When to change Synthetic Oil?

[JoeAE2005]

How often am I suppose to change Synthetic Oil? With normal oil, i'm suppose to change the oil every 6,000 miles. I've heard that with synthetic oil, you don't need to change the oil for twice as long, so that would be every 12,000 miles. That seems kind of long though.

[Dekay]

Dude you should change regular motor oil every 3,000 miles not 6,000. You can change Synthetic oil every 5,000 - 6,000 miles although some places recommend you do it at around 4,000 just in case depending on how you drive.

[Dominic]

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

Come take a look, ask questions, search around [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cruzin]

Under ideal conditions you can safely run 7500 miles. Ideal is mostly highway. This is according to a chiltons manuel. I run mostly highway and change my oil (syn. or reg.) at 5000 miles. If you think about it, who is telling you to change it at 3000 miles? The people who SELL it. Of course they want you to change it at 3000 miles, more money for them. Run it 5000 and change it and you will never have any problems.

[Dekay]

I do run it about 5,000 miles but then I've always used Synthetic oil since the day I bought the car back in '99.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Cruzin:
Under ideal conditions you can safely run 7500 miles. Ideal is mostly highway. This is according to a chiltons manuel. I run mostly highway and change my oil (syn. or reg.) at 5000 miles. If you think about it, who is telling you to change it at 3000 miles? The people who SELL it. Of course they want you to change it at 3000 miles, more money for them. Run it 5000 and change it and you will never have any problems.<hr></blockquote>

[Dominic]

Well changing at 5,000 is about right for most oils and most driving. Many synthetics can even be taken to 12,000 and they're fine. Just keep in mind no matter what the filter should be changed at 6,000 miles regardless - otherwise it'll likely go into bypass mode and you'll be running filterless. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Only4U]

oil will last you 10k miles before it needs changing. the problem is, the temperature of oil exceeds "normal" driving conditions when you reach 4k rpms and over, so the oil is undergoing unnecessary heating and therefore, will not last the total 10k miles that it will be rated for. with an aftermarket torque converter and having shift extensions always within the 3k-4k range under NORMAL driving conditions, i make sure my oil is changed in no more than 3000 miles. but it all depends on how you drive. if you baby it, you could take it 10k miles, if you don't, you need to change it more regularly. but, it's like a lot of things, cheap and quick to change, so might as well do it more often to avoid problems. i would stick with the every 3k miles to change your oil, it's a good measurement to follow [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[V6Bob]

As you can see everyone agrees on this one :D .

I've seen every answer possible from people on the net. Who knows who's right? So I choose to go with the manufacturers recommendation for oil and filter changes, and to not change that for synthetic oil. I figure the manufacturer is at least as good as people on the net and the synthetic gives me a safety margin.

[IBJanky]

I change my oil with Mobil 1 10-30 every 3,000 miles regardless... :D

[JAM]

You can run syth stuff anytime. I waited till after the break in period on the engine since mine was new.

You can usually go 2 times longer with syth. In some cases the oil itself never wears out, but the addiditves do wear out.

However, I would still change it every 3k just to be safe. As v- Bob said it will give you a safty margin that way in case you run over a bit.

[99Camaro99]

what if you're like me and you "accidentally" put synthetic oil in the car for a one-time only at say 46K. Should I do the usual 3K or should I push it a little more?