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Guys,
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but what kind of oil and filter do you use? I've always been a loyal Valvoline/ AC filter guy but the more I read the more I wonder if it really matters!? I have a 2008 K1500 4WD with a 5.3, quad cab and 60k miles.

Just wondering what the brains of the "fire" use and recommend!

Elk Country

Mobil 1

As mentioned, Mobil 1 in your chevy. I use Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 in my land cruiser. I use Delo 400 15W-40 in my Duramax.

Not a thing wrong with what you are using. Synthetic has it's place in extreme temps, both hot and cold, as well as if you wish to extend drain intervals. Lots of good oils today, take your pic. AC filters are good as are Wix, Napa, Motorcraft, Bosch etc.

I use Mobil 1 and a quart of Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer along with a napa gold filter. Ends up at right around $40 in materials. I have family in the trucking business and they are big Lucas fans.

Mobil One, Wix Platinum

really the biggest thing is to change your oil regularly, based on the type of oil you use. And make sure in between it does not go low. Seen to many engines trashed because people don't check fluids.

Go to bitog and look around. With the quality of today's oils you don't need to add anything like Lucas. I use a 60/40 blend of TGMO 0w-20 and Mobil 1 0W-40 European Car Formula in my 2006 Tundra. On bitog it is referred to as the Caterham Blend because the member Caterham came up with it and it is stout

I'm going back to using Mobil1 and MotoCraft Filters In my new Ford EcoBoost V6

On all our Diesel Pickups & Tractors, we have been running Rotella for years.

ditto

Mobil One in an 88 4Runner, 2200RE engine...532K AND STILL GOING STRONG...filter change every 5 K, and engine oil change every 20-25K.

My pickup has a Cummins. I use Mobile 1 Turbo Diesel and Mobile 1 filters. My car get Mobile 1 High Mileage and Mobile 1 filters.

Jeep, and motorcycles get Rotella T6 5w 40. Jeep tranny and lawn mowers get strait 30 weight Rotella. My 09 1500 silverado gets my custom mix (snake oil) 1 gallon of 10w 30 T5 rotella and top it of with 2 quarts of 0w 30 Amsoil. Wifes honda element get whatever brand of synthetic is on sale valvoline synpower or penzoil platinum/ultra.

Wix or wix made Napa filters most of the time.

I'm not big on brand loyalty but Rotella is available everywhere from walmart to truck stops, farm stores and shell service stations, hell grocery stores even carry it sometimes. When you buy it at a super store it about as economical as anything you can get plus the additive package is very good. So if you happen to be out in BFE and need oil you can at least get what you use instead of putting some generic junk in your vehicle.

I used Mobile 1 in my last truck (Dodge Ram) but since owning my Ford F250 I switched to Rotella T Triple 10W-30.

Mobil 1 and NAPA filters in the F150, Pennzoil dino and Napa in the CJ.

I've had a few friends who have had various versions of Jeep products, and each one of them have said those engines seem to piss Mobil ONE and other synthetic brands of oils....

so Pennzoil is a good choice for those type of engines...

Mercedes seem to go through the Mobil 1 as well, couple quarts in a 10k service interval. But with 120k on the low mileage car and 220k in the wagon, I don't mind so long as they keep on going.

It has a crappy Pep Boys reman 258 in it, and even new those things were not known for having effective valve cover gaskets... can't wait to blow it up so I can swap a Ford 5.0 or GM LS motor in it...

I read an article not too long ago from a guy at Blackstone Laboratory (independent oil test lab) that basically said keep your oil changed regularly and keep the level where it should be and it really doesn't make a big difference.

Use what the factory recommends.. I have been using chevron 10-30 in my 93 chevy and have done regular oil changes and now have 289k and have not touched the motor. It runs like a champ and uses no oil and no smoke. I think I may have another 100 k in it. I used to tow a 35 ft travel trailer and 19 ft off shore boat. Made a few trips to Thasis bc on vancover island. 20+ percent grade on gravel so that old truck has had a workout...
Filters....A C. Filters used to be made by wix haven't used then for years tho. Anything from napa gold or any auto parts premium filter will most likly be made by wix.. Just look at the fine print..
Stay away from anything like fram puerlator ect you get for cheap. Ask at napa about cutting filters apart.
Key to long engine life is good oil/ filter and reg oil changes and don't get it hot..

Mobil 1 and a Motorcraft filter in my 2014 Ecoboost.

Almost everything I've ever read about Purolator oil filters has been very positive.

