Oil Type

Hi all, so my 31 foot class c has the ever popular Ford Triton V10. It has 29k miles and I have some really big trips set up for this summer and over the next couple of years.

Whether for convenience or engine life is it better to use:
Conventional oil: change at 3k
Synthetic blend: change at 5k
Full synthetic Mobil 1: Change aT 7k

Trying to figure out if I should stick with conventional or make a change....

You really want to start an argument. ;D Seriously, you will get a lot of opinions and most are valid. I don't like to go over 5,000 between changes regardess of type.

  I?m a big fan of synthetics... even our lawn equipment is running synthetic!

Changing oil at 3k, even with conventional, went by the wayside decades ago. BTW, the recommended Motor Craft oil is a synthetic blend and is no more expensive than any other oil.

The new coventional oils don't get dirty and break down like 20 yrs ago. The engines now run a lot cleaner. I have changed oils at 5000 that still looked clean. I usually go 5000-6000 miles. I had a friend that went 10-12k I wouldn't recommend it but hey he had 240k miles on his f150 so it is personnel preference. If it calls for synthetic I use it if not I don't spend the money.

kdbgoat said:

Changing oil at 3k, even with conventional, went by the wayside decades ago. BTW, the recommended Motor Craft oil is a synthetic blend and is no more expensive than any other oil.

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Yeah, ever since I started changing oil in my daily driver silverado based on the onboard computer, I've kicked myself for all the extra work and money over the years changing religiously at 3,000 miles.  Just the work of keeping track of it is insane in a way.  Supposedly the computer algorithm considers many variables such as temperature and time, not just miles.  Granted, the older engines may not have been as well designed, and the oils are probably better now, but still.....

My E-450 motorhome isn't sophisticated enough to have such a computer indication, but I figure it isn't really so different.  The thing is though the time component.  It sits a lot between miles.....so just like with tires, miles isn't really a great variable to consider.

A long time ago I was working as a Maintenance Engineer in a large pulp and paper mill.  My group was responsible for predictive and preventative monitoring and maintenance of pretty much all the rotating equipment in the mill.  Lots of motors, pumps, gearboxes, fans, etc....  A lot of what we did was to oversee maintenance based on condition, and not just time or 'miles'.  One of the things we did was to work with our lubricant vendor, which at the time was Texaco.  Texaco would periodically send in an engineer who would sample oil form some of the larger or more critical equipment, and take it to a lab for analysis.  I learned from them the reason for the time element.... remember the old guideline was something like change engine oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles?  Well I was told that the oil is a blend of molecules....some long chain and others are short.  The short chain molecules would evaporate out over time, leaving the long chain stuff.....'sludge'.

Anyway, my point is this.... when I was faced with this question, I decided to go with the synthetic, figuring that I'd not usually get to the miles limit even over a long time.... not even close, so I would ideally want to use that oil over a longer time to get more out of the $ spent..... so I wanted to be able to consider that I had a better performing oil so I wouldn't feel so guilty about pushing outside of the 'time' specification.  I'm not saying this is the best way, or even correct.  I really have no idea how the synthetic performs in regard with evaporation or any other time consideration when compared against mineral...It's just the justification I used when considering this question.

    With my previous comment about using synthetics in everything, I also do extended oil change intervals. On my old Cummins (pre emissions engine) using Mobile Delvac1.....we went 30 K miles ,between changes. Filter changes at around 5K miles. Oil analysis showed .....all OK. On our new(er), Cummins ( EGR deleted) we’re changing out at 20K ( towing a lot more now, with retirement). Now using Rotella, as Delvac 1 is difficult to get. Still changing filters at around 5 - 7 K miles.

Since 2007 Ford has recommended a 7500 mile interval with their standard grade Motorcraft 5W-20 oil or any other oil meeting API SN specs.  Alternately, a 5000 interval for "severe service", e.g. lots of idling, dusty conditions, etc. All Motorcraft gas engine oils except the 10W-40 are synthetic blends, but Ford does not specify that in their oil recommendation.

Synthetic oils are definitely superior in some regards but whether "superior" is notably more valuable than "meets requirements" is a subject of much debate.  It's probably worthwhile if you are going to try to extend the change interval beyond factory recommendations, but arguable otherwise.  Make your own call on cost vs benefit.

I change my oi  based on the calander. Do not put enough miles on it.

