# How often to change Mobil 1??



## the UPS guy (Nov 1, 2004)

Hey Guys- Was wondering how far you would go on Mobil 1 between oil changes... Put the good stuff in at 1400 and almost at 4k now. NO I'm not very easy on the car but not running the snot out of it either... I'm thinking She should be good for a full 6000 miles or so, but should I change the filter (bought the best $9 one) sooner?


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## Braman'sGTO (Mar 14, 2005)

suppodesly the car will tell you when it needs to be changed based off of how it see's you drive. With these cars running as rich as they do your oil will be a little blacker so if car does'nt tell you to change the oil before you get 6k on that change that would probably be a good time. I dont drive my GTO very much, only about 500 miles a month so I do mine every 2500 -3000 miles and just keep an eye on the oil, if it is darker then I like I change it. There is definetly no harm in changing our oil more often.


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

the indicator is based on dino oil. with mobil1 you should be good for two cycles of the indicator. the color is not supposed to mean much. that is what my friend that works as an engineer at the general told me


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## Braman'sGTO (Mar 14, 2005)

im not entirely sure I would buy that, the change in color is due to carbon buildup from the combustion cycle. With the GTO running richer they build up more carbon from the unburnt fuel. While I dont know your friend I have worked with many engineers and unfortunetly half of them were full of sh1t. but your friend may be 100% right, but for us simpler guys this makes sense.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

Tom said:


> the indicator is based on dino oil. with mobil1 you should be good for two cycles of the indicator. the color is not supposed to mean much. that is what my friend that works as an engineer at the general told me


The oil life indicator for the LS2 is adjusted to synthetic. That is why they have the GM synthetic spec for it. You should not in an engine that specs Mobil 1 synthetic go double the cycle. 
That is true for the non-synthetic factory fill cars, you can go a double cycle. 
Time is more important than mileage in lower mileage cars. You should not go more than 6 months on dino and 1 year on synthetics even if you drive 500miles per year. 
As far as filters go the AC delco is among the best. I've heard good about the Mobil one filter and the K&N also.


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## Subdriver (Dec 28, 2004)

fergyflyer said:


> As far as filters go the AC delco is among the best. I've heard good about the Mobil one filter and the K&N also.


Please don't forget the AMSOIL SDF filters which consistently outperform all of these in indepent testing:
AMSOIL SDF Oil Filter

In answer to the original posters question, Mobil 1 synthetic is a good oil that will last until your oil life monitor suggests to replace it. Also note that the owners manual will specify an oil change at least annually independent of what the oil life monitor says. I would not run any oil past the limit to which the oil life monitor suggests unless that oil had its own warranty because you are outside the limits of the manufacturers warranty requirements if you exceed the oil life monitor change recommendation. Mobil 1 does not specify warranty coverage for such use. AMSOIL does however. 

AMSOIL makes three tiers of oils to match the longer oil change intervals the auto industry is going to.

AMSOIL XL Motor Oils are designed for 7500 miles/6 month oil changes or longer when using an oil life monitor (e.g. they can be used up to one year or when the oil life monitor requires an oil change).
AMSOIL SAE Synthetic Motor Oils are designed for 25,000 miles/12 month oil change intervals.
AMSOIL Series 2000 Motor Oils are designed for up to 35,000 miles/12 month oil change intervals. 
:cheers


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

Subdriver said:


> Please don't forget the AMSOIL SDF filters which consistently outperform all of these in indepent testing:
> AMSOIL SDF Oil Filter
> 
> In answer to the original posters question, Mobil 1 synthetic is a good oil that will last until your oil life monitor suggests to replace it. Also note that the owners manual will specify an oil change at least annually independent of what the oil life monitor says. I would not run any oil past the limit to which the oil life monitor suggests unless that oil had its own warranty because you are outside the limits of the manufacturers warranty requirements if you exceed the oil life monitor change recommendation. Mobil 1 does not specify warranty coverage for such use. AMSOIL does however.
> ...


Sorry about this oversite.
AMSOIL is definately a top rated oil. 
I also forgot redline and royal purple. 
I think I would consider those super premium, and if I were to race regularly, especially road course, I would use the AMSOIL. Just about everybody that I know that races, and is serious about it uses AMSOIL.