The best lubrication and oil filter won't do chit if you're pouring dirt down the intake.. Air filters and proper intervals matter. Highway miles are a lot different than stop and go or dirt roads.

We routinely get 200,000+ miles out of our Fords with conventional oils. I've always felt that synthetic oils are overrated. Clean oil, and a new filter every 3,000 miles.

Agree on the air filter....but that a given right..

Mobil 1 0w-30 synthetic and a Toyota filter in my '05 Tacoma. I've only had the truck for a month so this was my first oil change with it. I had a Corolla for a long time that really seemed to like the same oil.

Mobil 1 and Motorcraft filters in my 2014 F-150 Ecoboost and 1993 5.0 LX....
Valvoline Dino and Purolator filters in the 2005 Toyota Matrix....

Mobile 1 0w-40

Went back to Amsoil in my deisel Duramax. The only reason is cause It got darn cold here last winter and synthetic helps it start a bit better. I am going to start with the oil analysis again with a filter change every 15k.

I run whatever oil is cheapest, usually the Chevron stuff from Costco, and Wix filters. I've run every car or truck I've owned close to, or well past, 200k and never had an issue related to oil.


Wife's car gets Mobil 1 because that's what she wants and she buys it.

I change oil every 5K miles. Most of the time, I use whatever is on sale. Same for filters.
Old 4Runner is well north of 300K miles now, and seems no worse for wear due to oil changes.

Pennzoil Platinum and a Purolator Pureone filter.

2010 Nissan Titan.

Dan

rotella T6 and wix filters.

I run synthetic motor oil for cold starting because of the VI modifiers and the high film pressure. Buy the cheap walmart synthetic oil that has the right API grade and change out at 3K instead of the 6K my chevrolet manual says.
Run Fram higher grade oil filters because of the convenient sticky stuff on the end. Fram is tied in with Cummins so they know their filtration.
Don't believe the pictures of construction on filters pointing out plastic parts because they are percieved as poor quality. Its all about media performance and integrity.

Don't use K&N air filter - low restirction for "power", but poor filtration. Just because you see stickers on "race cars" doesn't mean they are "good". They just market to the sheeple and its stupid thinking you can clean a air filter and "save money" doing it. Use air filters the Ag & heavy construction people spec on their $100K+ machinery because they warrant their engines and need to hit perfrmance targets (think Mann, Donaldson, Cummins or quality suppliers)

Oil filters are trivial - its quality fuel and air filters really matter. Engine oil filters are pretty "loose" compared to hydraulic filters and keeping oil in the proper TBN range is more important.

I wasn't impressed with my Napa gold air filters I bought on "sale" during my last maintence interval. Some are better built than others and its their manufacturer variances.

I wasn't impressed with the WIX salesman and business model when he was in my office trying to get my filter designs. Seems like a will fitter and thats all. Baldwin doesn't impress me much, but they make a passable filter.


Yea... I'm opinionated, but I know a lot more about filtration than most people. The problem is consumers can't get the performance data to make good choices so you have to fall back to using API standards and buying product from reputable manufacturers.

Trying to find a good reason for buying the cheap Walmart synthetic and changing it twice as often. Enlighten me here.

The Napa Platinum filter is supposed to be a Wix or made by Wix?

My mechanic recommends them to me.

Also an interesting observation. I have a 6.2L Ford V-8 and ran it on Amsoil for the first 40K miles. It used some oil between changes of 7500 miles, about a quart. I took it to the dealership about the oil usage and they changed it to the Motorcraft synthetic blend that was recommended by them for the motor. It immediately stopped using oil.

I don't know if the rings coincidentally got broken in properly at that time or if the Amsoil is just so "skinny" that it used a lot.

Two reasons: (actually four)
1. The typical oil change interval is based on "typical driving" where "Severe duty usage" accelerates the oil change intervals. Trailering and running dirt roads puts you into severe duty category typically. Cheaper insurance to change it more often with a lower cost same API grade oil.

2. My truck doesn't get driven much so the seasonal changes drive lower intervals...
An example is to change after hunting season when my dirt road driving drops off and I don't want to change it later in frozen December in my unheated garage. I change at the end of winter to get rid of the short drive/cold engine water emulsion the oil holds before I start trailering again in the spring.

3. Fresh oil will always have a higher TBN and obviously less acid to sit there and etch your bearings. Getting rid of carbon emulsion is good to.

4. A person could try oil monitoring for TBN and wear metals if they were really concerned, but and oil change is cheaper than a test kit. I would have a different opinion if this was construction or heavy ag equipment or even an industrial air compressor.

