Pennzoil Platinum Change Interval

[Project84]

Guys, have any of you given thought to looking up the recommended oil change interval in your vehicle's owner manual?

My 1996 Saturn owner's manual recommends changing the oil/filter every 6,500 miles and it makes NO MENTION of synthetic oil. Just says use 5W-30.

I change it at 5,000 because like spot said, the oil is black within the first few hundred miles. I usually run an additive or two between changes also, so I figure the filter has seen some debris by 5k. If my engine didn't burn oil though, I'd go 6,500 miles as recommended. Saving money is saving money.

I've seen oil analysis of synthetic oils from different performance applications where at 5k-7k miles intervals the oil was still very acceptable.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I do my oil changes @ 5,000 miles. I always use synthetic. All of my vehicles specify a 7,500 mile change interval. I can probably let it slide to 10,000 miles, but I'm completely comfortable with 5,000. With my vehicles ranging in age from 11 to 29 years, you can never be too careful with the maintenance.

[bowtieguy]

http://www.yotarepair.com/Automotive_News.html
http://www.yotarepair.com/My%20Opinion.html

i wouldn't trust the manufacturer's recommendations. these articles illustrate toyota's sludge issues and the vagueness of warranty coverage. there's no way i would leave dino oil in my car for 7500 miles...under any conditions!

there are so many advantages to using true, 100% synthetics. many are able to legally label themselves synthetic even tho they are not fully synthetic. unless your vehicle gets blow-by(or has a major leak) with them, i wouldn't use anything else.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by GasUser

Sometimes I shorten up the interval depending on my usage. As an example, I dolly towed a Mustang from Pittsburg Pa to Albany NY mostly at 70mph on the interstate and after that I shortened up the change interval.

I am sure you could go longer if you are doing easy highway cruising.

This is why modern GMs (and I'm pretty sure a few other manufacturers do this too) track their own usage and tell you when it's time for an oil change.

[trollbait]

The first fill of Mobil 0w-30 in the HHR went 6700 miles before the indicator went off. Reset it, topped off with a half quart, and waited until 10,000 to change the oil. Didn't reset the indicator with the second fill, so it was at high 80% to low 90%. At around 7800 miles it went off. Reset, and topped off again. Think I'll wait until 12000 for the change. The second fill didn't dirty up as quickly as the first.

If you have an oil maintance light, check the manual. It might just be a milage count down.

[theholycow]

Good point, I forgot...my VW has an oil maintenance light, and it is just a mileage countdown.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by Project84

Guys, have any of you given thought to looking up the recommended oil change interval in your vehicle's owner manual?

I know Ford recommended 5K miles as an oil change interval on the car I'm referring to, but since the car sits in the garage 98% of the time and is only driven on longer trips of 250+ miles, with the exception of maybe 5 times a year taking it out for a short drive I've been changing the conventional oil (10w40 Exxon Super Flo) every 3K miles since the car was new. It's probably not necessary to change it that often, but this is a '97 with almost 26K miles and has only had 8 changes in 13 years so the oil is actually staying in the crankcase on average about 1.5 years. Another reason for asking the original question was because I also know that the quality of oil is better now than it was 13 years ago and synthetics are also much more widely used now than they were when this car was new, so I just wanted feedback from some synthetic users. I've also been doing a little research on www.bobistheoilguy.com, but I've noticed that different engines seem to have different effects on the same oil and I haven't been able to find anyone that has had a used oil analysis done using Pennzoil Platinum on the same engine I have. The engine I am referring to is the 2.0L SOHC engine found in the '97-up Ford Escort. If anyone has such feedback it would be appreciated.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by trollbait

The first fill of Mobil 0w-30 in the HHR went 6700 miles before the indicator went off. Reset it, topped off with a half quart, and waited until 10,000 to change the oil. Didn't reset the indicator with the second fill, so it was at high 80% to low 90%. At around 7800 miles it went off. Reset, and topped off again. Think I'll wait until 12000 for the change. The second fill didn't dirty up as quickly as the first.

If you have an oil maintance light, check the manual. It might just be a milage count down.

Was the Mobil 0w30 synthetic or conventional? My car doesn't have an oil maintanence light. As I said in the prevoius post I've been running the conventional oil in that car for 3K mile change intervals, but the oil still really looks pretty clean at that point so I bottle it back up and use it for topping off oil in my '88 Escort with 505K miles since it uses/leaks a quart about every 1000-1200 miles. I figure that way I get the best of both worlds, I'm able to keep really clean oil in the low mileage engine and put fairly clean oil in the engine that's just going to use/leak it out anyway.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I think all 0W30 oils from Mobil are synthetic.

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by theholycow

This is why modern GMs (and I'm pretty sure a few other manufacturers do this too) track their own usage and tell you when it's time for an oil change.

Yeah, GM is good with that. The GF has the DIC in her Impala and it reads out the % of oil life left among other things. Also, Onstar sends her (e-mail) vehicle systems status reports including oil life % every month. That is in addition to having Onstar on call 24/7 when she is in a strange city. It is convenient for her and she feels safe driving alone on her long highway trips.