oil changes

New engines are filled with synthetic oil these days, which is superior to the organic oils that have always been used. Syn oil contains no organic compounds, so it does not 'break down' as do organic oils. It stands up better here in our 'warm' Texas summers too. Syn oil is not something new. It came about during WW2, having been invented by the Germans. They couldn't get any crude oil, so a 'synthetic' oil was needed. Anyway, it's true about the oil going longer between changes, but the oil-filter is a different story. That needs to be changed at least every 3K miles, and on a new engine, I'd change the thing at the first 1K miles. I use only Wix oil filters and Mobil 1 oil in my engines, but those are my preferences. I change the filter every 3K and the oil at the 3rd filter change. Hope this helps some.....

Dave S(Texas)

I'm going to date myself with this post. Years ago in the late 60's and

70's, 5 thousand miles was the change interval for lof. It didn't become 3 thousand miles until the quick drive through oil change places showed up and started to market it. That was before syn oil as well. Remember the oil filters have improved since then as well. It is your money and my .02

Roy

That might be ok after your motor breaks in, but take my advice and change your oil before you put 1,000 miles on it. This first change gets rid of most of the big particles you get from your piston and rings breaking in on the new cylinders.

I have done this on three new engines. I changed them at 500, around 1000, and again at 2000 and it takes until the third change to see most of the small metal particles gone from your oil.

Good luck with the new car!

Just a little side story: In the late 60's I knew of a man that worked at the airport and was convinced that oil never wore out. He never changed his oil in over

100,000 miles. He did change the filter at 10K increments so that's one new quart in there occasionally. It was a 63'-64' Lemans straight 6 or 4-cyl. The motor was still quiet when he sold it with about 120K. You can get away with a lot sometimes. It would not be for me.

When a engine is new it needs to break in and the is a lot of grit in oil from this that filter does not remove. It is wise to change oil in the first few thousand miles max to remove this grit. After that yo can use dfferent schedule. ALso while it is true that a few cars come with SYN, like the corvette, it is not because they are doing you any favors, it is because the engine oil in a corvette can get extremely hot do to a very tight engine compartment with very limited airflow for cooling, not because of superior anti wear properties. And, any oil SYN or Dino gets dirty with chemical by products from combustion and filters do not remove this or all of the grit. If you use good dino oil and changeoil and filter every 3k or so, the car will wear out before the engine will.

Yea, I had a uncle that did that on his 1962 Impala station wagon.

Charles Martinez wrote in news:Sx9Ue.50003$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.texas.rr.com:

People go back and forth on this issue. Personally, the peace of mind changing my oil at 3000 miles brings is worth the money. My Tahoe is my baby and gets the best care I can give it.

Even my local GM service center's recommended schedule for oil changes is 3000 miles.

There is no black and white answer!

SuperTech

I question this because when I was young my dad tried to prove that you could drive a new car for 2 years and never change the oil and trade it. Well when it was about 16 months old one very cold winter day it would not start or hardly turn over. He had it towed to a garge to warmup and them start it. We drained the oil after it warmed up and it looked nasty. It was so thick that at about 10 degrees or less you could turn pan upside down and it would not even think about running out. We keep the oil for a while and even in the heat of summer it looked like old 600w tractor gear oil.

Sorry, Dave. Synthetic oils are organic too.

You pay your money and take your chances. I change oil every 3000 miles because it is cheap security and has worked for me.

There is a lot of hype out there, and it is hard to separate BS from fact.

Well techically they are organic based because they are based on carbon but this is kinda vague here. SYN oil uses a custom made base of longer chain molecules that are more stable in use and a bit more slippery but it can still get dirty and contaminated just like Dino oil.

I agree with everyone who feels a * new * engine needs an oil change after a few hundred miles, to flush out grit from machining / break in I use synthetic, either way, oil / filter changes are a good idea

Climate is a factor, the Texans never see the intense cold us Yankees love so much, when cold, the engine has more clearance, and runs on a very rich mixture until warm, these two factors dirty up oil fast.

The use of SYN oil during break in is a subject of great debate but it really should be avoided during break in time. Some well seasoned engine builders even break in their engines on non detergent oil. (run it for a few hours then dump it and switch to regular oil for maybe a few thousand miles then use Dino or SYN after that)

Old school.....more and more vehicles come with synthetic oil right from the factory. I've seen no evidence that any of the GM vehicles (Corvette engines and Northstars) suffer from having synthetic oil in them from the factory. Time to get on into the 21st century, Snoman.

Ian

I'll second that, using Dino makes for a cheaper oil change at 500 miles on a new motor which is Dino's only advantage and that change is the important thing. Just like the urban myth that synth. is too slippery , etc. . for break in. Harley dealers used to spin that one for years, saying the roller bearings in the motor would "skate" with synth., until they finally came out with there own brand of synth. oil and now it's factory installed on some models. All my new motors go to synthetic as soon as they get home, 4 or 2 stroke.

Do you know why Northstars and Corvettes ship with SYN???? TO reason one is to get max EPA rating and the other is because the oil in theose engines can get REALLY hot in normal use because of very limited airflow in engine compartment 300 degree oil is not rare in those engines and Dino oil starts breaking down at 300. THere is no mystery here.

To properly break in a engine, you really want to do it on Dino oil because you do want to "wear" the parts smooth quickly. Sure you can break it in on SYN but it will take longer and it still needs to be changed early because of breakin grit that filter will not remove.

Give me a break! Northstars came from the factory for "years" with just dino oil in them. I work on them all day long, that's how I know this stuff. There are still tons of them running around quite happily on dino oil. "Where" do you get your fantastic idea's from?

Of course, this has nothing to do with the original idea that I was disagreeing with. You seem to think that engines will not break in properly on synthetics. The use of Mobil one right from the factory on these engines and many other's proves you wrong. Regardless of what the benefits or necessities of running syn oil are!

Ian

451CTDS wrote in news:4327107D.9070804@ 451ctds.cnc.net:

some would say to change it much sooner, not later. after broke in maybe longer...