I seem to get a bit better gas mileage with synthetics.  I'm a fan, and I do all my own oil changes, so I just feel better with the superior oil in everything.  I just feel the oil is the #1 most important thing to change, so whatever you choose, keep it changed.

Most vehicle manufacturers recommend an annual change regardless of miles. They don't know what it may have been exposed to while sitting around, plus lack of use makes contamination from water condensation likely (engine heat drives moisture away).

Wow, great stuff! Thanks everyone!

John From Detroit said:

I change my oi  based on the calander. Do not put enough miles on it.

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Once per year...whether it needs it or not?

it's unusual for us to put more than 3000 miles per year on the motorhome...so once a year is the normal change interval for us. I start it and run it at about 1500 rpm's once per month if the weather is too crappy to take it for a drive...otherwise, It gets driven about 50 miles...with the generator running, either powering the AC or a small (1000 watt) electric heater strapped to the leg of the dinette so it doesn't fall over. That way the generator gets SOME exercise and helps keep it from gumming up.

I like the Mobil 1 Annual Protection product. Switched to that last year.

https://mobiloil.com/en/article/why-the-mobil-advantage/mobil-1-performance/mobil-1-annual-protection-oil-tested-results?WT.ac=Home-VidenceYearOilChange

Use synthetic. Just used Valvoline full syn in my son's 1999 ford E350 V-10 chassis clas C (purchased used recently with 66,000 miles) to go east coast to west coast - 4800 miles. Adds peace of mind for a motor that lives at high RPM and a long trip (0 oil consumption btw). Gained a good deal of respect for Henry's blue oval group! 

Like has been stated, I use full syn in all small engines. Seems like if I can pull start my snowblower when it is -20, that is likely good for the more expensive stuff in my yard!  Put 230,000 miles on a 2001 Chevy Impala only changing by the onboard computer-often 7,000-9,000 miles, mostly local miles. Rust cancer killed it. Used Valvoline Maxlife syn blend for all changes that I did myself. (And I always used a Mobil 1 filter, did the reasarch, there is a difference in filters. You get what you pay for and what could be more important than oil and oil filters? Air filters come in 2nd place.)

Mobile 1 in all motors! change annually or 5 to 6 K miles.  Used Mobile 1 in my aerobatic air show aircraft (experimental certificate) and saw a reduction in cyl temps.  Honda 2000i change after 48 hours continuous use. Lawn mower change annually. 

Seems like if I can pull start my snowblower when it is -20, that is likely good for the more expensive stuff in my yard!

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Probably 95% of pull start resistance is due to the oil viscosity and viscosity is the same whether dino oil or engineered synthetic. 10W-30 is 10W-30 regardless because it is a standardized measure of actual oil performance at pre-defined temperatures. However, synthetics generally have a lower coefficient of friction, so anywhere that two surfaces rub together gets a slight benefit in slipperyness.  It is arguable that this enhanced slipperyness reduces wear in circumstances where the wear factor is high, e.g. at low and high temperature extremes, but it probably yields only slight benefit in routine operation of light duty mechanicals.  Any amount of reduced wear is a "good thing" and will eventually become a factor if you keep the thing long enough.

Oil?  Don't they put that in at the factory?  It needs changed? ???

KandT said:

Oil?  Don't they put that in at the factory?  It needs changed? ???

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? Reminds me of a time years ago when I was having some work done at a shop that had a hotel van in for an engine change. The van?s in the shop with the engine sitting next to it and I commented that the van seemed pretty new to be needing an engine. The mechanic then took me over to the oil pan which they pulled before pulling the engine. The bottom half of the pan was filled with a mostly solidified mixture of dirt and oil - the oil had never been changed since new. Don?t know how long that was, but apparently long enough.

A worn engine enters a kind of death spiral, where worn rings and pistons allow ever-greater amounts of combustion by-products into the oil and forming a sludge, causing even more wear.  Plus, the airport van mode of use is the worst possible for an internal combustion engine - frequent short trips, stop & go traffic, and lots of idling.  Synthetic oil can't help that.  Frequent (2k-3k mile) changes might, but I suspect they found that it was more cost effective to simply run the engine into the ground and replace it.

I use semi-synthetic in the MH for no other reason than I couldn't decide which way to go  

So far, I change it annually because it spends a lot of time winterized.