I was just curious if anyone else out there follows an extended drain interval for their oil changes. I've been using Amsoil for a while now, and am just curious to see if anyone else has experimented with this, or something similar.
I kept my first change (with Amsoil 5W30) in for 6 months (about 18,000km), at which time I thought it "looked" like it could use a change. I know that in reality, color shouldn't be a deciding factor, but without access to oil analysis locally, I don't have much else to go by.
For the second change, I changed only the filter after 6 months (again, around 18,000km), and then decided to change the oil and filter after another 6,000km.
I then used Amsoil 0W30, and I still have it in now (at about 10,000km). I don't have any plans on changing it before the 6 months, but with Amsoil's claim of it being suitable for "up to 35,000 miles", I feel I'm wasting my money if I change it before the year is up.
If anyone else has tried these products, and possibly had oil analysis done, I would be interested to hear what kind of results you've had. I have run Amsoil filters, and now am using a Fram Extended Guard filter (the longer one, I believe a XG3970?). My magnet on the drain plug has always looked very clean (with the exception of the very first oil change after 1 month). The engine really doesn't sound much different than it did when it was new, and it consumes so little oil it's unbelievable (about .2 litres after 20,000km).
I'm quite confident that the oil is doing a good job with my current 6 month change schedule, but if I could get away with purchasing half as much of the stuff (at $12.99/quart CDN$ it's not cheap!), I'd be quite happy. I've talked to Amsoil sales reps who claim leaving it in for rediculous amounts of mileage (50,000km+), but I'd like an "outside" opinion.
Thanks, and sorry for the long winded post...
John
http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/2002sunfiresl/Modified%20sunfire2.jpg
i havent tried those products, but id shoot myself before i let my oil go over 4k. i guess its a preference thing, but id rather know i have good fluids than hope i do.
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The best "mod" you can give ANY motor is a regular oil change.
Extended life my arse, high dollar lubes put in non-race engines to "extend life" is financial suicide.
Frequency, consistancy, are what make engines last, not the super high-tech BS that some oil company is trying to sell you.
Just lookin out for your wallet..
I have found by using synthetic oil you can at least double the drain interval. So basically you can go at least 6,000 miles on an oil change with Amsoil or Mobil-1. I have done this in the past but went back to dino juice since I never had a motor wear out using regular oil with 3,000 mile changes. Check out www.bobistheoilguy for a good oil site. Some people there go 10,000 miles or 1 year on an oil change but everyone seems to disagree with Amsoil's claim that the oil can go 25,000 miles. The PF-52 oil filter is longer than the PF-47 and if you don't have any clearance problems can substitute this filter. When I was doing extended drains I used the larger PF-52 filter. In my opinion if you do 3-4,000 mile changes with synthetic oil you're wasting your money. I would stick with the way you are doing it now.
God bless America.
not sure what 18000k is over 3000 miles, but thats way too much, stop being lazy and change your oil every 3k miles at least.
-Borsty
Thanks for the responses, and that article was an interesting read. He states as I have read elsewhere: synthetics can be run two to three times the mileage of petroleum oils with no problem. I used to change my "regular" oil every two months, or about 6,500km (that's about 4,000 miles), and I am currently going 6 months (seems to average about 19,000km, or 11,800 miles). About 90% of my driving is highway, going back and forth to work (58km or 36 miles each way), with very little stop-and-go or city use. Technically, according to the car's owner's manual, my driving falls mostly into their "normal" description, requiring changes only every 12,000km with regular oil. My friend has an Impala with the oil life monitor, and 12,000km is the average interval it tells him to change it, with similar driving to mine. He uses Mobil 1 (as he doesn't believe in leaving regular oil in for that long either), and follows the car's recommendations.
I'll admit that part of the reason I choose to run the synthetic is so that I can be "lazier", especially in the winter, as I have nowhere to work indoors. I still check all my underhood fluids at least weekly, and in the warmer months, stick myself under the car to have a look at least every couple of months or so. I also oil spray the car twice a year (using a commercial product designed for that purpose), so I'm determined to see just how long I can get this thing to last. This is my daily driver, or "appliance", so I just like it to get me from A to B with the least bit of hassle possible. So far it's doing a good job. After 110,000km - 66,000 miles, I've only replaced wiper blades and a few light bulbs. I certainly can't complain about that!
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is this oil your using 10W30? If so thats very very wrong you should be using 5W30 and going no longer than 6000-7000k between changes
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
No, I've never run 10W30. I always used 5W30 up to 99,500km, now the car has 0W30 in it. This is their "premium" product, and of course, they charge the most for it (about $3 more per quart over 5W30). I've talked to quite a few people around here who use 0W30 in the winter, and have had very good results with it. Even when we had weather that was around -20C, it cranked and started up with no problems. It did before with the 5W30 too, but I seem to be getting marginally better fuel economy since the switch, compared with the last two winters.
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If you're thinking about extending drain intervals, pay $15 for an oil analysis when you get to the scheduled change, then drain it when they tell you. I use
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
they email me a copy of the report, and they are only a couple hundred miles away so my samples get to them overnight. There are lots of good test labs out there, this is just one of them.
Normal Frams are junk, have been at least as long as Allied Signal has owned Fram. Don't know about the premium line.
You drain oil to get the contaminants out. Mobil 1 / Amsoil might be able to handle more crap, but it's better to keep the oil and filter out the crap. You might want to
talk to Ralph at
http://www.bypassfilter.com/
He's the only one I know of who has parts to convert a Motorguard air filter back to motor oil use, like they were originally made for 40 years ago. He even mailed me photocopies of a Motorguard manual that's about as old as I am.
GM has a relatively cheap spin-on that filters down to a few microns, that and a remote filter mount can get you a decent bypass setup for about $40. I forget the part number on the GM, but a Baldwin B164 element is similar.
For the AmsOil extended drain interval, according to their information, you still need to change the filter at normal intervals. At that time get your oil analyzed like Mic says. I do this all the time and am getting 25K miles (on AmsOil 5W30) between changes if the report says it's still good to go. I also have a dual by-pass filter setup. This is a remotly located filter that has a full size Ford V8 filter as the full flow and a special by-pass filter located in the front before the radiator. (see registry for details) The by-pass filter cleans the oil down to 1/10 micron but does it in about 10 minutes for the whole crankcase. The best a full flow will clean is 10 microns. This setup also brings my total oil capacity to 6 quarts.
I'm also seeing Mobil 1 stating extended drain intervals in their current advertising.
Blind Julius
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"Oh! My My!" Splat . . . "Damn Squirrel ! ! !"
You should
really read this:
Amsoil Synthetic Oil Life Study
Amsoil turned to a 5W40 after 10,000 miles. Then into a 15W40 after 15,000 miles. They did 1,000 mile intrevals.
Jay
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