Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Synthetic Motor Oil

My experience, for what it is worth. I have six vehicles, currently, all gas. I usually buy my vehicles slightly used, 3 to 5 years old, and then keep them for ten to twenty years.

My late father was an ASME Engineer and Air Force pilot that did some research work with Mobil-1 oil in about the late 60's. Based on what he learned he switched to using Mobil-1 exclusively in all his gas engines. My two brothers and I did the same. He claimed that M-1 oil did not evaporate, did not break down, did not "coke" and did not wear out, as opposed to traditional petroleum oils that did all the above. He said that the synthetic oil kept a film on the metal indefinitely and did not run off like petroleum oil, eventually leaving metal bare and subject to corrosion and start-up wear. He said Mobil-1 was developed for military jet engines that not only subjected oil to very high temperatures in some of their turbine bearings that ran at 30,000 rpm, but would also function adequately in jet engines that would be routinely shut down and cold-soaked (B-52s), sometimes for hours, at high altitude where the temperature is a constant -50 degrees and then be restarted again later in the mission. He said the only reason to change synthetic oil was to get rid of the accumulation of dirt and contaminants that collected over time.

We initially started out changing the oil filter every six months, and the oil once a year, regardless of mileage. Mileage varied from a few thousand miles to just over 20,000 miles a couple of times, per year, in our various vehicles. Opening a couple of filters convinced us to forego the six-month change of the filter. For almost 40 years we have just changed the oil and filter once a year.

We have never had a filter or oil caused problem. My dad and brothers have never used any particular filter, just whatever was available. Several years ago I read a credible recommendation for Napa Gold filters, so I usually use them (now Napa Platinum when available). We never had an engine wear out and several of the vehicles had over 250,000 on them when we got rid of them. We have just never kept a vehicle past 287,000 miles, that I can recall. My brother still has the '64 Ford pick-up running on his farm that he bought in 1967. The engine has never been re-built. He broke the odometer cable while off-roading in 1971 and never replaced it, so its mileage is unknown. It hasn't been licensed for the road in years, just used on the farm.

I don't have the knowledge to endorse a particular filter, but I am a die-hard, loyal fan of Mobil-1 synthetic oil. Other synthetic oils may well be just as good, or even better than Mobil-1, but I know it is certainly good enough for me.
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Commercial Fishing winter of '91--truck parked at landing for 4 days at -48 at night--nearest plug-in at least a hundred a miles away. 2 pieces of 6-inch stove pipe with elbow and a propane tiger torch --place elbow under oil pan and let run for 30 minutes--keep an eye on it so you don't set the whole thing on fire and watch the wiring.
Switched to Mobile 1 oil--I'm sure that tiger torch is around here somewhere but it could take days to find it.

Sam, if you put synthetic in it you will notice a difference. 10w30 Shell rotella's pour point is 30 below zero. After that it is mostly grease. I'm sure you have started it when it was that cold. The pour point for Shell T6 ( 5w40) is 42 below and the Amsoil series 3000 5w30 has a pour point of 58 below zero. This is why my deisel truck ( Duramax) and my little Kubota tractor starts noticably better when it gets cold.

Keep it fresh, keep it clean. As long as it's API approved with the correct Gasoline, Diesel rating, it makes no difference.

Unless one is obsessive compulsive..

Thanks for the info, I'll check and see what kind of a deal our local CARQUEST can come up with.


In the cold weather we always have a gallon of 10-30w warmed up in the pickup or in the house. Little thick at -20 or -40!

Yes it does - when it can get down to more than -20F below zero.. I've seen oil being added from a 1 qt plastic container of 10-30 that had been in the unheated garage and the temp was that cold.. Let's just say it took quite a while to empty that container; imagine how long that near-grease can get to the top of your engine and lube it before metal begins to flake off..

Down south people won't get that issue... But up here in the northland owners best use a product that will flow easily at sub-zero temps..