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## Subdriver (Dec 28, 2004)

fergyflyer said:


> I think I would consider those super premium, and if I were to race regularly, especially road course, I would use the AMSOIL. Just about everybody that I know that races, and is serious about it uses AMSOIL.



Thanks. I appreciate the endorsement. :cheers


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

fergyflyer said:


> The oil life indicator for the LS2 is adjusted to synthetic.


Gm got rid of the oil cooler and put mobil 1 in the vette motor a few years ago. 

the 04 gto comes with dino, what does the 05 come with? if it is calibrated for synthetic then dont double the cycles. 

i used to change the oil in my legend coupe every 4k miles. my wrench would get pissed at me fir wasting his time because it was so clean. the car now has about 150k on it and the guy i sold it to took it to a acura dealer to find all problems. he wasted 62 bucks because everything was in spec.


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## iflooru (Jun 8, 2005)

What happens to the oil life indicator if our battery goes dead or we disconnect to reset PCM?


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## lionsfan54 (May 15, 2005)

My '05 has "Mobil 1" on the oil fill cap. I'm assuming that's what's in the crank case.


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

lionsfan54 said:


> My '05 has "Mobil 1" on the oil fill cap. I'm assuming that's what's in the crank case.


Then my recommendation of two cycles is revoked for 05 owners, but should be OK for 04 owners like me.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

Tom said:


> Gm got rid of the oil cooler and put mobil 1 in the vette motor a few years ago.
> 
> the 04 gto comes with dino, what does the 05 come with? if it is calibrated for synthetic then dont double the cycles.
> 
> i used to change the oil in my legend coupe every 4k miles. my wrench would get pissed at me fir wasting his time because it was so clean. the car now has about 150k on it and the guy i sold it to took it to a acura dealer to find all problems. he wasted 62 bucks because everything was in spec.


05 has a factory fill of Mobil1 and has a GM spec for the oil that is basically synthetic.


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

fergyflyer said:


> 05 has a factory fill of Mobil1 and has a GM spec for the oil that is basically synthetic.


Not for 04.
The motor is the same as the vettes, the vette comes with mobil 1, but the 04 gto doesnt come with synthetic, and synthetic is not "recommended" for the 04 like it is for the vette. 

Plus, I dont think my 04 has the oil cooler.


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## C5ORGTO (Dec 30, 2004)

I like changing every 5,000 miles with Mobil 1. I did that with my C5 Vette until I sold it at 70,000 miles. No problems. I've heard 7500 miles is totally acceptable. Engines are not the weak points, its the electronics, tranny, rear end. The engine will last.


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## mumrah (Apr 3, 2005)

*Free Oil Changes*

I was fortunate enough to get free lifetime oil changes with my new 05 GTO. I also double checked to make sure they used Mobile 1. I got my oil changed at 2980 and plan on keeping the 3k schedule. 

I did not care about the free oil changes when they told me but now that I know that Mobil 1 cost over $6 a qt I am glad.


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## diverdan (Apr 27, 2005)

I didn't realize the '04 didn't come with Mobil 1. Out of habit, I immediately changed the oil when I bought the car at 4.5K and put Mobil 1 in it. Why they wouldn't specify it mystifies me since the same motor in the vette does; there can't be anything different in the motor. Only synthetic goes in any of my cars.


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

diverdan said:


> I didn't realize the '04 didn't come with Mobil 1. Out of habit, I immediately changed the oil when I bought the car at 4.5K and put Mobil 1 in it. Why they wouldn't specify it mystifies me since the same motor in the vette does; there can't be anything different in the motor. Only synthetic goes in any of my cars.


i put mobil 1 in at 1700 miles along with a magnetic drain plug.


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## Subdriver (Dec 28, 2004)

diverdan said:


> Why they wouldn't specify it mystifies me since the same motor in the vette does; there can't be anything different in the motor. Only synthetic goes in any of my cars.


Mobil 1 coming in the Vette is marketing. The C5/Z06 owners manual (and I'm betting the GTO owners manual) doesn't actually specify Mobil 1. The C5/Z06 owners manual actually specifies an oil which meets GM Standard 4718M. The owners manual states that the factory fill Mobil 1 oil meets this standard (and it does obviously). But, many other oils do as well (including all of those AMSOIL lubricants I recommend for the GTO). They can get away with not putting Mobil 1 in the GTO as they probably don't have, or didn't have, the same marketing scheme for the GTO as they did with the Vette. :cheers


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## vmax (Mar 19, 2005)

the UPS guy said:


> Hey Guys- Was wondering how far you would go on Mobil 1 between oil changes... Put the good stuff in at 1400 and almost at 4k now. NO I'm not very easy on the car but not running the snot out of it either... I'm thinking She should be good for a full 6000 miles or so, but should I change the filter (bought the best $9 one) sooner?


