only reason they go longer between fluid changes, is, we have become a throw away society. Selling techniques have become. Less / or no maintenance. Most people dont buy outright, but get a loan, and or a lease. Infact, they even sell you on "The cost of Ownership" over a period of time. Me? my cars all go a couple of hundred thousand miles. I change the oil when I get it home, and ever 500 miles for the first 2500, then do it 5000 miles there on out. Tranny every 35000. Fuel filter, ever season= 4 times a year.

 

----------------One more thing no one said/talked about,if you live where it get's below zero for week's at a time and do short trip's,less than 10 mile's,you will get moisture in your oil AND it's a good idea to shorten your drain's for that reason alone,it will cause a sludge buildup,I know,I used to live near Rockford Il, my oldest son was looking at a used F150 while in highschool and the underside of the oil filler cap looked like it was packed with black grease and the dipstick was "RUSTY" above the oil level full mark ,think about what the inside of that engine must have looked like,BTW,I did NOT allow him to buy it,it's not a problem here in florida,I do Blackstone every other year in my PSD on 5000 mile change's useing Mobil Delvac 15/40 ,the expy i just change it @ 5000 mile's with Motorcraft 5/20 syn blend,both never use any oil between change's.

 

I fully believe that engines are made far better, tighter, and more consistently now than they ever were. They certainly used to be more substantial, cast iron and all, and I have owned bunches of big block V8's in my time. (3 or 4 Oldsmobiles, 2 Chrysler hemis, couple old AMC 390's, etc.). Used to be that an engine that used a quart of oil in 1000 miles was decent, and if you got 2k or more miles before having to add oil, it was a miracle.

We threw away cars when they hit 100k miles in Michigan in the old days--it was really rare to go much further. If the engine/trans wasn't dead by then, the body was a pile of rust. Now, you can easily go 200k on a good car or truck.

I just took my van 6500 miles on a crankcase full of full syn Quaker State 5W20 and it used almost *zero* oil. One reason we used to change oil every 3k back then is because not only did the oil get by the rings and into the combustion chambers, but fuel and combustion byproducts got by the rings and into the oil.

The guy at the millionmilevan.com website has gone 1.1 million miles, using regular Valvoline oil changed every 10k miles. I believe he said he once went 25k on a change.

Based on oil analysis results that folks get with tight, modern engines, I think 3k oil changes are a waste, and anything earlier (like your breakin process) is totally unneccessary. Maybe one change at 500 or 1000 miles, then to longer changes is the most I'd do. Porsche and BMW have oil change minders in the electronics and I believe both will push good synthetic oil out to 15,000 miles. These are engines that are far more highly stressed than mod V8's, which are relatively easy on oil. Those ain't throwaway cars there.

Certainly, do what your conscience dictates, but I'm pushing full syn oil out to 6-7k, and regular or syn blend to 5k or so these days.

George