I know that everyone has their own idea of what oil to use, just looking whats best for my situation.

Live in Colorado, cold in Winter, pretty warm right now in summer
2000 XJ, 125000 miles

I have a bit of lifter noise, but not too bad.

What type of oil should I use.
Currently I do not have much time to do the changes myself, any recommendations on where to take it for oil changes, and who to stay away from?
Thanks

 

I can just give you what I use. I have used Valvoline 10W-30 Synthetic Blend since owning my rig the past 3 years with no problems. It gets pretty cold here in Connecticut and I never have issues with this weight oil, but changing to a lighter oil would be fine in the winter. In my other car (2004 Mazda 6) I used to get the oil changes at a local Valvoline Instant Oil Change place near my home in Connecticut because I did not have time to change it myself. They twice only put 5 quarts of oil when the motor needed 6. Just a word of caution given my experience.

 

As far as garages go, stay away from the jiffy lube type shops. Way too many horror stories of them screwing up and they use the cheapest everything possible (oil, filter, labor). Find yourself a decent mechanic who would charge for the labor, and has employees with a clue. This isn't the cheapest route but has a much better chance of prolonging your vehicle's life.

How much time do you think an oil change would take? You might want to reconsider doing it yourself as it's pretty easy and really shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Though if you aren't going to be crawling under often anyway, most garages will inspect regular items as well, such as brakes and all of your fluids.

In terms of oil, this is very touchy and comes up EXTREMELY often. Try the search function and you'll see.

The 4.0L is specced to run anything from 0W30 to 20W50 depending on climate and driving habits. My personal preference is the Shell Rotella line. I run the T6 5W40 but plenty run 15W40. In Colorado you won't want to run 15W40 in the winter unless you keep it plugged in or in a heated garage.

Filter is actually more important: don't use FRAM. The very cheap construction has been known to cause injury to the 4.0L engine when they fail. NAPA Gold and WIX are good quality and reasonably priced filters. Many threads on this topic as well.

 

10w30 full syintetic with a quart of lucis oil stabilizer

 

I agree with Salad: I use 15w40 Shell Rotella with a Wix filter. I'm almost ready for another oil change and its still pretty golden in color. My lifter tick has supressed a touch but hasn't completely left. I too live in a cold winter/hot summer environment.

 

Just to double check, how many quarts total does the 4.0 need?

 

6

 

I use 10W-30 Mobil 1. I think the most important thing is that you change it at regular intervals regardless of what you use. Also stay away from cheap filters such as Fram.

 

Thanks for all of the info

 

The most important thing here is for you to stay away from Fram filters. The rest, as to which oil to use, is simply opinion, but the weight also depends on the climate.

 

Stay away from wal-marts tire and lube. Ive heard several horror stories from those knuckleheads as well. Stuff like cross threading filters.
Happened to a friend of mine engine locked when the oil drained out.then they gave her a run around for months. They never paid anything on it. Ive heard of others having similar experiences.

I would stay away from any place that advertises a 10 minute oil change. Or 19.99 prices. These are more likely the places that are gonna use cheap products or do something stupid. Oil change dont take long but shouldnt be rushed through either.

 

I live just south of you in the Springs. I have run 5w30 on both my jeeps now. Any good 5w30 will be fine. I have used QS defy, Castrol HM, Royal Purple, Castrol Syntec. After about a month or so my lifter tick was almost non existent. Royal Purple seemed to run best with about a 1 mpg jump, but I couldn't justify a $50 oil change.

Here is a great website that helped me form my opinions on oil and a lot of guys on this forum suggest reading.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

 

Local joint offers $9.99 oil changes on Saturdays And yes, that's in Canadian dollars.

I suspect they simply "change" your oil with the previous customer's...