I've done this on the last 5 cars I've owned and rran Mobil 1 in-chage the oil and rotate/balance the tires every 5K miles. Find a place that does both and you'll save yourself some time. Mobil 1 should easily last 5k under any circumstances.


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## johnebgoode (Oct 4, 2005)

Not changin the filter is like takin' a shower with your socks on......... :cool


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## vmax (Mar 19, 2005)

johnebgoode said:


> Not changin the filter is like takin' a shower with your socks on......... :cool


 :agree :agree


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## GTO_400 (Jul 7, 2005)

At 3000mi I switched to Pennzoil 5w30 and im just going to stick with it and change it every 3000mi, I always heard you shouldn’t use a synthetic until a engine gets broken in or above 25000mi the synthetic was to slick and doesn’t allow the rings to seat therefore causing more engine ware I was told to use a conventional oil until the first 20-25000mi I was told this by a AMZOIL dealer???, before switching to Pennzoil I lost a quart of oil about every 1000mi now im going about 1300-1500mi on Pennzoil, anyone else heard of this??


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## linux_fan (Feb 19, 2005)

I'm going to just change the oil when the computer tells me to. i figure that gm is going to set the computer to tell me to change the oil as soon as possible to make sure nothing covered under warranty breaks that they have to pay for, and i'm sure they like getting a couple dollars for changing oil.


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## johnebgoode (Oct 4, 2005)

GTO_400 said:


> At 3000mi I switched to Pennzoil 5w30 and im just going to stick with it and change it every 3000mi, I always heard you shouldn’t use a synthetic until a engine gets broken in or above 25000mi the synthetic was to slick and doesn’t allow the rings to seat therefore causing more engine ware I was told to use a conventional oil until the first 20-25000mi I was told this by a AMZOIL dealer???, before switching to Pennzoil I lost a quart of oil about every 1000mi now im going about 1300-1500mi on Pennzoil, anyone else heard of this??


If that were true in regard to rings seating then why would GM put synthetic in at the very start ? Also when I had my race car and had engines freshend I would dyno motor 1st....3 pulls with 25/50 then dump it and use RP 5/30. Rings were alway fine along with bearings. I beleive you're being misled.


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## GTO_400 (Jul 7, 2005)

Ok from what I can gather from the net is that Mobil 1 is not a truly a synthetic oil, this is what I found, Back labels of Mobil 1 products for many years had following statement: * "exclusive of carrier oil" in substantially smaller print. While at the same time the front label declared the Mobil 1 as: 100% Synthetic * ". ook.. What the heck is Carrier Oil? Oil (Petroleum),  usually solvent neutral or process oil, used to "carry" or dissolve and/or disperse additives, which would otherwise be too viscous or even solid, and therefore not easily mixed with the Base Stock Oil. soo I guess it all comes down to this, the "100% Synthetic" relates to the Base Oil or Base Stock, it and only it (the Base Stock) is synthetically made. In case of Mobil 1, it was originally PAO (Poly-alpha-olefin).
The "exclusive of carrier oil" means in English that the Carrier or the Process Oil that is used to "carry" the additives is not synthetic oil and therefore, the final product (Motor Oil) 
is NOT 100% Synthetic, even though the Base Oil is 100% Synthetic. Sorry to turn this into chemistry class just thought it was some good info to pass along


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## Subdriver (Dec 28, 2004)

GTO_400 said:


> Ok from what I can gather from the net is that Mobil 1 is not a truly a synthetic oil...


Mobil 1, along with AMSOIL Series 2000 and SAE synthetics are both Group IV PAO based synthetics. 

Castrol Syntec and many other "synthetics" on the market are Group III synthetics.

Some things to consider about "synthetic" oils:

- All synthetics are not created equally. Oils are classified into major "groups". 

Group I base oils are the least refined of all of the groups. They are usually a mix of different hydrocarbon chains with little or no uniformity. While some automotive oils use these stocks, they are generally used in less demanding applications.