FWIW

Ford did a long term durability test of oils back in the early 80's. The net result, then, was that Mobil 1 was the superior product. Believe that the real difference was their additive package.
It was noted that, at the time, most oil filters were so inefficient, when combined with full synthetic, that they only added a little extra capacity to the equation.
About 2 decades later, another long term durability comparison was performed. The net of this was that Mobil 1 was still top of the heap, but many of the competitors had gotten much better. Again, it was the additive package that gave Mobil 1 the edge.
I have been "out of the loop" for the last 15 years or so, but would guess the trend has continued.
As a side commentary, most every engineer that had access to the these studies switched near every engine they owned over to Mobil.
There were pretty strong indications that in typical cars, once a year or every 25,000 miles is adequate. I haven't had an engine problem in nearly 40 years, a bunch of cars, thru 3 teenagers, following this practice.

Lee, that's the only thing keeping me from moving to your part of the country to be with family.. I was there in the coldest days of last year. I don't know if the oil froze but I do however know that my ass did

Everyone has spoken of max mileage between oil changes, what about max time? I have an '06 GTO that only gets ~3000 miles per year. Its had synthetic from day one per the manual. How often should I change the oil?

one of our cars, that the wife drives...the Mobil One oil can be in there for 2 to 3 years.... in the last 20 years, that has not presented any problems or sludge etc...she always gets the new car, and I take over the old one....and ran cars she passed to me 150 to 200 K more...so no long term problems..

back in Minnesota, when it got real cold overnight and I forgot to plug the car in, I'd jack the car up and drop the oil plug...go out 30 minutes later, put the plug back in the oil pan, and take the container of oil into the house....

15 minutes later, go back and pour it into the engine and hit the key and it would start right up...

also did that to the ambulance at the Troop Clinic up at Camp Ripley, when I ran the Clinic there, when they were doing ski school training.. no frost plug heater on it.. had to do that several times when it was 35 below or so...

10W30 doesn't flow real well at those temps... but it still is fluid enough to drop thru an oil plug, even if like taffy...

but take the oil in a warm building, and 10 to 15 minutes, it thins out quickly and pour it right back into the engine and she'll fire right up..

It depends on how the car is driven and how it is stored. If you're mostly making short trips where the engine never gets up to full temp, and if you're storing it outside where you get lots of temp swings I'd lean towards changing it annually, or at most every other year. The more frequent changes aren't an issue of the oil breaking down sooner, but rather wanting to get moisture out of the crank case.

If however you're getting enough longer trips in to get the engine up to temp and store it in a heated garage I'd stick with the factory recommended change intervals.

Or add supplemental heaters.

Not or, and

Stored in an attached garage. Driven 8 mile each way commute ~ 4 days per week. Occasional 0-60 hard acceleration, no sustained hard driving.

I'd check the oil filler cap and see if you are getting any buildup of the additives. I know in my wife and kids car in the winter when they don't get up to temp the oil filler cap looks like it's been coated with a glob of tan mayonnaise. Unfortunately we put so many miles on our cars, even at a 10k interval I'm changing oil annually on all of our cars.

If it were my GTO (assuming 10k intervals) I'd change it at least every other year just in the interest of getting as much moisture as possible out of the crankcase. Maybe it's unnecessary, but if you do your own changes oil and filter is ~$50 and I'd feel better babying it.

Back in the day, I would take some old oil, put it in a pan with a rag for a wick. I'd light it and stick it under the oil pan. It lasted 10 min or so and warmed the engine up enough for it to start. Just in case one of you guys get a truck that won't start , it's a good idea.

That's a dangerous suggestion.

An engine could catch on fire with a flame burning under it!

Engines have oil on them that burns and fuel in and on them that burns!

LMAO... And last year wasn't that cold - it just never quit snowing and there was no "January thaw" (or similar).. On some years I've cleared the driveway with the tractor and the temps were -30F + some stiff winds.. THAT'll make the hair grow on yer azz... Oh, and I don't have a cab on my tractor..

I think every truck sold here in this part of the country comes with a block heater.. Not sure about cars - I'd have to ask.. I plug the truck in when temps drop to -10 or lower, and it's in a garage - not left outside.. Fires up without a burp - and I really don't even have to plug it in, but it makes it easier on the engine and starter to do so..

Synthetic motor oil has a superior borderline pumping temperature over mineral based oil.

That means that the engines oil pump will pump it faster, at a lower temperature, over other oils.

That is reason enough to use it.

The engine on one of our cars requires synthetic oil and I use it.

On the other car I use Ford's semi synthetic 5w-20 as specified.