Awesome deal on Vavoline Synthetic oil @ Advance Auto. BOGO!

[Warpig Racing]

I was just in the local advance auto and noted that they have the Vavoline Synthetic oil on sale (buy on get one free) 2 quarts for $5.98. The store had the 5w30, 10w30, and 20w50. Deal is all month long in stores.

I thought that since everyone here is intio cars, means that you all probably change your own oil. Maybe this will help you save some dough for the other performance parts that you need.

Also there is other stuff that might save you some cash as well.

hopefully the link below works.
http://advanceauto.shoplocal.com/advanc ... 5950979502

[cgrey8]

I'm all about finding good deals on synthetic oils. In fact, it's been years since I last payed full price for synthetic. Back about 6 years ago, I bought 5-quart jugs of Castrol Syntec (not the synthetic blend) for $15/jug. I bought as much as they had on the shelf and my last oil change was the last of that. I bought 2 cases of Pennzoil Synthetic when Advance had that on mail-in rebate for the equivalence of about $2.50/quart. Those will be my next oil change which will be in about 3000 miles.

So I'll definitely go by and check this sale out. Thanks for the heads up.

[MalcolmV8]

Although Castrol Syntec (I think that's the one) is not a true synthetic oil. There has been an on going law suite for years from Mobil (I think it was) for calling their Syntec Synthetic oil.
The details and joys of oil

There are extensive write ups on the net that you've no doubt seen.

[cgrey8]

The debate has something to do with a Class 3 or Class 4 synthetic oil. Both are synthetic, but one is a synthetic (Class 3) that's based on petrolium but has man-made changes to the molecular structure making it technically a synthetic. The other is from the ground-up synthetic with no natural petrolium basis. Even as a petrolium derivative, it's still better than straight petrolium, but agreeably not as good as the pure synthetic.

[MalcolmV8]

Yup that sounds about right.

[94stranger]

wow!! I actully under stood what you guys ment! I don't know to much about oils and stuff but you guys know stuff about everything not just the rangers but the oil to!!! I'm glad I found this site or I'd still have my truck sitting in my drive way with the motor in and nothing else done just waiting to start!!! Thanks to all you guys my ranger is just about ready for me to drive!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cee21]

I am going to get enough for two oil changes on my wifes Accord. How many miles can I leave synthetic oil in her car? My uncle, who is a mechanic, says that he was told that you can up to 15,000, which I am scheptical. I was thinking more like 10,000.

[cgrey8]

I don't think there is a correct answer to that one.

Back when Mobil and Castrol were first pushing their synthetic oils, Mobil did a test with their Mobil1 in NY cabs. The test included a number of cabs (can't remember exactly how many), all run for 60,000 miles. Each cab's motor was torn down and key components were measured and recorded. Some cabs had their oil changed every 3kmiles, others every 6k, some 12k, and 15kmiles. After 60kmiles, each motor was torn down and the same parts were measured. The conclusion of the test was that there was no indication that changing the oil more often reduced wear in the motor.

After reading that article, I switched my old 2.9L V6 over to using synthetic oil when it was around 100kmiles and ran it 10kmiles between oil changes. I never had any internal engine problems from that motor the entire time I owned it and it still ran when I pulled it from the engine bay with the tach at 267kmiles.

However, Malcolm sent his motor's oil off after 3000 miles and the report on the oil was that it was nearly deplete of wear-protecting agents.

It's also worth mention that back in the 90s when Synthetic oil was being pushed, it truly was better than most conventional oils. But conventional oil has made huge quality strides since then such that there's little difference between each of the brands...even the generic brands. This is because of the quality standards that oils must meet to be a certain grade. Look on any motor oil bottle for the "S" grade of the oil stamped inside a circle. You'll notice an API SL or SM rating that looks something like this:

I think SM is the most recent rating. The quality of the conventional oils are getting so good, I just about can't justify the cost of synthetics anymore. Although I am convinced that synthetics have a higher tolerance to heat and thus they can be run longer than conventional oils because of that resistance to thermal breakdown.

So who knows what effects running the oil longer between changes could do. I imagine each person's experience, perception, and opinion is a little different.