Group II base oils are common in mineral based motor oils. They have fair to good performance in the areas of volatility, oxidation stability, wear prevention and flash/fire points. They have only fair performance in areas such as pour point and cold crank viscosity. Group II base stocks are what the majority of engine oils are made from. 3000 mile oil changes are the norm.

Group III base oils are subjected to the highest level of refining of all the mineral oil stocks. Although not chemically engineered, they offer improved performance in a wide range of areas as well as good molecular uniformity and stability. By definition they are considered a synthesized material and can be used in the production of synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants. Group III is used in the vast majority of full synthetics or synthetic blends. They are superior to group I and II oils but still have limitations. Some formulations are designed for extended oil changes. Castrol Syntec falls into this catagory. 

Group IV are polyalphaolefins (PAO) which are a chemically engineered synthesized basestocks. PAOs offer excellent stability, molecular uniformity and performance over a wide range of lubricating properties. AMSOIL and Mobil 1 use group IV basestocks. PAO is a much more expensive basestock than the highly refined petroleum oil basestock of Group III.

Group V base oils are also chemically engineered stocks that do not full into any of the categories previously mentioned. Typical examples of group V stocks are Esters, polyglycols and silicone. Redline uses an ester basestock.

In the 90s, Mobil filed suit against Castrol for falsely advertising Syntec oil as synthetic, when in fact it contained a Group III, highly hydroprocessed mineral (Dino) oil, instead of a chemically synthesized basestock. Due to the amount that the mineral oil had been chemically changed, the judge decided in Castrol's favor. As a result, any oil containing this highly hydroprocessed mineral (Dino) oil (currently called Group III basestock by the American Petroleum Institute) can market themselves as a synthetic oil. Since the original synthetic basestock (polyalphaolefin or PAO) is much more expensive than the Group III basestock, most of the oil blenders switched to the Group III basestock, which significantly increased their profit margins.

- PAO basestock causes engine seals to shrink slightly. Ester basestock causes seals to swell slightly. As a result, in the early days of synthetics, seal leakage was common and led to the widely held view today that synthetics will cause seal leaks. However, AMSOIL has been blending synthetics for over 30 years now and today they use a basestock that is predominantly PAO based, but with an ester additive which counteracts the seal shrinkage of the PAO. As ester is even more expensive than PAO basestock, this is one of the reasons that AMSOIL isn't the least expensive oil on the market. 

If you are looking for what I would consider a true synthetic, e.g. a Group IV synthetic, I would consider AMSOIL or Mobil 1. These AMSOIL products are PAO based:
AMSOIL Series 2000 0w30
AMSOIL SAE Synthetic 5w30
AMSOIL SAE Synthetic 10w30
AMSOIL Synthetic 5w40 European Motor Oil
AMSOIL SAE Synthetic High Performance 10w40

For those who prefer to stick with a petroleum basestock, upgrading to a Group III, over the typical Group II, is, in my opinion, an easy choice. The Group III is much more pure than a typical Group II, but will behave the same way with respect to the seals as the basestock is a petroleum (dino) oil. AMSOIL makes these Group III synthetics:
AMSOIL XL Synthetic 5w20
AMSOIL XL Synthetic 5w30
AMSOIL XL Synthetic 10w30
AMSOIL XL Synthetic 10w40
:cheers


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## Jumbojet (Oct 12, 2005)

Brad. Sent u a PM!


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## Subdriver (Dec 28, 2004)

Jumbojet said:


> Brad. Sent u a PM!


Got it and responded. Thanks for your support. :cheers


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2005)

Braman'sGTO said:


> im not entirely sure I would buy that, the change in color is due to carbon buildup from the combustion cycle. With the GTO running richer they build up more carbon from the unburnt fuel. While I dont know your friend I have worked with many engineers and unfortunetly half of them were full of sh1t. but your friend may be 100% right, but for us simpler guys this makes sense.


how would u get more carbon buildup? I have seen my friends WRX running with a misfiring system.. what is does is blow the excess fuel out yer tailpipe where its burnt ..Hense the large flames 

on my LS2 when i heal-toe and downshift on the freeway my friend says he sees sparks inside my tailpipe "Not flames" but the car also sounds like its misfiring and dumping the excess gas out the tailpipe.

strange .. :willy: arty:


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