You might want to consider breaking the engine in for a while before switching to synthetics. Having said this, you can probably just refer to your owner's manual and see what it says about the break in period. I know that a lot of engine manufacturers say not to run synthetic untill the end of the break in period, but your truck may not follow that rule.

P.S I have a CR-250R


*Edit* I just went back and saw that your truck was a 2002. Oh well....

 

A link with some interesting oil tests:

http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.htm

 

Amsoil oil/filter in everything.

Hey Lance, another XSive member

 

royal purple and fram tough gaurd filter. Thinking on changing to motorcraft 5w20 and filter soon though by having it done at the local dealership. Just do not have the time to change my own oil anymore. I am lucky to find time to cut my grass anymore lol. Oh yea i go 5k on a change just like my owner's manual said to.

 

Motorcraft 5w20 Oil and Purolator Pure One Filter. Change every 3000 Miles.

 

Interesting Reading....

Thanks for posting that link

 

About every 2000-2500 with pennzoil synthetic 10w30.

A little info from that interesting reading though....

The claim is no longer made. Gee, I wonder why?

Gee, I wonder why?

What are the chances that the multimillion mile oil change crowd take that to heart? Independant tests without any bias, testing solely for consumer knowledge.

I will say though, that the test results and oil prices do show some inconsistancies. The price of oils themselves shown at the bottom are extremely low. This is reflected in the test being 8 years old. ALl of those prices can be doubled and some more than doubled. The only thing not included was what filter was used. I'd be interested to know that.

 

It doesn't matter. As long as it catches metal filings, you're good!!

 

I sure hope you don't have metal filings in your engine! Yes there are some wear metals but they are much smaller than filings. If you see large filings it is time for a rebuild.
There is a lot more being removed by your filter. Anything that makes it through your air filter can end up in your oil. Combustion by products like soot and ash etc can end up in your oil. The filter needs to take care of all of that. Of course no filter is perfect so we change our oil as needed.

 

Mobil 1 5W-30 and Motorcraft filter. Filter change every 3,500 miles, oil change every 7,000. Filter might be good for 7,000, but the added quart of fresh oil helps keep the additives up. 2002 Sport 4x4 5.4L 120,900 miles.

 

Nope, the oil takes care of that. That's why you change it so often, and that's the main reason why extended service intervals are not recommended. Contrary to popular belief, oil filters do not filter soot.(or at least, not much) Their main purpose is to filter out large particles that might potentially score the bearing or cylinder surfaces or stop up oil passages. That's why any old filter will work fine, as long as it meets the specs of the engine. It is a TOTAL waste of money to buy a high dollar filter, unless you have a HIGH flow, or HIGH pressure application. If the cheap one meets specs, then it filters particles large enough to potentially harm the engine.

Cut open your used oil filter and see what's inside. You might be surprised to see, that it will have almost nothing in it. Mine are almost spotless every time. Nobody ever stops up an oil filter, and if you do, you have something seriously wrong with your engine.

If particles make it through your air filter, survive combustion, make their way past three rings, and into your oil supply, then that particle is WAY too small for your oil filter to catch, and it probably won't hurt anything anyway.

 

Usually use Quaker State 5W30 mineral and a plain-jane filter, 8,000 km's. 199,140 km's and counting. Tried generic semi-synthetic 5w30 last time around 'cause it was on sale, saw little or no difference in performance or fuel economy. Did try full synthetic 5w30 in my '01 Impala, seems more peppy. Will try full synth. in the S-cab next time.

I have tried Castrol GTX a couple of times, found truck ran poorly compared to the Q-S.

Another note.... I had an air-cooled Kawasaki GPz-750 years ago, I put a temp gauge with the sensor in the oil cooler line. The Quaker State was the ONLY oil that would keep its oil temperature low & oil pressure high near the end of the 5,000 km oil change cycle. And I WHIPPED this bike HARD ! Tried Castrol, Pennzoil, Kawasaki, Honda and others, nothing compared to the Big Q.

 

If you say so.

 

Glad you agree!

 

^^^ Thats really not true. Engine oil filters filter out particles as small as 10 microns, or .01mm, at a rate of 40%. They filter out 40 micron particles, .04mm, at a rate of 97%. These are typacle numbers for paper oil filters. 10 microns and 40 microns are both much smaller than metal shavings. A human hair is 50-60 microns in diameter. Oil filters help filter out any foreign particles they get into your engine through the combustion chamber or through other orfaces. The main oil contaminant is dust/dirt, which both have particle sizes large enough for the filter to catch most of. Filters with higher/finer filtration rates due help because they will help catch more of the dust/dirt and other contaminents. Most research I have seen has put dust/dirt contamination at 50% of the wear in an engine, so the more you can get out, the longer your engine can last.