Mobil M1 synth oil longevity?

[LabRat11]

This is for a 94 FZJ-80 with 180,000 miles - but it could apply to many others here so I thought I'd ask..........


Mobil advertises 15,000 miles between changes. However, how long have you run your M1 synth oil? Notice any ill effects? How long do you feel comfortable running it? Is the 5,000 miles interval I'm doing too often?


Just tapping the collective knowledge......

Thanks....

 

[turbocruiser]

I really trust Mobil as an amazingly good brand but ... 15K seems soooo long to me that I would never run that long through changes. Is this a scientifically backed statement, no, its just my overly paranoid personality coming through but still if you are gonna run the oil that long, I would still suggest oil filter changes regularly like every 3K and topping up as appropriate. I personally use M1 0w40 and change it every 2500 to 3000 miles which seems super extreme but considering that Safari suggests the use of synthetic oil only and that it is changed every 3000 miles, I follow that suggestion religiously. HTH Ohh, Cary has prolly done a tonne of research on this extended life oil and perhaps he'll pipe up with his wisdom.

 

[Tools R Us]

The only way I am comfortable with longer oil changes is if it's tested, don't need to test every time, just a couple of times to see how your motor likes that type of oil. Much more info at Bob's site.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

 

[RavenTai]

The only way I am comfortable with longer oil changes is if it's tested, don't need to test every time, just a couple of times to see how your motor likes that type of oil. Much more info at Bob's site.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

agreed,

I plan to try for 10K at some point. That will give me 6 month changes,

Here is a 18K run on the older M1, I still would not be comfortable with going past 10K but that is just me.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

Turbocruiser, the 1FZ is pretty easy on oil, buy your turbo is not, you could probably stretch it out to 5K but certainly not going to hurt anything going with short 3k OCI's.

 

[mabrodis]

I remember reading on Bobistheobcessiveoilguy.com (I think that's it) about a newer Cruiser (V8 engine) showing great oil even at I think 15000 miles. Some engines seem to be easier on oil than others, and apparently that V8 is very easy on oil (I don't really know how an engine can be easier, but the guys-that-know say that, so I copy to sound intelligent). I have trouble personally going much over 6K miles, and feel like I'm on borrowed time, even though I know I'm not, I get nervous and want to get it changed asap. Then with new oil I think I can feel how much happier the engine is...yeah it's mostly a mental thing..

 

[NorCalDoug]

a...uh...friend...yeah...a...friend of mine ran Mobil1 for 10k miles in his pink pantied 80 series once. The oil was not subitted for analysis though, so there's really no way to know if there was any impact to the engine.

The engine consumes a little under a quart per 4k to 5k miles, so there was a couple fresh quarts added during that time.

 

[mabrodis]

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

That's a cool writeup/test (who else was thinking, this POS Chevy car uses alot of oil? )

After reading that I think I'll plan on ~10K oil changes but topping off often and atleast 1 filter change (and therefore more topping off) in that period.

Cool stuff...

 

[RavenTai]

that was a good test, it was actually a shoot out, here is the Amsoil results.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/amsoil.html


and a restest of M1 in progress as they think the slightly higher metals were because of engine breakin.

lots of other good info in the rest of the site,


http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/interval.html

 

[LabRat11]

Turbocruiser, the 1FZ is pretty easy on oil, buy your turbo is not, you could probably stretch it out to 5K but certainly not going to hurt anything going with short 3k OCI's.

If a turbo is harsh on oil - would the same hold true for my supercharged engine??


Again - thanks all...

 

[RavenTai]

Somewhat but not as much so as a turbo.

I don’t know the specifics of the safari system but generally in a turbo engine oil is used to cool/lube the tubro's bearings, and also used to actuate the waste gate, not sure if so in the 80 system, in the process the oil is exposed to very high temperatures, that is probably why safari recommends use of synthetic oil. It handles higher temperatures without the oil coking, sludging, or oxidizing.

Dino oil (mineral) would degrade faster at these temperatures often clogging the turbo's oil paths & waste gate


Other effects of all forced induction are higher combustion temps and pressure, this can have an effect on the oil shortening its life, exactly how much I can’t tell you. But with the turbo it is a double whammy.

