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What oil is everybody running?

12K views 56 replies 42 participants last post by  440_Magnum 
#1 ·
Just wondering. :alf:
 
#39 ·
Earl is earl

I've used 'em all in my 3.6L, all brands, all weights, conventional, semi-synthetic, synthetic - latest OIC was 4 quarts of 5W-20 Castrol Edge w/ Titanium I found on clearance for $4 (it's got TITANIUM!!) and topped off with some Castrol GTX Syn-blend 5W-30 - and it's all worked great. No problems, no issues, nothing...and that's while hitting the redline on the tach multiple times a day, every day.

I'm gonna let you in on little secret: it don't make no damned difference what oil you use as long as you use oil and keep it changed. And I don't mean every 3K miles, that's a BS OIC. Any conventional oil will do 5K easy, and in the Pentastars, they'll do 8K (we have an oil cooler, hooray!!).

If you are going to run a synthetic, run it 7-10K miles to get your money's worth out of it. Or don't, I've changed many a synthetic oils at 3K just for peace of mind...did I get my peace of mind, yes. Did I hurt anything, hell no. Did I spend money on expensive oil that should have been spend elsewhere instead, most likely. No harm, no foul. It's your money, spend it however you please.

The main thing to remember is when in doubt, get a UOA...they will help paint a picture of what's going on with the engine and with the oil being run in it. And for christ's sake, join up on the BobIsTheOilGuy forum and do some reading. You'll get all the info you can handle, and then some.

But I digest...what was the question? Oh yeah, favorite beers...mine is Blue Moon! I'm on my 4th one now, working toward #5...it's got brain-enlarging goodness at the bottom, so be sure to shake it up!

Nuke, OUT!!
 
#41 ·
I agree with Nuke's comments (on oil, not Blue Moon.....)
I've tried all kinds of oils over the years and really can't say I've noticed a difference between a good quality dino vs synthetic for engines. I have noticed much smoother cold shifts when upgrading to syn in manual trannys though.
I've been on BITOG forum since '02, and it seems the general consensus there is that todays dino oil is very close to syn. Currently I run syn or a syn blend in winter and a good quality dino in summer with 6k intervals for each.
Obviously, if the OEM spec is for synthetic (SRT, MB, BMW, etc...) then that's what you need to run.
 
#43 ·
First oil change yesterday, Castrol GTX and a factory filter. I'm not too hung up on brand, just frequency and a quality filter. All my previous cars made it easily to 150k miles with zero engine trouble. I sold my Chevy truck with 248k miles, it was running strong and quiet


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#46 ·
Taking it to the MAX



40 yrs on Valvoline conv?!? Damn, I would have guessed you could get 18 months, 2 yrs tops out of it...hope you at least kept the oil filter changed once or twice a decade...if not, I'd pay $$ to see pics of the inside of the oil pan!!
 
#49 ·
So really the bottom line is: "If the engine doesn't blow up, use it" or aka "What ever floats your boat".
Majority of the people like Mobil1. Some like Pennzoil.
What filters do you use with the oil change?
I will say I've cut open some filters at work and they were really not what you would expect to find inside. Fram being the first one that comes to mind.
 
#52 ·
Oil Filter preference



I've been using Wix oil filters for all my 3.6L's oil changes until most the recent one which I switched over to Oreilly Auto's house brand MicroGard, and I only did that because Wix makes those particular filters for Oreillys...or whoever makes 'em for Wix also makes 'em for Oreilly Auto...or something like that.

Anyway, I've clocked 77K miles so far on the engine with the Wix filters, and no probs yet related to oil filtration...and just in case I have had several UOAs done to verify everything's kosher in there, so I'm satisfied w/ their performance thus far.

Nuke
 
#53 · (Edited)
Nuke
Have you ever compared the pleating inside a filter? I've seen some that were minimal to others. I will always use an AC Delco on my TPI Monte Carlo. I will use the OEM brand being they installed it to protect their product. Would like to know who makes a Mopar quality filter other than Mopar.

One last thing to consider in an oil filter is how many microns it does filter. Wally World might have a discount filter, but it has a 30 micron element vs an OEM that has a 10. The smaller number will fillter out smaller particles but will clog faster over the long term. Doing regular oil chances will have no bearing on that.
 
#57 · (Edited)
Nuke
Have you ever compared the pleating inside a filter? I've seen some that were minimal to others. I will always use an AC Delco on my TPI Monte Carlo. I will use the OEM brand being they installed it to protect their product. Would like to know who makes a Mopar quality filter other than Mopar.

Mopar doesn't make filters, they buy them from whoever wins the production contract from the next however-many years. Since I've been kinda watching, they've used Wix, Purolator, and Champion Labs as filter suppliers. All of them build to spec, so the Mopar branded filter may be better than the entry-level Wix or whatever... but they do all supply equivalents in their own brand. I'd put a Purolator Pure1, Purolator Synthetic, Royal Purple (built to a VERY high spec by Champion Labs) all at equal or better than the Mopar branded filters right now. But that might all change in 5 years when suppliers change.

Based on what I can determine from a) cutting open filters myself, and b) reading on-line filter tests that have been put out there, the absolute Cadillac (s'cuse me, this is a Mopar board so I should say 'the absolute Imperial...') of filters is the high-end spec-built synthetic-media filters made by Champion Labs for Royal Purple, a similar one for Amsoil (EAO series), another similar one for K&N, and just slightly below that I'd put the one they build for Mobil 1. But right there at about 90% as good and around half the price is the Fram Ultra. The Ultra series is very VERY different from the cheesy "orange-can" Fram filter. Its got a wire-backed synthetic filter medium, silicone anti-drain valve, about the only weaknesses it has relative to the high-end guys are a thinner shell (still thicker than Purolator Synthetic) and a non-metallic bypass valve.


And a PS to Nuke: I'm right there with you on the Blue Moon. And you should try Shiner White Wing :)
 
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#56 ·
As long as you're using what's considered the "top shelf grade" of any brand you'll be fine. When I bought my 10 SRT8 back in OCT 09 Mobil 1 had the contract with Chrysler. Now I hear its Pennzoil. You're okay either way. Just remember to stay up on the maintenance schedule for your vehicle and you're good to go!
 
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