How Long Between Oil Changes Using Mobil 1?

[skatehouse]

What is the mileage recommendation between oil changes using Mobil 1?

[Mesoam]

5k for the "normal" person

[biged30]

5K will work long as you never push it. BUt everyone at some point during the interval will push their engine. Mobil 1 will last longer than regualr conventional ao just keep an eye on it and you can make the judgement.

[skatehouse]

Yes...I'm sure most everyone on this site pushes it otherwise this site would be called Volvopuss or Volvonogo. So anyways, what does that mean realistically? 4000 miles or so? Does it become more frequent as the cars mileage adds up? Is looking at the color on the dipstick any indication?

[Guest Guest]

I actually called mobil and asked them about this once and the tech told me that you HAVE to change the oil every 3K if that is when you do it with regular oil, in other words, synthetic does not allow you to drive longer on the oil...

[starfish]

Back in the 1970's Mobil 1 advertised 25,000 mile oil change intervals. Now they have an "Extended Performance" Mobil 1 synthetic oil that is said to have 36% more anti wear additives and 37% more cleaning agents than the current Mobil 1 yet this product only guarentees performance and protection up to 15,000 mile oil change intervals. Maybe a change in science or more likely marketing strategy. Either way I change mine every 7,500 miles.

[biged30]

realistically you can do 4K. 3K is only a reccomendation to prevent any liability. just look for signs of the oil getting deposits and getting dirty. You'll really know from performance.

[mogli]

Two schools of thought on reading the color of oil. One is that 'clean' oil is not doing its job, which is to hold contaminants in suspension. The other is that color means nothing at all, only the mileage matters.

IMO choosing a short oil change interval isn't a good idea since there is some evidence that new oil causes more wear than broken-in oil, and also one must remember that this stuff doesn't grow on trees. Most of us would go through some effort to add a mile or two per gallon to our fuel efficiency, which is only few % improvement. Extending an OCI to 4,000 (or more) from 3,000 is a 25% improvement with no downside for most of us.

[Drew]

5K will work fine. Been doing it on several cars for several years. No issues.

Other parts of the car will fall apart or fail long before the motor due to doing a 5K mile change vs. a 3K mile change...........

Good Luck

Doug

[Alfredo]

yes, 5m miles will be fine for turbos. On normal aspirated engines you can push over 15m or even more with Mobil1 SuperSyn but the problem is to change the oil filter prior those 15m.

regards

[KLS]

5000 miles is safe. Mobil 1 is good for longer, but the only way to tell is to have a lab analyze the oil. The phone person at ExxonMobil has a script that says basically, don't stick the corporate neck out. Mobil 1 5W-40 is my choice of oil for our cars.

Here is one Mobil 1 experience.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html

Ken

[Trunks850R]

okay who are the people telling us to change our oil every 3k? the oil comapnys! if you read the owners manual of any car they usually say 5k. i do mine at 4k using only volvo filters and mobil1 15w50(the 15000 mile stuff) im switching to 10w40 next week because of the temp.

a 3000 miles your oil is just begining to break down, my dad is a mechanical engineer who specializes in oil and vibration analysist. he checked my trucks oil(at the y-12 plant he worked at, you know, where they built the A-bomb?) with 3500 miles on castrol gtx and said it showed no signs of break down

[mikeo]

It is not just miles, but time. As we know, driving car short distances is worst for engine and oil breakdown. If was purely highway miles, dino oil at 4K miles should be fine. Mobil 1 at about 5K. If dino, it should be changed every 3 to 6 months. If use Mobil 1 and less than 5K miles yearly, once year is fine.

To me, changing oil and filter is cheap insurance, and rather change more frequently. I personally change mine every 3,000 or 3 to 5 months. I am looking to get over 200K miles without removing the heads on my 850. I feel for my non Turbo 850, regular dino changes with quality oil like Castrol (10x30) is fine. If lived in very cold temps, or very hot summers would use Mobil 1.

I am a big fan for Mobil 1 oil for higher performance engines that rev much higher than the 850. In one of my other cars that is high performance, I switched from dino at 60K miles to Mobil 1 (15x50) and had no oil leaks, or problems. Mobil 1 is a great oil.

[ToxicLemonade]

I change mine every 8000k miles with 10w-30 mobil 1. i believe anything less is a marketing plot. my dad has changed his amsoil in his 04 jetta TDI every 10K with absolutely no problems what so ever, and the car just passed 110K miles. if you change synthetic at 3K miles, put it back in the used oil containers and ill pay for you to ship it to me.

[skatehouse]

WOw! No simple answer here...except to use common sense. I was going to ask about Amsoil Vs Mobil 1 but that's a whole nother' topic. Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I'll stick with 4-5000 and drive it like I stole it. Actually, I did steal it. ha ha!