 

[cary]

I have run an 8k interval on M1 0w-40 with exceptional results. Here is a link to the UOA.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001765#000000


Remember that the 80 is a very easy motor for oil. An 8 quart sump really makes life easy for the oil. There should be no problems with running M1 for 7.5k with a turbo application, and 10k intervals are easily done on the non-turbo motors. Given the new M1 EP oils have a heavier additive package, I don't see any problems with a 15k interval.

Keep in mind the issues with oil sludging on turbo cars like the Audi 1.8t have been caused by dealers using mineral oil for 10k intervals. Add to that a 4 quart sump and you can see trouble brewing. Those same cars run on 10k intervals with the proper oil have no trouble.

 

[skyshark186]

Sorta seems like laziness to me. I havent priced it out, but Im gonna go ahead and guess that an oil change with 15,000 mile oil costs about the same as 5 with 3,000. Other wise they would be losing money.

 

[CDN_Cruiser]

I don't think that is correct or that the math works - eg:

C$7/L * 8L = C$56 + cost of filter C$15 = C$71 for a synthetic change (less for me as I get Amsoil for ~5-6/L

vs - Say - $2/L * 8L * 5 changes = $80 + filters (depending on how often you change them).

...but I get the point!

Cheers, Hugh

 

[MaddBaggins]

I guess I am a little too anal on my oil changes. I drive about 10-12k a year and I change my motor oil 4 times a year with M1. I change my diff oil and xfer case once a year with M1. Maybe I should save a few bucks and push my motor oil changes to 2-3 times a year instead of 4. Or switch to dino.

I've always thought the #1 thing you can do for the longevity of your vehicle is frequent oil changes

 

[Rookie2]

I guess I am a little too anal on my oil changes. I drive about 10-12k a year and I change my motor oil 4 times a year with M1. I change my diff oil and xfer case once a year with M1. Maybe I should save a few bucks and push my motor oil changes to 2-3 times a year instead of 4. Or switch to dino.

I've always thought the #1 thing you can do for the longevity of your vehicle is frequent oil changes

If you read from the test linked above:

"Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it."

Kind of a kick in the pants... ain't it?

Ask yourself, who pushes the 3000 mile change intervals? What interval does your owners manual say?


Rookie2

 

[landtank]

you all are in luck. By mistake I bought a case of M1 15,000 extended life oil. I figured what the hell I'll take one for the team. It now has 6k on it and I'll need to add the first quart do to consumption soon. It looks like that 1 quart will carry me to the finish line. I'm planning on having an analysis on the oil when i reach the 15k mark. At my current driving pace which has been 1000 miles per week you're looking at the week of Oct 16th and at 190k for the oil to get changed out. But most likely it will be a little later as I could use a break from all this driving.

 

[BOUNDER]

This is for a 94 FZJ-80 with 180,000 miles - but it could apply to many others here so I thought I'd ask..........


Mobil advertises 15,000 miles between changes. However, how long have you run your M1 synth oil? Notice any ill effects? How long do you feel comfortable running it? Is the 5,000 miles interval I'm doing too often?


I recently brought my rig into the Toy Dealer for an oil change - becuz of a $11.95 LOF deal I received in the mail from them. Sweet deal so I did it. But for the first time ever, they gave me a 6k change interval instead of the heretofore 3k oil change - (on the little sticker up in the left hand driver side windshield)and I suspect it's Toyota dino oil. I also noticed they are selling M1 in the gift shop I love the cheap price but when I do it, it's Mobil semi-synth and NAPA or 20004.

 

[Damlaker]

Years ago I read an Article in Consumer Reports in which they rebuilt the engines in 75 New York Taxi cabs and than ran them for 60,000 miles. Oil was changed at 6000 mile intervals and they used all types, regular and sythetic (a total of like 15 plus types of oil). After that the broke down the engines and took detailed measurements in an effort to approximate an "objective" measurement of engine wear.

Their conclusions were that there was no diffrence between the types of oil used.

While I realize this type of test may not mean much to true mechanics, for a layman like me, it seemed pretty convining. I know longer pay the extra bucks for synthetic oil in my vehicles.

Here is a link to the Article.

http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.shtml

 

[whodat]

Their conclusions were that there was no diffrence between the types of oil used.

 

[tarbe]

Taxis generally rack up a lot of miles pretty quickly, with relatively fewer cold starts. I would still use a synthetic oil in the winter if you see temps below zero F, for the superior cold temp pumpability.