What's the best oil I can put in my car? '02 V6

 

for the most part...oil is oil...

Royal Purple would be the best...or synthetic > conventional...

as far as conventional is concerned, it's all pretty much the same stuff

 

The main thing is clean oil. The best oil in the world is not going to help much if it is circulating dirt. Try to change at least every 3000 miles. The 6000-7000 extended intervals recommended by the factory and some oil companies are designed to let your engine wear out fast and get you to buy a new car.

 

You know Pete, that's a very true statement,but today's oil is far superior than that of the 50s-80s era. The catch is that the filter is done/full/wasted/plugged or whatever one wants to call it well before the oil is technically "bad". Granted that the engine is on a somewhat regular maintenance schedule.

I too believe in the conspiracy of auto manufacturers doing weird little SH*T to make the cars wear out quicker. Kind of like the 100,000mi tune up.......Yeah Right. If that were the case why don't ALL manufacturers warranty for 100,000 for engine AND drivetrain.

RM

 

Oil really depends on what kind of trips you'll be making. If you're only driving highway, a full synthetic probably will be fine for 6000 miles, if all you make is short trips, a full synthetic probably won't get you much more than a conventional oil. For me, synthetic probably isn't worth the extra money, but it depends on your trips. Remeber to always get the good quality oil filters though.

 

I go with synthetic.

 

This is a question open to a lot of debate even among professionals.

This article dating all the way back to Nov. 2000 is something that stuck in my mind

Car and Drivers Patrick Bedard

I am a fan of synthetics but don't fall into the trap of allowing oil changes to extend to far. Driving habits, the use of the vehicle, the climate your in and other factors come into play. Most of my synthetic customers are using that vehicle hard so it's 5K at the most.

The ratings on the label are very important and about the only thing you can go by without a lot of research into what will work best for your needs. That crap on the shelf of Wal-mart is just that, crap, look at those labels compared to what is mainstream and you'll see the lack of proper standards meet.

Personally I use mostly Pennzoil in my vehicles. Non synthetic because of the limited miles I drive so I am changing it every 2000 or 3 months due to moisture that can get in the engine, or other deposits from lack of use.

Selling wise I mostly sell Pennzoil, Pennz Synthetic, Mobil, Mobil 1, Quaker State, and Q Synthetic. But if someone has a paticular brand like Purple or AmsOil I have no problem putting it in since it meets or exceeds set standards.

Just remember, oil changes are cheap compared to engine changes...

 

Amen to that.

 

I wish I would have keeped a journal over the years. I've seen some dandys.

Nissan Maxima, 90K, 3.0L . Zero oil in it, lady called on the phone from 30 miles away and said the oil light was on, what should she do. I said pull over now, shut it off and call a tow truck. She drove it in anyway. Amazingly just lifters ticking. Filled it with oil, spun a new filter on and it lived another 20K before smoking itself to death. Rings weren't happy with lack of oil, neither where the cams.. Low RPM's saved her from instant death.

Pontiac GranAm, 24K, 3100 v6. Locked up motor. Guy never changed the filter, still had the factory unit marked with date of manufacturer on it. He argued with me(I have no idea why, I had never worked on it before and am a indy) that the motor should be under warranty and I should go to bat for him. I said no way and called the local dealers and told them about it because he had it towed out and said he would get warranty somewhere. He never did get it locally, might have conned somewhere else to though.

So many stories of just plain brain farting and not even doing the simplest of maintenance. I try to remind, prod, and plead with customers that it is easy on the pocket book but some just don't listen and I still have customers legging LOF's out 9,12,15K.....They wonder why the car is junk at 100K

 

i, for one thing, have noticed a big difference in oil with my car. it had a lot of sludge in it, and i had run castrol gtx in it on its first oil change. that cleared out a lot of sludge. i now run quaker state Q performance, and i have noticed that most of the oil leaks on the pan have slowed the rate of leaking. my brother told me that a full synthetic swells the gaskets. im not totally sure if the q is synthetic, but it has helped with the leaks