I switched to Mobil one with my last oil change and was just wondering how often is a person suppost to change their oil with full synethic oil. I have had different people tell me different things....anything from 2500 miles to 7500 miles between oil changes. I really don't know when to change mine, if i have to change it every 3000 miles; i will have to switch to a blend cause the mobil oil is a little over $4.00 a quart. Any and all information is greatly appreciated...Thanks in advanced.

 

Greetings Bobby, and welcome to the site.

You ask an interesting question, that by its very nature gets a wide range of results. Some people change their oil at 3K miles no matter what oil they have in the engine. Others only change it when the oil analysis program they are on indicates the oil is worn out.

As far as I know from Mobil's literature, Mobil will only warranty their product if it is changed at Manufacturers suggested oil change interval. The Mobil 1 is a fine oil (and Mobil is reformulating to get a 25K oil change interval as we speak), however Mobil won't warranty anything over what your owners manual says to change.

However, I have seen analysis data that says the Mobil 1 will easily go 5K-7.5K miles without any real degradation (if the engine was cleaned with synthetics before mind you). These people have no qualms about going to these lengths. They have no warranty to worry about, so maybe that's it.

The only oils that I know that warranty extended drains are Amsoil, Redline, LE and maybe Synergen. These companies make products that can go for extended drains (in gasoline applications normally, the diesel realm is a whole different ballgame).

So until you are out of warranty, Mobil 1 at 3K will do you just fine. Unless you want to switch to Amsoil or the like you might not want to do something that may void the warranty. FOMOCO has been getting **** about warranty fixes lately...

Randy

 

RandyW,
Good post and I agree with you. I might add that the LE 15w-40 oil is formulated for diesel and gas engines and both for extended oil drains. Up to 25,000 in gas and Up to 100,000 in diesel. LE believes that to go extended oil drains, oil analysis must me done, which will prove that the oil is in good condition and will be proof for the dealer that the oil is OK.

One other thing about oils. The API ratings. If the "S" classification comes first, that means that the oil was formulated for gas engines and most likely will pass some of the diesel classifications. But if the "C" comes first that means that it was designed for diesel engines and will most likely pass all the gas specs as well. For example the LE oil is an API CH-4/SJ which is the highest class for both the diesel and gas engines and since the CH-4 comes first that means that it was designed for heavy duty diesels but also passes the highest gas spec as well.
Lets look at the Amsoil series 2000 20w-50, the series 2000 0w-30, the 5w-30, the 10-w-30, the 10w-40 synthetic, the 10w-40 semi synthetic. the XL-7500 5w-30, the XL-7500 10w30 all of these were formulated for gas engine oils and most of them pass the CF diesel spec. But the Series 3000 5w-30 and the 15w40 oils were formulated for diesel but pass the gas spec also. What does this mean? The diesel oils are much more additized and will have more detergent and anti-wear than the gas oils.

I hope this info helps

Sincerely, Kevin

 

I belive that your owners manual states 5,000 mile drain with conventional oil. So you should be good to at least that.

Mobil 1 is formulated about the same as the Amsoil 7,500 oil. So I would say mobil could go at least that long.

Another thing, the drain interval for the Corvette is I belive 10,000 miles. and it comes from the factory with mobil 1.

Obviously the only real way to tell what your drain interval is, is to do analysis.

I would do one at 5,000 then again at 10,000. I would be you would find that the oil is still acceptable for use. But that is with analysis only!

Stick with 5,000 and you won't have to worry, since your owners manual states that!

Like said above, Amsoil has their own warranty stating that if you follow their guidlines they will back their oil up 100%

 

thanks everyone for the information. I appreciate all help. Where do I get the oil analyse done, I know the heavy equiptmet on the construction jobs have theirs sent off but I don't have a clue where an individual dan have this done. I will probably try to change my oil every six thousand miles; personally I don't feel comfortable going any farther than that. The only reason I asked the question was because with the price of the oil I was hoping to go a little longer than with conventional oil. But if I can't then I will just have to change it at 3000 miles then. Thanks again for the information.
Bobby

 

Bobby,

There are three laboratories that I hear of the most for the analysis testing:

Oil Analysers Inc.
Cleveland Tech Center
Blackstone Labs

msparks can help you with the Oil Analyser kits, but as for the others I'd have to dig to find some information on them. Maybe Oil Man can help as well??

Randy

 

Yes you can get sample kits from Amsoil(Analyzers INC) They are 13.75 plus shipping they include a prepaid shipping label back to the company, so all you have to do is take the sample and drop it in a mail box--make sure you have it closed tightly- :-0


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If your worried about the price of the mobil 1, wal mart now has it in a 5 quart pail for around 15 bucks!!! Yep, I've been stocking up already!

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