beach dude

just changed the oil in my 2000 cherokee (mobil 1). got 101k miles. just wondering how long you guys go between changes with synthetic? ive heard anywhere from 5000-10k miles.

gearheadette

I use sythetic, and I go by factory recommended 3000 mile intervals per Jeep. Its just like you dont do the tire pressure by what the tire says, but by what the door jam of your car says.

djb383

Synthetic oil gets just as dirty, just as quickly as conventional oil. The only way to determine the oils condition with extended drain intervals is to have a UOA performed.

whowey

What the heck kind of answer is that????

The door sticker assumes that you are using the same exact kind of tire in the same exact size that came from the factory. You pic shows obviously that you are doing neither. Unless.. you have some sort of magic door sticker that knows what tire you are running.

gearheadette

I was talking in general, I run different tire pressure for the jeep, but the car is factory recommended, I was telling him the same answer I tell the customers.

thats the response I normally get from my mom after I say "because I can!"

mikesplumbing

My neighbor is a ford mechanic for 20 plus years and he uses mobile 1 and changes it every 5,000 miles. He once told me you could go more but it just doesn't feel right so that's his limit.

I always change at 2,500 -3,000 but i'm old fashioned and ignorant.

Mike

djb383

Eliminate all the guessing, the myths, the BS and the opinions......collect an oil sample at 5K miles, send it in for a UOA and get the results/facts. Post back with the findings.

mikesplumbing

Testing has been done millions of times, it's just that nobody trusts it because the gold standard for many years has been 2,500-3,000 miles and it's hard to change habit. Sounds crazy to spend the extra money only to have it changed at the old service intervals but I'll keep doing it because i'm ignorant and don't like change.

Mike

NeosXJ

For Mobil1, you should be able to go 5000 - 6000 miles easily, but make sure you check the oil level regularly, since you may burn some oil in an older engine. I just switched over to AMSOIL, and I'm going to try 10,000 miles on an oil change and see how that goes. I may get laughs on this, but I swear I can smell *bad* oil, and if you check regularly, even heavy use should be fine with 5000 miles or more.

Congrats on changing to synthetic oil, I'm a huge fan myself. After I developed a small valve cover leak on my old Nissan after 200,000 miles of nothing but Mobil1 (changed at 6k mile heavy-use intervals), I pulled the valve cover off and saw no sludge or crud anywhere in the engine - just nice, shiny, gold-toned metal. Synthetic is all I have used for 20+ years on lots of high-mileage vehicles - no complaints here!

BlueXJ

I change oil at 6000 miles if it needs it or not. Fresh filter everytime too. I use the Mobil 1 oil and filter. I have converted my Renix over to the larger filter too, so I use the M301 filter.

mikesplumbing

I have a buddy, Dave, who uses Amsoil and changed every 15,000 miles. He did this for many years and the 94 Chevy Astro is still running strong long after he sold it. It has 300,000 plus miles on it.

I'm a wimp myself, my brain just can't comprehend doing that but a lot of people do without any problems.

Mike

gearheadette

See I get 3-6 thousand miles on mine in a year, I just change it every 6 months, usually around the 3k mark, sometimes not, I am just too stuborn to find out what happens if I dont

NeosXJ

Yeah, my brain can't comprehend 15,000 miles on AMSOIL either, so my target is 10k... for now! I may get it tested to see how it holds up.

EndlessMtnFab

I've gone as high as 24,000 miles on the Amsoil 0w-30 motor oil (with a filter change in the middle). That motor got 273+ before I cracked the piston. Could still see the factory crosshatching and was still pulling 40-45 psi at cruising RPMs. So I don't think I had wear issues.



I will be switching to the 5w-30 diesel oil and will probably change it roughly every 20,000 miles.



Using my bypass filter, I can probably go even longer ... but I am not quite sure I see the benefit. Mainly because it costs money for the oil analysis kit & shipping. That's just me, however.




Joe

djb383

Who makes/refines 5W30 diesel oil?