Ok. I can see your reasoning for a low annual mileage vehicle. I change the oil and filter on my play cars every 12 months because they don't get miles put on them. I use Mobil 1. On my daily driver, a Cummins, I use regular Rotella T4 and change it every 5-7k. Did this on my previous '03 Cummins that made 502hp and 1060 ft/lb to the wheels for almost 300k miles and the engine was clean as new inside and used no oil. I'm still over maintaining them according to Cummins but that's what works for me.

Fram is not tied in with Cummins. Cummins filtration division is fleetguard, which makes extremely good filters that are always my first choice.

Years ago Dodge and Cummins issued a technical service bulletin advising against using Fram's filters on Cummins diesel engines, specifically the Fram PH3976. The filter was poorly made with glued parts inside that were coming apart due to the strong oil pressure output of the cummins engines. The filter parts were clogging the oil passages and causing bearing failure. Fram eventually redesigned the filter to the PH3976A to fix the issue.

It's not all about media performance and integrity if the filter is so cheaply made that it comes apart. There are much better filters at the same price point as Fram, purolator is an example of a much better filter costing roughly the same as a Fram.

I don't care what grade Fram it is, I won't use them.

It would take some digging, but I think there is cummins filtration ties to Fram at a sub-brand level somewhere. It may be on the air filter side as part of cummins buying up nelson. Fram could be the consumer level line where fleetgard is kept as the industrial side. Some of these filter brands will have up to a dozen brand names hiding under them because filter companies grow by buying each other out.

Most people don't realize that many filter companies make filters for each other to round out their product lines and you really don't know whose filter you're getting many times.

As far as "glued parts" coming apart... ALL filters have the media potted to a end cap whether it is cardboard, metal, or plastic. Most people think a good oil filter is one that doesn't leak!
The media is glued together at the seam or heat bonded with monoplastic or metal clips and sometimes plastic endcaps are the best because steel platings can be hard to bond to.

The filter media is "glued" together too. Most engine lube filters are cellulose media which is wood fiber with resin glue holder the fibers together. If you think about it - A common facial tissue is a higher grade of resin bonded cellulose that doesn't break down when wet unlike toilet paper that you want to breakdown and it has less resign in it. Synthetic medias trump cellulose medias BTW.

If given a choice, I would only use filter companies that publish an engineering applications catalog and not just a cross reference book. A company that publishes engineering data does its homework and probably really tested the aftermarket product offerings. Going with a Donaldson or Mann would be better because they supply to Deere, case, and Cat and know rough applications. A lot of time the automotive companies go for the lowest cost and the industrial filter companies don't even play in that market.

Too bad you had a bad experience with your Fram filter and it sounds like Fram missed a application parameter when they made the crossover line. Its proof that a person should stay with the OEM filter because you know its "application approved". Like most consumers, its hard to pay the dealership price when you know they really don't make the filter and you really want to find the real manufacturer and not pay the dealership markup!

I never had any experience with a Fram filter as I've never put one on my engine. I was referring to dodge technical service bulletin 09-004-01. My engine has used a fleetguard stratapore oil fiter, part #LF3894, since it's first oil change. The truck now has 382,000 miles on it. The fleetguard filters were purchased from the local cummins supplier, not the dodge dealer.

Fleetguard is the brand name that cummins filtration markets it's filters under. Cummins filtration has been wholly owned by cummins since day one.

Fram has been owned by multiple players including Bendix, Honeywell, and now the Rank Group which is an investment company owned by a New Zealand billionaire. Cummins never owned them.

Who has owned Cummins / Fleetguard filtration?
I know their air filtration division is Nelson who Cummins bought because I remember doing business with "Nelson" before they changed.

What does Dodge use on their engines? You can't guarantee its a Fleetguard product...

I feel your engine's long life is a function of a better air filter more than a oil filter. Most engine oil filters are so loose that anything will work and its keeping the oil TBN and wear metals in line more so than the oil filter.

I don't think it's the plastic parts...

Yep... the fram filter doesn't look good there and there is pleat distortion, BUT you are not comparing 2 of the same filter and the napa filter is not used. Try again with an apples to apples comparision please.

All oil filters get a little ugly by the end of their life and you need to do a media integrity test to really know if the filter was sucessful.

actually that is one of the better fram pics if you google 'fram filter cut open'. the cardboard end plates are a deal breaker for me.

I think you'd better quit while you're (sort of) ahead here. You missed the point entirely on the cutaway photos of the Fram and NAPA filters.

