what ya runnin' for oil and filter

[funkingonutz]

just wondering what you all are using for oil and filters and if you have any favorites (if there is a such thing)

im runing Valvoline 5w-30 synthetic blend for vehicles over 75,000 mi.
with a Motorcraft oil filter (its white...i prefer white oil filters
i dont know why)i was using FRAM oil filters for a while on my '98 Corolla until i heard when they clog they dont go into bypass

In case your wondering why i want to know, my father SWEARS that all oil is just oil and he has been using the absolute cheapest oil (usually the Advanced Auto Parts brand) all his life, and he thinks it is just as good as all the big boy brands.....and i want to prove him wrong....unless he is right..??

Oil changes usually run me about 27.00 for 5 quarts and a filter.
Whereas my father does his for about 13.00

 

[4LO 4.O]

I use Castrol GTX 10w30 during the summer and 5w30 in the winter and a Motorcraft filter.
Oil is oil and I personally think it doesn't matter, however DO NOT use Pennzoil, it will gum up the motor and block oil passages. I learned that one the hard way!

 

[Bob Ayers]

I use Castrol GTX 5w30, and Motorcraft oil filters.


Previously posted:

Sometime ago I posted the picture of my Ranger turning over 150K miles. Today, I changed the oil in it, and thought it was
interesting to see the color of the oil (at 3877 miles), and how much it has consumed. In the pictures, the screwdriver shows
where the oil level was the last time it was changed, using 4.5 QUARTS. There has been no oil added since it was
changed. I bought the truck with 36K miles on it, and since owning it, I've always maintained it myself, using the following:


1) Motorcraft or Purolator PAPER air filters (changed once a year)
2) ONLY Motorcraft oil filters, changed every oil change
2) Castrol GTX 5W30 (dino), changed between 3K and 4K miles

 

[sparky]

I have owned my truck for 11 years and always have done the service on it. For 9and 1/2 years i used fram double gaurd filters with no problems, but when i started reading post on fram filters, from several different forums i changed to motorcraft filters. I have always used havoline 10w40 oil. I have 3.0 and just hit 200k on it.

 

[Big Jim M]

Your Dad and could dance the night away!

You wrote " In case your wondering why i want to know, my father SWEARS that all oil is just oil and he has been using the absolute cheapest oil (usually the Advanced Auto Parts brand) all his life, and he thinks it is just as good as all the big boy brands.....and i want to prove him wrong....unless he is right..??

Oil changes usually run me about 27.00 for 5 quarts and a filter.
Whereas my father does his for about 13.00"

Since oil is now made by professional centers that have only ONE SUPPLY of basic oil and they can it with different paint jobs on the cans.. All oil MUST be the same! The only differences could be the additives in the oil (which I doubt as there are no oil secrets)!

You guys up north prolly are using oil that came from the east (yankee oil) and the guys in the south and west are using oklahoma or texas oil..

When I first started changing oil back in the 50's the marking on the can was prolly TRUE... Pennzoil prolly really was from the North and Texaco oil prolly was from Texas.. But TODAY most if not ALL oil comes from the same plants.

Like your Dad I use whatever is on sale at the JiffyLube or WalMart or wherever I happen to be. I usually run my oil bout maybe 6 or 7,000 miles.. I have the same luck with my engines as the guys that swear by whatever Brand they use religiously!

Oil is just oil...get used to the idea! When buying Synthetic or other highly advertised brands all you get is the advertising! Your engine won'd jump over trees or do anything exceptional that my engine won't do!

Bring your Dad on..We could fish all day together..

Big JIm

 

[evanesce69]

I agree, unless synthetic, oils is pumpud out of the ground and refined. now, there maybe different grades of refined oil with some containing more parafinic residues than others, but with modern additive packages, I honestly doubt it makes much difference.

We can now compensate for any shortcomings the base stock may have.


BJM - synthetic oils are made in a reactor where the molecule size and shape can be kept in strict specs. Size and branching of oil directly reflects viscosity and shock/pressure/sheer resistance. Natural oils can and will degrade quicker due to the hodge podge of sizes/shapes of the molecule. Oh, we can also incorporate some really cool recombinate properties as well...

