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Many of us will remember years back when synthetic oil was introduced to the market. The internet became full with threads, posts, and statements on how it ruined engine seals, caused leaks, and was termed "snake oil". I rode a motorcycle back then, and even Harley-Davidson stated not to use it in their bike engines, only to release their own brand of synthetic oil a couple of years later.
Technology advances, and the rumors and statements fly again. While my driving habits and towing would not allow me to run oil for a full year, I do understand that some vehicles and driving habits could benefit from this.
Last edited by Mod (Ret.); 03-30-2017 at 06:38 AM.
Many of us will remember years back when synthetic oil was introduced to the market. The internet became full with threads, posts, and statements on how it ruined engine seals, caused leaks, and was termed "snake oil". I rode a motorcycle back then, and even Harley-Davidson stated not to use it in their bike engines, only to release their own brand of synthetic oil a couple of years later.
Technology advances, and the rumors and statements fly again. While my driving habits and towing would not allow me to run oil for a full year, I do understand that some vehicles and driving habits could benefit from this.
I have seen the commercial twice now, I believe it is MOBIL 1 that say's its a oil that suppose to last a year. Change your oil once a year? Is this possible now? I remember when plugs had to be changed every 15k. Now they are up to 100k. So is the new synthetic stuff good enough in our engines for a whole year? I'm skeptic about this. I already pushed my old blazer I had with the synthetic. I'd go about 5 to 6 months before change. But I never really did ALOT of milage. Probably 7k a year at most. What are your thoughts on this new commercial?
I know stuff advances but I wouldn't go more than 5k without oil and filter change. Oil can get pretty dirty pretty quick. And I don't trust magic one year oil to protect my trucks engine
I know stuff advances but I wouldn't go more than 5k without oil and filter change. Oil can get pretty dirty pretty quick. And I don't trust magic one year oil to protect my trucks engine
Or how you "don't" use it.......Fact is, the majority of people will buy this because they are ignorant/uneducated of how a vehicle operates and think that no matter what, this oil is good for a year, when they are diving their car 15-20k a year.
Yes, I meant magic. For every educated vehicle owner, there is 100 that are ignorant. This type of oil marketing will make things worse in the future for used car buyers.
Well, obviously not all cases are alike, but I got on my wife a while back for missing an oil change on her car. She drives 11 miles one way to work 5 days a week, and frequently visits family who live 20-30 miles away. That's why she drives a vehicle that gets 30 mpg avg and I drive one that gets 12, lol (I'm only 4 miles one way). We also take somewhat frequent trips to Seattle, which is 290 miles away.
Anyway, what's applicable to this discussion is the analysis of the oil I sent in to Blackstone Labs (costs about $30) prior to changing her oil, which we do at the dealer for warranty records. I've used nothing but Mobil 1 0W-20 since we purchased it new.
As you can see from the results of the analysis, the condition of the oil was just fine after about 10 months and 15,000 miles.
Oil changes in all our internal combustion machines are so cheap that it is easy to follow the manufacturers recommendations. However, this is one of those things that nearly all of us overthink way too much. It's hard to imagine that your oil choice and how long between changes will affect anything in an engine until way out there in the many hundreds of thousands of miles and even then, if you're changing your oil every 3,000 miles over 500,000 miles then you've done 167 oil & filter changes that cost as much as a top end overhaul of the engine.
I ran a Honda self propelled lawn mower for 20 years without ever changing the oil in it. Just checked it at the beginning of the season when I sharpened the blade and in a lot of mowing over that 20 years, maybe added a few drops to it a few times. It was still making plenty of power when I scraped it after the carburetor on it needed replacing due to too many years of leaving ethanol in it. Same thing with my Mitsubishi portable generator. Just add a few drops when needed over the last 15 years and it runs like a top.
Is any of that a reason to not change your oil at least annually in a low mileage year? It's so inexpensive to do, why not just change it. And if it makes you sleep better to change it over 3,000 miles or 6 months then by all means do it. No question you should do it during the warranty so they don't have anything to point fingers about.
I'm getting ready to buy a new Honda mower and here's what they say:
"Change oil after first 5 hours of operation or 30 days. Then change oil after every 25 hours of usage". "Change it more often in hot or dusty operating conditions"
03-30-2017, 06:33 AM