Hint: Pleat count is somewhat critical to filtration capacity. Also, your blathering about Fram/Cummins etc is clearly a not so eloquent backpedal. I also use Fleetguard oil filters exclusively, Mopar air filters and Fleetguard and Racor fuel filters on my 2014 Ram. Racor incidentally, is the O.E. supplier for the rear frame mounted fuel filter.

"You missed the point entirely on the cutaway photos of the Fram and NAPA filters."
NO - I got it exactly right - there is substancial difference in the filters because the media area (IE pleat count) are differnet as well as the length. You need to compare 2 of the same filter in the same condition to make a real comparision. Who knows if the person making those pictures didn't rig the photos by distoring the end caps and moving the pleats over?

I applaud you for using the OEM filters.

You may not like the looks of the Fram filter, but it was doing its job and pleat distortion is a funcion of flow and media velocity and those were not too bad looking. The amount of media in that flter may be all that is needed for the application and they save consumer cost by designing the filter pack that way. End caps don't mean a thing if the media passes the integrity test in the end.

Withdrawn - may rock the foundations of how much "value engineering" filters can have and still perform well.

Kind of a left turn here, but I just took over maintenance duties for the GF's Expedition. When I looked at the last service sticker, I just about stroked out... over 10k miles overdue for an oil chance. So I stopped at NAPA and picked up a Gold oil filter, and filled it up with whatever Mobil 1 calls it's high mileage formula. Apparently, it was also at least three quarts low (of a ~6 quart capacity) and freakin' nasty black. Ouch! Question: Do I just leave the oil and filter on for a normal interval, or do I want to shorten up the first change interval?

KDK,
You may want to run a shorter interval just because the fresh oil may clean out some sludge that formed and it may load the filter quickly.
Changing oil brands around can cause cleaning effects due to the additive package differences.

H

I'd at least change the filter again, say @ 500-1K miles. the synthetic will dissolve sludge build-up and the solids will eventually wind up in the filter.

+1

If the engine is sludge up bad then also watch for oil in the air filter box. That sludge can clog up or at least restrict the crankcase venilation system.

I use Mobil 1 and Puralator filters. I also slap on a FilterMag on newer engines. May be un-necessary, but I like to think it pulls any metal particles out during the break-in process.

Okay, thanks, fellas, that's what I was thinking as well. It never hurts to get confirmation, though.

+1 to this, change the filter after 1000 miles

Doyou remember when you bought a new car that the dealers did the first oil change for free? I think that was to keep the people from freaking out at the metal filings they would find in the oil!
And all the loose stuff that needed to be tightened.

I like the mag idea. May be able to do the same with a stout mag on the filter bottom.

If your engine oil is that black, I would just do an engine flush. I bought an audi one time that probably never had it's oil changed in the first 40,000 miles. It was sludged up bad, and three consecutive oil changes didn't fix it.

My ex hitting the oil pan and busting it (requiring replacement) DID fix the problem.

I have about 500 miles on the fresh oil, and have been checking it (almost neurotically ) and it still has a very light golden hue to it. I'll keep checking as I go, but I think I might be alright...

I understand the point that filtration efficiency can't be judged by the looks of old filters, and that oil analysis would tell the actual tale.

I also know that spending an extra $3 to $5 to get a "prettier" filter on my 3 oil changes per year, would buy me a whole lot of peace o' mind. I'm weird that way. And in many others, actually.

FC

psted this before, but I picked up a Honda Prelude ( 88 model, with 100,000 on it ) for $2500 around 2000 or so...

had been owned by a woman and she ran Pennzoil in it...the last oil change had been at 97,000, but that had been 3 years earlier...

tuned it up and pulled the valve cover... the entire head looked like the highway dept had just paved it with fresh asphalt...

I scooped out the big globs I could get at with an old spoon... put a new gasket on it, and did an oil change of Mobil 1, 0W40 ( or 0W 30, can't remember which, but wanted to try a ZERO weight oil to see how it held up or if an engine would use it..)

Although the body was in great shape, I was concerned about the sludge in the engine, so I decided this car would be a disposable test rig... just run it until it blew up....

Never had any intention of changing the oil, just change the filter every 5K, and add as needed.... test just how good Mobil One really was in the long run...

40,000 miles later a friend was just getting divorced and wanted a car with good gas mileage and was "sporty".. so he hammered me to sell him the Honda....wouldn't let up.... was even offering me the $2500 I paid for it....

