I have been using Mobile 1 Synthetic Oil for years & was pleased to hear about the introduction of Mobile 1 Extended Performance Synthetic. What I found disturbing was that it does not meet API ILSAC GF-4 Certification while Castrol Syntec does. I believe Mobile 1 SuperSyn does meet these specs. At any rate can you tell me the reason for this?
I am considering Castrol Syntec a try for my next change which does meet the GF-4 specs.
Or does it not really make that much difference?
2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4L 6 cyl w/ 23K miles & I have been pleased w/ the performance of Mobile 1. The manual calls for 10W30 oil.
and anyway... what do you mean "I have been pleased with the performance of Mobile 1"? Do you have the used oil tested after removal? Does it make the Jeep run better? Or what?
I never said or implied that the oil I was/am using is "invincible." I just made the comment that I have been pleased with it (Mobile1).
I think I will just take a break from the group. Too much negativity.
Did you even see or read the "disclaimer?"
You ask a simple question or make a comment and you get blasted. I see it over and over and over again. I thought the purpose of the newsgroup was to be helpful, give and offer advice, and ask questions.
Sorry man but the last person I know to make claims about how long between oil changes 'he' could go ended up with the oil pressure 'mysteriously' pegged out and upon inspection we found 6" of solid black goo inside his oil pan....
He then promptly sold the truck to some unsuspecting fool while still making 'great' oil comments....
Oh, I think if you look, the castrol is 'fake' synthetic, (could be wrong there) with a high price because of the name not the original synthetic like Mobile uses in 'some' of it's oils.
The oil companies made the word 'synthetic' a buzz word that actually only means it costs more, nothing else. They took the 'real' 'synthetic' oil makers to court over the definition and won.
Well...again I ask "...did you even read my original post...?" I never said anything about "...how long (I) could go between oil changes..." OR about the so-called "invincibility" to which you refer, but I have already commented about that.
BTW...both Castrol Syntec & Mobile1 are fully synthetic oils, as are Red Line and Amsoil.
I do use synthetic and I am not ashamed to do so. My Jeep Wrangler Sport is a 2001 (bought new in May 2001), and only has 23,000 miles. I never go past
3 - 3.5 K on the "oil." This averages to under 20 miles a day (roughly)...98% city driving...which means I can go up to 6 months between oil changes. That is one of the reasons why I use synthetic oil. It is also my choice to do so...like it or not...agree with it or not.
I give up. Please disregard my original post entirely.
Campbell Freeman
And thanks Jerry Bransford. I always appreciate your posts, knowledge, measured approach, and advice.
I'm just a 50 year old guy in SC who has wanted a Jeep since he was a child, playing "Army." Now I finally have one...a "real" one (boy, that will likely start it up again), and I love it, and I want to keep it as long as I can.
And who knows, I may get "run over by a bus" on the way home today. I hope not, but if I do, then none of this will have mattered anyway...
The main claim of the new Mobil One Extended Performance is the longer
15,000 mile service interval. Looks like they're trying to answer to AMSOIL's extended service claims (35,000 miles!):
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As for the Castrol Syntec, be careful. Apparently the US-made version is not a 'true' synthetic and is a relatively poor performer. Look for the imported Castrol Syntec with 'Made in Germany' printed on the bottle.
Myself, I change the non-synthetic 5W-30 in my high-mileage 4.0L every
3K miles. The engine runs great and it doesn't burn oil.
I have had the opportunity to study quite a lot of closely held oil/filter/wear information. Here's the basics:
Keeping oil clean is the primary goal. What is 'clean'? The primary component of 'clean' is particulate loading and particulate size. Your normal paper oil filter filters out most of the particulates 25 microns and larger. That's 0.001 inches. The smaller chunks keep circulating. Think about a low viscosity slurry of oil and rubbing compound.
As the total particulate loading is reduced and the maximum size is reduced by more efficient filtration, the total amount of component wear starts dropping rapidly. Cutting the load and maximum size of particulates in half results cutting the total wear by a square root function. There is also the distinct probability that any single element pleated paper filter will be leaking unfiltered oil (blow-through) by 3K-5K miles.
The other thing that happens is that the additives and stabilizers in the oil are depleted and there is an associated breakdown of the polymer molecules. However, I am aware of an experiment that ran petroleum oil with double efficiency filtration that ran 30K miles while maintaining the oil within all oil testing specifications.
Another factor is the contamination of oil with other liquids - fuel or coolant - that serves to reduce viscosity and upset/reduce the additives, breakdown the oil and drastically accelerate wear.
A true synthetic (Mobil 1 and many others) does not breakdown like pure petroleum products. But, it can get just as dirty.
In a perfect world, using a premium lower-micron rated filter and changing it frequently can allow a synthetic oil to be used over and over for many miles and still maintain minimal total wear. The cost of using synthetic oil is the oil, not the filter. Premium filters generally cost around $10.
Clean oil = low wear.
MikeinIN (engineer in an automotive related industry)
Its true that a resinated paper removes ~25 micrometer particles (at about 98% efficiency) but such paper also has removal efficiency at the submicronic range but to a few% removal capacity (called a 'beta curve' in filter-geek speak). Since the oil RECIRCULATES constantly through the filter media the reduction of particle size continues and will 'level-out' at some predetermined level (probably at about 0.5- 1,0µM). A filter also becomes more efficient at removal size as more debris is captured (clogging the 'holes' and leaving smaller flow paths).
In a perfect world one would have a differential pressure gage mounted across the oil filter to indicate when to change - when the differential pressure starts to quickly increase - indicating that the volumetric flow is declining.
It is possible to re-condition sump oil onboard using a 'depth-media' filtration using the same cellulose filter media but requires a very LARGE filter set ..... but the surfactants and other additives would have to be replaced. Oil never 'wears out' it becomes contaminated with the byproducts of combustion: acids, metal particulate, etc. and if you add back the needed 'chemicals' to particulate free oil you will never have to change .... as do many truck fleet operations.
Moral of the story: dont worry about the retention rating of a recirculation filter; just put on the LARGEST filter you can find. The LARGEST will have the least resistance to flow and will allow faster total volume recirculation throughput, the faster throughput allowing exponentially greater opportunity of capture of much smaller (submicronic) particles. In engineering geek-speak all you have to do is filter to a level of 1/5 the size of the smallest orfice or clearance that you're trying to protect ..... and everything will be FINE .... This 1/5th 'yardstick' will prevent the particles from agglomerating and 'bridging' thus scouring the clearance or blocking the orfice. ( The 1/5 rule also applies to 'single pass' filtration.such as fuel systems)
I heard somewhere that the better filters have a check valve to prevent the back flow of oil. This true? I always get the mopar filter, but which filters are considered better than OEM?
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