Going to swith to synthetic, but have a few questions.

[jaimysessanna]

Hello everyone. I've been thinking and I've decided that I'm going to make the switch to synthetic oil. I'm planning on using Mobil 1 10W-30 in my '94 LeSabre. Now my only question is, what should I use for a filter? I have always used Fram filters and I honestly had no idea that they wern't a good choice until recently. What would you guys suggest?


So Mobil 1 10W-30 and decent filter, sounds good?


Thanks in advance everyone.

['97ventureowner]

You can start by checking out this link:http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil.../opinions.html. (The whole project and the rest of the site is explained here: http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters/index.html .) Basically, the best filters on the market according to the study after evaluation were the Mobil One and K&N ( although they are essentially similar the author says to get the Mobil One as it's less expensive.I used to use and recommend A C Delco on my GM vehicles as they were reported to be the best overall in the last study done about 8 years ago. Over the years, GM has outsourced production and quality has gone downhill to the point they are no longer a recommended filter. When I exhaust my current inventory of A C Delco filters I will probably switch to Mobil One. You can read the study and formulate your decision on the best filter for your LeSabre.

[Jrs3800]

If you get an AC Delco PF47 make sure it has the sticker on it... Yep I mean take it out of the Box and look for the sticker..

If it has a bunch of painted white print put it back in the box and toss it back on the shelf..

Puralator and Wix are also good.. I use Puralators on my own cars..

[happydog500]

I ran regular oil in my 1997, then switched to synthetic. Almost EVERY place oil could leak, it leaked. Massive leak from around the pan, valve covers, oil everywhere!

I am a big synthetic fan, I want to run synthetic now that I have all new gaskets, but from my experience with leaking, I'll just run regular.


Chris.

[jaimysessanna]

Well..... I didn't run the synthetic. I bought everything, 5 quarts of Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-30, and a Mobil 1 filter. Guess how much.

No really. Guess how much, was it $30, or was it $40.

$52, kinda steep, no?

Then I thought, this car has gone 190k already. For most of it's life, my dad has owned it, and he has changed the oil every 3-4k religiously. He always used an ACDelco filter (with the sticker), 5 quarts of a well known oil (Kendall, Castrol, Quaker State), and a bottle of STP Oil Treatment.

So I returned all of the synthetic and got back my half a franklin and bought all of the above supplies for about $17.

Plus reading the horror stories about synthetic cleaning all of the gunk out, then having parts leak, then waiting for them seals to become soft again. Just didn't appeal to me.

So long story short. If you have a newer car, go ahead run synthetic, if your car has a bunch of miles on it. Run dyno oil, it just works.

['97ventureowner]

Just curious, how much was the Mobil One synthetic? Our Wal Marts have been selling 5 quart containers for around $25-$27. They also have been selling their "store brand" synthetic oil for just under $20 and I have seen on this site that it is actually an older formulation of Mobil One, before they came out with a newer version.

[Blue Bowtie]

You might consider switching to a PF-52 filter. It fits fine on my '95 L engine and doesn't hang any lower than the crossmember or oil pan. The extra filtration area might be useful, and it has a good drainback check valve.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

You might consider switching to a PF-52 filter.

Just be careful it's not a newer version made by Champion Labs as the quality is poor compared to those made prior to 2004-05. For more info click on this link: http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil.../opinions.html , scroll down towards the bottom of the page where it says, "Filters to avoid" and click on the words A C Delco Duraguard. That link will bring you to this page:http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil...nce.html#delco, from there scroll past the chart to A C Delco and the info about the differences in the old and new is presented.

[jaimysessanna]

Actually I just saw the sign today. Mobil 1, regardless of the "high mileage, 0W-30, or regular types". They all were $22 per 5 qt bottle.

Quaker State 10W-30 regular oil was $10.50 BTW. I grabbed that.

I didn't get the 5 qt bottle when I bought the Mobil 1, so I grabbed 5 individual bottles. They even let me return the one bottle I opened, I just wanted to see what it looked like.

Hmmmm..... maybe I should buy a bunch, empy the synthetic into a big jug, then refil with garbage 99 cent oil you'd buy from say dollar general, return them to wally world. Then sell the real mobil 1 on ebay.


Isn't that fraud? Probably shouldn't mess with that.

['97ventureowner]

I wouldn't refer to the oil sold in dollar stores as "garbage". All oil sold has to meet certain minimum requirements and the ones I see sold in these stores have the starburst logo and other info as required by the government. Some of the dollar stores and discount stores deal in odd lots and manufacturer overages. A lot of the time when a manufacturer upgrades their product, whatever is leftover before the upgrade gets sent to be sold at these type of places. Same thing happens when the API designation on the back of the bottle changes. When new standards for motor oil came out and the designation went from SK to SL, a lot of the dollar/discount stores were flooded with cases of SK rated oil. Now heres where you have to be careful. The new designations mean the protection package within the oil has changed to meet new specs set forth by vehicle manufacturers. If you have a newer car that is supposed to use say SM rated oil, you should not use SL, SK, or any lower S rated oils or engine damage could result, ( they are not backward compatible). If you have an older car that runs say SE rated oil, then you can run anything from SE on up (forward compatibility.) A lot of the store branded oil is actually made at the same plants as national branded oils. One could debate all night the differences between the different brands as a lot of it is marketing.