SternWake
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I'm fairly stationary and have a place to work on my Van, but I have been in need of an oil change, out on the road and performed some stealthy oil changes, one in a rest stop in Oklahoma at 4AM.
Those of you who do your own work on the road, what strategy do you employ when the oil needs a changing? Do you eye parking spots that you might get away with slipping some cardboard and an oil pan under the vehicle, or do you just goto the local iffy lube, or perhaps a somewhat more trustworthy service center?
I really do not trust any jiffy lube type joints. I do not believe they will use the proper grade oil I have chosen, and their filters are the cheapest that can be bought in bulk. They will likely overtighten the filter and perhaps the drain plug itself, perhaps stripping or cross threading it on reinstallation.
Since time is money, they likely also return the drain plug well before it is down to a one drip per second level( my personal minimum acceptable drip rate), unless they suck it out the fill tube, which will also likely leave a half a quart of old dirty oil sticking to the internals, which is also good for their bottom line as less fill is required to bring it up to the line.
COmbine this with the upsell, strangers possibly driving my home, and my inclination to do anything myself which I can perform myself, keep me well away from any quickle iffy lube joint and I think the last one I allowed near my van, was in 2001 or 2002.
Yesterday, I changed my oil. It had been in the crankcase for 14 months, and I only drove ~3K miles in that time. The Fill was Mobil1 0w-30 AFE and I used a Motorcraft FL-1A filter, which cross references to a purolator 30001 or a fram PH8A. The Motorcraft is in the same price range as those other 2 and is built significantly better with a thread end bypass valve, instead of a dome end bypass.
I buy 0w-XX oils as they require higher quality synthetic basestocks to meet this 0w rating, which include group 5 ester oils, group 4 PAO poly alpha olefins or something, and Group 3 hydrocracked oils which in The US, can be called fully Synthetic, but not in Germany. Group 1 and 2 oils are just conventional mineral oils, but even these are so much better than what was available 20 years ago, that it is rather impressive.
I do not need a 0w-XX oil for my climate, nor do I even need a Synthetic oil. I use them not only for just for the warm and fuzzies, but their ability to last more time and mileage before they either shear to too light a grade, or the detergents. Antiwear, anti scuff, friction modifying, Acid neutralizing additives are all worn out. I'd have No problem leaving Mobil1 0w-30 or 0w-40 oil in my van for 12k miles or 14 to 18 months., but I would not push a Conventional mineral oil much past 5500 miles or 6 to 8 months.
Here is an Used Oil analysis performed on Mobil1 0w-40 from a few years Ago, at Blackstone Labs.
This M1 0w-40 oil made my engine significantly quieter than my previous fill of M1 TDT( turbo diesel truck) 5w-40 nearly eliminating some undesirable valvetrain noises upon deceleration, which made me happy.
The Subsequent fill was M1 0w-30 as Wally world did not have any 0w-40 in 5 quart jugs in stock. It seemed a smidge louder than 0w-40. WW also was out of my preferred overkill filter, the M1-301 and I bought the motorcraft FL-1a instead.
There are many motor oil Myths passed on down from Grandpa, and If I read my owners manual I would not use any xw-40 weight oil, and I doubt 0w-40 even existed in 1989.
10w 40 was not recommended for use, in 1989, in my van, as 10w-40 oils of that era used many viscosity index improvers so it could achieve that 40w rating at 200 degrees C. The problem was these VII's would break down and the oil would shear to a light 30 weight oil or even a 20 weight oil, whose film strength would be too weak/thin to adequately protect the bearings.
Modern oils, conventional or otherwise have better basestocks, and viscosity index improvers and are much more resistant to shearing to a lighter weight oil.
The Mobil1 0w-40 is reported to shear to a heavy weight 30 weight oil but level off there unless fuel dilution is an issue for the engine, which might be an issue with a rich running carb'd engine, or a modern direct injection engine.
So, Short of Boutique oils such as AMSOil and Redline or Brad Penn or perhaps Royal Purple, I feel the Mobil 1 0w-40 oil with a M1-301 high capacity high filtration efficiency filter is about as good as one can do in temps of product capability. I feel more confident that if I were to not notice my engine overheating, that the Synthetoc oil would protect better for longer. I feel more confident that if I had 3k miles on the oil, and needed to drive cross country, I could do so without worrying about changing the oil.
With such a Heavy duty filter, I have confidence it will not blow up, or have the media tear, or have the antidrainback valve get stuck open and cause valvetrain clatter each and every start up.
Changing it myself means i can let it drain for as long as it fancies me to let the old oil drip out, that I know the filter was installed to the proper tightness,, and partially filled with new oil before reinstalling it, and the drain plug was not cross threaded or overtightened.
I've no issues returning the used oil into the most recent 5 quart container and recycling it and the filter at the local Autozone or Oreilly's. I can also take my hammer and chisel to the old filter and inspect it for sludge or lots of sparklies or for torn filter media.
This Motorcraft FL-1A was my most recent dissection, and it is darn impressive for a 4$ filter, in my opinion:
So, for you, is Oil just oil, or does your freedom machine's engine get a little more overkill loving than that?
