How often to change oil and what kind is best?

[Grasshopper]

I have a 1994 Ranger. How often I should change the oil, and what kind of oil gives the best bang for my buck?

 

[Craig0320]

I use Havoline 10 W 30 or shekl 10 W 30 and change mine at 3000 no matter what. I feel synthetic oils aren't worth the money because my grandpa got 400,000 miles out of his 92 2.3 l Ranger on regular havoline. I also use a motorcraft oil filter. that is just my 2 cents.

 

[adsm08]

I used Castrol High mileage and Motorcraft filters on my 4.0.

I change every 6 months or so, because once the bottle is opened the additives do have a shelf life, but 6 months is only a few hundred miles for my Ranger. The regularly driven vehicles get changed 5000K miles. A 94 should probably be done every 3K no matter what as the emissions controls of the vehicle have a bearing on oil life (stuff that makes it run cleaner makes the oil last longer) so better EFI controls and PVC valves are going to keep your oil cleaner longer.

Look for sales. Sales that don't involve Fram filters. When Motorcraft isn't readily available I go to Purolator, since they kinda sorta invented the oil filter. The local Advance Auto usually has 5 quarts of almost everything and a Purolator on sale all the time for less than just the price of the oil. Walmart usually beats them for just oil, but I haven't compared the price with oil and fiter of AA vs Walmart.