But with that said, not much left to be different

 

[Rammunition360]

everyone at the shop swears by synthetic and i use it in my dodge as to not "take any chances"

 

[Big Jim M]

Yeah evanes

I agree, unless synthetic, oils is pumpud out of the ground and refined. now, there maybe different grades of refined oil with some containing more parafinic residues than others, but with modern additive packages, I honestly doubt it makes much difference.

We can now compensate for any shortcomings the base stock may have.


BJM - synthetic oils are made in a reactor where the molecule size and shape can be kept in strict specs. Size and branching of oil directly reflects viscosity and shock/pressure/sheer resistance. Natural oils can and will degrade quicker due to the hodge podge of sizes/shapes of the molecule. Oh, we can also incorporate some really cool recombinate properties as well...

But with that said, not much left to be different

I have read that the molecules can be made to be cylinder shaped so they ROLL flatways under pressure.. Seems that could be good if needed for certain applications.

That said our engines do so good with simple oil I doubt the validity of most of the reports from users. I truly believe the corvetts and such that come with the Mobile1 stickers on them have some Mobil1 backing and can use real oil just as well..

I would like to know what NASCAR teams use..really use! As the oil in their race cars gets more abuse in a 500 mile race than any of us could imagine putting on our grocery-getters. But, they too, get backing from having a sticker on their car from oil companys. So we may NEVER know the truth.
Big Jim

 

[Doofy]

Interesting debate. I use Mobile 1 synthetic. Ten years ago I blew a head gasket on my Chev 350...antifreeze in the oil. Temp outside was minus 40 degrees so I had to limp home, about 10 miles. Since the odometer was reading 178,000 miles I opted to throw in a new engine. Tore down the old one and found no damage to bearings or anything. I kept a sample of the oil/antifreeze mix in a glass bottle, and to this day, it has never separated. Try that with conventional oil!

 

[evanesce69]

Doofy - Can I have that sample to put on my salad????

LOL


I can believe your story though... That is why i put head on my Ranger. Stuck thermo on the trip home with the kids. I thought, hey, it's a Ranger, and my kids aren't gettin cold. I drove it 20 miles like that. All I had to do was replace the heads because I had a sunken exhaust valve. It would have cost as much to repair the one head as it did to get a new set.

My oil was looking like chocolate milk. I don't think it would have tasted the same though.

 

[TrexMex]

I use chevron 10W30 (mfg spec) and never had any bad luck with it. So far I have used chevron in this truck, on my daily driver (synthetic), and on my prior car (old OLD 1990 sentra I used to have while in college) and I can say It goes far in terms of abuse with no problems (no viscosity loss). I even tried it in a college project involving turbochargers spinning at 30,000 rpms, a combustion chamber and 900 degrees C for exhaust gasses and chevron outperformed castrol and quaker in effective operation hours before losing its properties..

I guess in our non-high-performance world it's more a matter of what works for you than anything else... I stick with the brand because so far it hasn't failed me under any circumstances. But then again I'm sure there must be people out there thinking "man, chevron!!!! what a piece of sh*t he is pouring into his engine!!!!"

Thing that matters most, gotta keep it cool!!! cooling system must be at its best... my temp gage never goes above the o in "normal" under normal driving conditions... even when we get nice n toasty 120s

just my .02

 

[Doofy]

I think that oils have improved and that engines have been engineered better. In the 60's and 70's you'd pull off a valve cover and have an inch of crud covering everything. Guess everything boils down to "choice". You choose what to use based on experience or the advise of others. I really enjoy this site because of all the information available and because of those members willing to share experience and advise. YeeHaw!

 

[MFerioli]

Seems like motorcraft filters are the way to go, where can you get them retail? Ford dealers? Do any parts stores carry them? I live in the northeast.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[ak96]

mob 1 full syn and K&N oil filter here, every 3-5k miles depending on how it looks.

 

[exbass94]

Seems like motorcraft filters are the way to go, where can you get them retail? Ford dealers? Do any parts stores carry them? I live in the northeast.

Thanks,
Mike

Wal-Mart sells them.

All 3.0s have been back-speced for 5w-20. That's what I would use in a 3.0