Those of you who do your own work on the road, what strategy do you employ when the oil needs a changing? Do you eye parking spots that you might get away with slipping some cardboard and an oil pan under the vehicle, or do you just goto the local iffy lube, or perhaps a somewhat more trustworthy service center?
I really do not trust any jiffy lube type joints. I do not believe they will use the proper grade oil I have chosen, and their filters are the cheapest that can be bought in bulk. They will likely overtighten the filter and perhaps the drain plug itself, perhaps stripping or cross threading it on reinstallation.
Since time is money, they likely also return the drain plug well before it is down to a one drip per second level( my personal minimum acceptable drip rate), unless they suck it out the fill tube, which will also likely leave a half a quart of old dirty oil sticking to the internals, which is also good for their bottom line as less fill is required to bring it up to the line.
COmbine this with the upsell, strangers possibly driving my home, and my inclination to do anything myself which I can perform myself, keep me well away from any quickle iffy lube joint and I think the last one I allowed near my van, was in 2001 or 2002.
Yesterday, I changed my oil. It had been in the crankcase for 14 months, and I only drove ~3K miles in that time. The Fill was Mobil1 0w-30 AFE and I used a Motorcraft FL-1A filter, which cross references to a purolator 30001 or a fram PH8A. The Motorcraft is in the same price range as those other 2 and is built significantly better with a thread end bypass valve, instead of a dome end bypass.
I buy 0w-XX oils as they require higher quality synthetic basestocks to meet this 0w rating, which include group 5 ester oils, group 4 PAO poly alpha olefins or something, and Group 3 hydrocracked oils which in The US, can be called fully Synthetic, but not in Germany. Group 1 and 2 oils are just conventional mineral oils, but even these are so much better than what was available 20 years ago, that it is rather impressive.
I do not need a 0w-XX oil for my climate, nor do I even need a Synthetic oil. I use them not only for just for the warm and fuzzies, but their ability to last more time and mileage before they either shear to too light a grade, or the detergents. Antiwear, anti scuff, friction modifying, Acid neutralizing additives are all worn out. I'd have No problem leaving Mobil1 0w-30 or 0w-40 oil in my van for 12k miles or 14 to 18 months., but I would not push a Conventional mineral oil much past 5500 miles or 6 to 8 months.
Here is an Used Oil analysis performed on Mobil1 0w-40 from a few years Ago, at Blackstone Labs.
This M1 0w-40 oil made my engine significantly quieter than my previous fill of M1 TDT( turbo diesel truck) 5w-40 nearly eliminating some undesirable valvetrain noises upon deceleration, which made me happy.
The Subsequent fill was M1 0w-30 as Wally world did not have any 0w-40 in 5 quart jugs in stock. It seemed a smidge louder than 0w-40. WW also was out of my preferred overkill filter, the M1-301 and I bought the motorcraft FL-1a instead.
There are many motor oil Myths passed on down from Grandpa, and If I read my owners manual I would not use any xw-40 weight oil, and I doubt 0w-40 even existed in 1989.
10w 40 was not recommended for use, in 1989, in my van, as 10w-40 oils of that era used many viscosity index improvers so it could achieve that 40w rating at 200 degrees C. The problem was these VII's would break down and the oil would shear to a light 30 weight oil or even a 20 weight oil, whose film strength would be too weak/thin to adequately protect the bearings.
Modern oils, conventional or otherwise have better basestocks, and viscosity index improvers and are much more resistant to shearing to a lighter weight oil.
The Mobil1 0w-40 is reported to shear to a heavy weight 30 weight oil but level off there unless fuel dilution is an issue for the engine, which might be an issue with a rich running carb'd engine, or a modern direct injection engine.
So, Short of Boutique oils such as AMSOil and Redline or Brad Penn or perhaps Royal Purple, I feel the Mobil 1 0w-40 oil with a M1-301 high capacity high filtration efficiency filter is about as good as one can do in temps of product capability. I feel more confident that if I were to not notice my engine overheating, that the Synthetoc oil would protect better for longer. I feel more confident that if I had 3k miles on the oil, and needed to drive cross country, I could do so without worrying about changing the oil.
With such a Heavy duty filter, I have confidence it will not blow up, or have the media tear, or have the antidrainback valve get stuck open and cause valvetrain clatter each and every start up.
Changing it myself means i can let it drain for as long as it fancies me to let the old oil drip out, that I know the filter was installed to the proper tightness,, and partially filled with new oil before reinstalling it, and the drain plug was not cross threaded or overtightened.
I've no issues returning the used oil into the most recent 5 quart container and recycling it and the filter at the local Autozone or Oreilly's. I can also take my hammer and chisel to the old filter and inspect it for sludge or lots of sparklies or for torn filter media.
This Motorcraft FL-1A was my most recent dissection, and it is darn impressive for a 4$ filter, in my opinion:
So, for you, is Oil just oil, or does your freedom machine's engine get a little more overkill loving than that?