Pre-Trip Maintenance

[bluex]

That's how I convinced her... our last car seized from being bone dry on oil... she kept trying to stretch it til "next week when we have the money"

If that didn't teach her a lesson then nothing will.

I was told not to mix synthetic with conventional. Once you've put on in, you cant use the other.
And when I manage to change my oil, I'll be sure to take a picture of the oil.

That's BS, you can change back an forth when ever you want. I change my oil every 5000 miles so if you've only gone 6000 that's not to bad. What is bad is the time it's been. If you don't hit the mileage in 6 months it should be changed then regardless of mileage...

 

[SkyHighColorado]

I think that is somewhat a myth. I would just change to synthetic because its better technology, at least a synthetic blend. Just my opinion. Especially for cases where you might not have the cash to change it all the time. I got a mobil 1 5+ quart extended performance jug and mobil 1 filter for 32 bones at autozone last week. says its good for 15,000 miles hahah what a joke, ill change it at 3000k.

 

[bluex]

I think that is somewhat a myth. I would just change to synthetic because its better technology, at least a synthetic blend. Just my opinion. Especially for cases where you might not have the cash to change it all the time. I got a mobil 1 5+ quart extended performance jug and mobil 1 filter for 32 bones at autozone last week. says its good for 15,000 miles hahah what a joke, ill change it at 3000k.

Your wasting your money then, that oil can go 15k an then some. Mobil has throughly tested an knows what they are doing. If your going to change it every 3k no matter what then use the cheapest stuff you can find. Modern oil is much better than it used to be an even the cheap stuff can go 5-6k. The 3k change interval is only recommended anymore by dealerships an quick oil change places so you come more frequently....

 

[SkyHighColorado]

Your wasting your money then, that oil can go 15k an then some. Mobil has throughly tested an knows what they are doing. If your going to change it every 3k no matter what teeth use the cheapest stuff you can find. Modern oil is much better than it used to be an even the cheap stuff can go 5-6k. The 3k change interval is only recommended anymore by dealerships an quick oil change places so you come more frequently....

yeah I agree that is the case with my moms 4runner where the oil stays a nice golden color for a much longer time, but in my 300k TBI things get dirty fast. I am willing to spend the money for peace of mind.

 

[bluex]

You can't base the oils performance off it's color. Even if it's black it can still work perfectly fine. The only way to know for sure is to send off samples for testing at regular intervals...

 

[SkyHighColorado]

like I said I am weird like that! I guess I just like having fresh oil what can I say.

 

[Parentnoia]

Well I still have time to go pick up some synthetic... problem is, I wouldnt know what to do with the 5 quart jug of conventional I bought prior to finding out that the jack is MIA.

I know next to nothing about what is good or bad in the oil department of things. Heard good things about a lot of brands, but fam has always gone with Penzoil and bargain bin filters... I'd like to do some more looking into stuff like that, but as the saying goes, if it aint broke, dont fix it.

 

[bluex]

Whatever oil you bought will be fine. Filters are definitely not something to skimp on though, especially if your going to run them a long time...

 

[Parentnoia]

Microguard is what I have now, Microguard is what I bought to replace it.

EDIT: Also, what is a good weight to have?

 

[sewlow]

5W-30 = winter
10W-40 = summer

Only prob with synthetic is that if you have even the tiniest leak or a weeping seal, the synthetic will find it & cause bigger leaks.