Conventional 5W-30 No Longer Available?

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L31MaxExpress

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Thanks for the confirmation. What a wild thing, it surprised me for sure. Also surprised at how long it's apparently been since I last bought oil...



Agreed 100%, synthetics definitely seem to be a better product in general. I've read a few claims that switching to synthetics in older vehicles can increase the probability of leaks, but it seems like that's mostly BS. I ended up buying a jug of the standard Pennzoil 5W-30 synthetic blend.

Need to have a chat with my mechanic, if he's using synthetic blends now then my oil change intervals might be spacing out drastically. Should probably send a fresh round of samples into Blackstone for analysis too... No sense changing oil every 3-4K miles if I could be getting 10K+ out of it.
Not sure on the Pennzoil, but Mobil 5000 is a synthetic blend, rated to 5,000 miles and has been for years. 10,000 mile is generally a full synthetic thing and I rarely go more than 7,500 miles on a good tight engine.
 

df2x4

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Not sure on the Pennzoil, but Mobil 5000 is a synthetic blend, rated to 5,000 miles and has been for years. 10,000 mile is generally a full synthetic thing and I rarely go more than 7,500 miles on a good tight engine.

I have no idea what the Pennzoil synthetic blend is rated for, I just threw that 10K number out. I've never owned anything new enough to require synthetics so I'm not really familiar with them at all. :lol:

Makes sense that the lifespan of synthetic blends would be somewhere between conventional and full synthetic though, and according to Blackstone my 3K change interval with conventionals up to this point has been a little excessive. I bet with these new synthetic blends I could get by with changing it every 5-6K pretty easily.
 

df2x4

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The low viscosity Dex VI in our transmissions IMO is a death sentence and causes them to die an early death.

I just saw this edit in your earlier post, what makes you say that? I've been running Dexron 6 in both of my '97s (4L60E/4L80E) for a few years now and I haven't noticed any issues. I know you're not supposed to use it in transfer cases that originally called for Dexron 3 because of the viscosity difference per the GM TSB, but I was under the impression that it was fine for older transmissions?
 

Schurkey

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What is sold as "synthetic" in the USA could not be sold as "synthetic" in Europe.

MOST--by far--of the so-called "synthetic" oils in the USA are in fact highly-processed crude oil. It's not "synthetic" at all. It's merely refined and heat-treated plain ol' ordinary oil. Oils are defined by "Group Numbers", in the USA "Group III" oil can be called "synthetic". The true "synthetic" oils are Group IV.
www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/29113/base-oil-groups


You're being scammed. They're stealing money out of your pocket--legally--by fraud and mis-labeling crude-based lube oil as "synthetic".

The politicians in this country were "bought"; the ones in Europe stayed ethical. It would be like claiming the iron in your engine block is "synthetic iron" because it's been purified, heat-treated, and has some "additive package" in the form of carbon and trace elements like tin. Or claiming that bread is "synthetic wheat" because the wheat has been cleaned, processed, mixed with an additive package (sugar, yeast, salt, shortening, etc.) and "heat treated" in a baking oven.




Perform some oil sampling. 5K oil changes when driving 130 miles a day is almost certainly wasteful. I change filters at 13K, and change oil at 26K on my Trailblazer. But it's only got 260,000 miles on it, so I don't know how that's going to work out long-term.
 
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1989GMCSIERRA

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I doubt you’ll get 10k OCI. Ill never leave that long of a OCI. At most I would do is 5k. I may push 5500/6,000 if I run out if time and can’t do it that day it’s due say it’s at 149,890 and I was busy that weekend I may drive that week and wait till 150, 4xx till Saturday. Maybe push another 600 miles but it’s getting done after that. My over under is usually 200 miles or so. Oil changes are easy and gives yiu a chance to look at other stuff that may be wearing out. For me it isn’t just a oil change.
its
warm up car
drain oil
while oil is draining I do the tires rotation.
check brakes
look at shocks
look at tire wear
look at suspension components
look at undercarriage and components driveshaft exhaust etc.
fill tires with air
drop a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the tank.
any grease fittings get greased

i drive a lot. last oil change I noticed the pads were getting there. Ordered pads will cut rotors. Next time it’s new rotors and pads. Oil change is coming up and so is trans service. So I ordered parts. But I need that Crown Vic to be in tip top shape.
 

1989GMCSIERRA

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What is sold as "synthetic" in the USA could not be sold as "synthetic" in Europe.

MOST--by far--of the so-called "synthetic" oils in the USA are in fact highly-processed crude oil. It's not "synthetic" at all. It's merely refined and heat-treated plain ol' ordinary oil. Oils are defined by "Group Numbers", in the USA "Group III" oil can be called "synthetic". The true "synthetic" oils are Group IV.
www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/29113/base-oil-groups


You're being scammed. They're stealing money out of your pocket--legally--by fraud and mis-labeling crude-based lube oil as "synthetic".

The politicians in this country were "bought"; the ones in Europe stayed ethical. It would be like claiming the iron in your engine block is "synthetic iron" because it's been purified, heat-treated, and has some "additive package" in the form of carbon and trace elements like tin. Or claiming that bread is "synthetic wheat" because the wheat has been cleaned, processed, mixed with an additive package (sugar, yeast, salt, shortening, etc.) and "heat treated" in a baking oven.




Perform some oil sampling. 5K oil changes when driving 130 miles a day is almost certainly wasteful. I change filters at 13K, and change oil at 26K on my Trailblazer. But it's only got 260,000 miles on it, so I don't know how that's going to work out long-term.

Nothing stops you from looking the vehicle over WITHOUT unscrewing the drain plug.

Oil sampling/lab analysis tells all.


I’ve done 5k oil changes cause it works for me. As far as when I inspect my car I like doing it when I do my oil. It works with my busy schedule. I have no interest in paying $40 in doing the oil analysis because I have No interest in doing 10k oil changes. let’s assume I take the oil in get a test and they say I can go extend another 2000 miles. It cost me $40 to get that message. I can change my oil for less that price. it literally costs me $24 to change my oil. I buy filters 12 at a time so my cost is about $1.50 a filter. Oil I pick up on sale so I stock up. . It would cost me more to have some lab tell me I can extend my oil changes than just doing the oil change.
 

Pinger

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Don't get too caught up on the idea that synthetics and/or semi-synthetics offer increased drain intervals. The need to change oil is more related to depletion of the additive packages than deterioration of the oil (which is why it can be recycled).
Mineral oils are better able to accept additive packages (better 'solubility') than synthetics so can - if required/desired - be more 'robustly treated' with additives.
 

df2x4

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MOST--by far--of the so-called "synthetic" oils in the USA are in fact highly-processed crude oil. It's not "synthetic" at all. It's merely refined and heat-treated plain ol' ordinary oil. Oils are defined by "Group Numbers", in the USA "Group III" oil can be called "synthetic". The true "synthetic" oils are Group IV.

Interesting. Is there any way to tell what API group a specific oil is? Or is it just safe to assume that all full synthetics are group 4 while all "synthetic blends" are group 3?

Also I was just spitballing about the oil change intervals. I really have no desire to change up my routine, especially if the synthetic blends are just conventional that's labeled differently. I've been using conventional oil and changing it every 3K in all of my vehicles for years, even after Blackstone let me know I could go longer.
 
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