I finally let it go to him... Del is a mechanical idiot, so being a friend, I went thru the car before I turned it over to him... new tune up, radiator flush and fill, complete break job, transmission change ( manual )....

When I took the valve cover off to see what the inside of the engine looked like, after 40,000 miles of Mobil One with no changes... and only had to add oil when I changed the filter every 5K..... I was shocked at the look of the upper end of the engine...

All of that sludge was totally GONE... the inside of the engine had zero sludge on the head...had very light varnish coating, but considered what it looked like previously, I had no issue with that...

So I can verify that Mobil One really does work... that is why I pretty much run it exclusively, minus little tests I do when an engine has high miles and so does the car....

and example is on my 94 Camry.. at 310K, I filled it with Mobil 15W40 Diesel truck oil... changed the filter every 3300 miles ( 3 times in 10K) and added as needed... ran that oil 20K and then took the valve cover off to see what it looked like underneath...

that compared to what the head looked like before the change... surprisingly, 20K on 15W40 dino oil, I only saw a slight bit of varnish, but ZERO sludge build up... most of this was Highway Miles.. but I was pretty darn impressed with that...

I think frequent filter changes, on engines that are not just used for short trips, like my wife's car is...good oil can give a pretty decent life span of itself... at least the right oil will...

Typical Chick vehicle...

I think oil is good enough these days, that it has become more important to pay attention to the filters... I've been using Purolators from Wally World, the past 3 or 4 years and cut down my filter change time from 5K to 3.3 K....( 3 times every 10K, vs 2 times every 10K)...

I have noticed a major difference on how much longer the oil stays cleaner looking.. I run Mobil ONE, for 20 to 25K in my family vehicles depending on which one and who normally drives it as my wife's and son's habits are different that mine... I put the most miles on my vehicles and my wife is mainly short distances around town...

Mobil ONE holds up real well under either extremes...

My two personal vehicles ( that I drive) have 333K on the 94 Camry and 532K on the 88 4Runner..so evidently the stuff and 20 to 25K oil changes on them, seem to work out just fine...

here is what the head looked like at 330K on my 94 Camry 4 cylinder....3000 miles ago...



I don't think that looks too bad for 330K and 20 to 25,000 mile oil changes with Mobil One...( although the last 20 K change was with Mobil 15W 40... )

I have used Valvoline or Castrol GTX for oil mostly but have been using Royal Purple in the Rubicon. I change filters twice per oil change in rigs running the dino oil. I try to change the filters at 2500 miles and change the oil at the 5k mark.

With the synthetic I've been changing filters about every 3k miles, and putting between 10k and 12k miles per change. I think I'm changing the oil to early most of the time, but feel the good filters are well worth the money.

I've been using Napa Gold or Platinum filters which are made by WIX.

I've been an industrial mechanic most of my career and have seen most failures due to contamination rather than the oil being worn out. Modern oils have great additive packages. Oxidation ruins oils, so unless you are running really hot or getting moisture in the oil, contamination is most of what you should be concerned with.

What's the difference between the Gold and Platinum filters?

What kind of oil were you using, Dutch?

Platinums are wire-backed synthetic media.

Just regular dinosaur oil, either Quaker or Penzoil, don't quite remember.

Thanks, fellas.

The Gold and Platinum are compatible with full synthetic oil and have higher efficiency ratings.

NAPA filter guy was out explaining difference. If I remember Gold is 6000 to 7500 mile filter Platinum is 12000 to 15000 mile filter

Update: I had a little free time this afternoon so I changed the filter today and added a quart at just shy of 1k miles. The oil is starting to darken some, but was still clear enough to see through. I'm going to continue keeping an eye on the color of the oil on the dipstick (not exactly scientific, I know), and try and resist the urge to change it early...

ya wanna clean up a sludged gas engine, using diesel motor oil is another good way to do so...they are very high in detergents...

Rotella, Mobil, Chevron 15 W40, or diesel rated 10W30s by them...

Or Mobil or Chevron 5W40 synthetic...

each of these are available at Wally World...for your convenience...

I think I'll probably be okay. Another 4k miles I'll drain what's in there and fill it with fresh stuff. I might get an oil analysis done to decide whether we will keep my F150 or her Expedition... we don't need four rigs between the two of us.

Hopefully, we'll be getting rid of both in a year or so for a newer Super Duty.

A trick I learned from a Mercedes Benz mechanic is to put about a pint of ATF in and run it until it's warm then shut it off and drain.

I'm a Rotella fan when it comes to my diesel pick-up.