BTW, notice the Energy Conserving rating some of the oils are getting. Next time you are out looking at oils, notice the new 5w-20 that's on the shelves. With the stricter fuel economy requirements coming down on the automotive industries, they are developing thinner and thinner oils for motors to help with this effort. I've even see 0w-20 and 0w-30 oils.

[MalcolmV8]

I am going to get enough for two oil changes on my wifes Accord. How many miles can I leave synthetic oil in her car? My uncle, who is a mechanic, says that he was told that you can up to 15,000, which I am scheptical. I was thinking more like 10,000.

The only real way to know is to get your oil tested. Every engine is different and there are many factors that will affect this such as driving conditions and habits, dirty air filter, summer/winter etc. etc.

As Chris noted above I sent a sample of my oil in for testing at 3000 miles while running Mobil 1 full synthetic and they found that almost all the protective and cleaning agents in the oil where gone. They said not to use the oil any more than 5000 miles max. Glad I didn't just blindly use it for 15k miles.

So based on that annalysis I usually do a full oil/filter change every 5k and every 2500 miles I swap in a new filter and add a quart or two of fresh oil (depending on how much it takes).

I personally would not run 10K on a single oil change without at least checking that it's safe after X number of miles. I used http://www.blackstone-labs.com but you can use anyone.

FYI - you receive a very detailed report with more info on your oil than you'll ever know what to do. It does include a summary at the end written in plain english.

Later
Malcolm

[cgrey8]

Of all those factors that affect the life of oil, I expect driving style has the biggest impact...and I'm sure those were hard 3kmiles on that oil you sent in to be sampled since that was done very shortly after you got the Blue truck back on the road. Even with your truck, I'd think average/cruise driving would allow for more than 5000 miles on the oil. Most of the contaminants in oil that turn it black are from blow-by past the rings. And WOT is when the majority of that occurs since that's when the cylinders are at the highest pressures producing more blow-by AND when the fuel mix is rich producing a lot of solid carbon soot that gets included in all that. So with a driving style that keeps the engine in closed loop most of the time (i.e. AFRs around stoic and lower cylinder pressures), I would think the oil would last considerably longer. Wouldn't you?

Just out of curiosity, how much was the test?

[cee21]

As always, thanks guys. Chris is right though, driving habits play a big role. I read on msn, that GM and toyota's oil lights will only come on depending on your driving style, such as lots of city or highway driving and accleration. While Ford was just going to up recomendations to 5k. I wouldn't want to wait for a light to come on just wouldn't trust that to much.

The uncle I am talking about works at a Honda dealership and he has told me the hybrids require -5w-15 or something like that. I just remeber the winter number is a minus. And I had researched the 5w-20 requirements and all it does is gain 1% more mileage and if you sell like a million cars that adds up for meeting CAFE standards. Down side is less engine protection. Ford did that to there trucks, same motor as year before but 5w-20 on the oil cap instead of 5w-30.

[cgrey8]

If you haven't heard, the EPA updated their standards for gauging MPG (both city and highway) on new vehicles. In addition a new energy bill passed a few months ago requiring car manufacturers to AVERAGE 35MPG on vehicles by something like 2015. I honestly don't see that happening. Think about all the GM and Ford big rigs, Large Trucks, F250s, and F350s out there that get sold as business vehicles. They will get included in that average if they are made by "Ford" or "GM"...at least currently the way the law is written. Or at least that's the way it was explained to me. Anybody else with more accurate info, please correct me.

But if that's true, I imagine they'll do whatever they can to squeeze another MPG out of an engine, while also shedding weight wherever they can. You'll also see games being played like dealer-installed options that will allow the cars to leave the factory lighter just so they can meet the new requirements. THEN the dealer installs the bigger engine, wider tires, the back seats, the spare tire, etc etc. I also see a stronger aftermarket and repair market for older vehicles. After all, people will be less willing to sell their big, safe, SUVs if the only thing they can trade it in for is a fly-away-beer-can-of-a-car that doesn't have the power to get out of its own way.

[MalcolmV8]

Chris, I don't recall the price but I want to say around $20. I'm sure they have prices on their site though.

[cee21]

20 bucks, that is not bad. I thought it would be more.

[cgrey8]

I did too...