007lexus

Hi Guys,
I'm going to share some nice info with you all. I had my lexus sc400 parked for 3- 3 1/2 weeks. This was my longest time to go with out my baby, I'm surprised that I survived without it that long. Ok, the info: When I came to start it I was expecting to hear the valves since all the oil would have been in the oil pan. Well she started up right a way, no valve noise, just a clean quite start.(I was listening for valve and/or lifter noise)

Let me also mention that I did the switch to Mobil 1 synethic oil and a M1 filter(4 months ago or 10k miles). The oil is 3000 miles old already and might be more.

Hope this info helps. Was this a good example of how synethic oil should work? Someone please comment.

Also, whats the recommend mileage on Mobil synethic oil? Is it 3000miles? I've heard 8000-10000 miles?

Peace

Mean Gene

M1's great for cold starts as it's pumpability at lower viscosities is excellent. I don't even hear any valve clatter after a routine oil/filter change. Oil life is dependent on lots of factors - driving style, environment, filter change frequency, etc. A Mobil rep ( & John Lingenfelter ) gave me this tip to save some money & still ensure lubrication protection: Change oil & filter; drive 5k & change just the filter; go another 5k ( total of 10k on the oil ) then start all over with a fresh oil & filter change. I've torn down a few engines with over 100k mileage on them while utilizing this maintenance schedule & found NO unusual wear on the rings, pushrods, cylinder walls or any of the rotating equipment - plus no buildup of sludge in the valve covers.

bill

Jiffy Lube has synthetic Quaker State and Pennzoil. $49.50 for oil and filter.

duster

Hey Dexter,

I heard this tip a while ago...either on this forum or another one. It has saved me $$$ & frustration.

Always open the oil filter box to make sure the proper filter is inside. Out here in Los Angeles I can't tell you how many times I've looked inside the box and found a different (cheaper) filter inside. Seems a lot of folks put an M1 filter in a cheaper box and head to the checkout.

eortiz

IMO Mobil1 and Amsoil are the top two engine oils. However, M1 has a slight edge over Amsoil (I won't go into details). I did inquire about Amsoil and M1 directly. Both companies did a long term test on their oils. M1 used in on a BMW 325 for 1 million miles! Yes 1 million, that's what they said without replacing (just topping off) the oil. Amsoil also did a test but did not give me details of it.

Synthetics a far better performer than regualr oil since their properties are manipulated a little unlike regular oil where they add a lot of additives to perform the way they want it. More additives means less oil and oil is what lubricates. You will not go wrong using regular oil and change it regualrly at 3,000 miles. But if you don't want goet dirty every 3,000 miles stick with synthetic.

I intend to change my oil at 5,000 miles and have it analyzed by an independent lab.

One more thing synthetic oil sticks to your has a higher viscosity than regualar oil. That's why the engine will not have a hard timeduring start ups after a long period of time sitting in the garage. Sorry for the long response.

007lexus

what info does the lab provide back to you? How much does this procedure cost? What do you do with the info once its back from the lab? Does this lab have a website to get some info of their procedures.

thanks,

Mean Gene

007 - I also send an occasional sample of my oil to our lab ( one of the perks of working for an oil company ). They send me back a printout with a listing of the residues found in the oil - iron, sodium, & several other metal contents. This allows me to determine what's going on inside the engine by comparing it with previous samples. If something's radically different from the previous sample; say the water content, then I might need to check for some form of antifreeze leak contaminating my oil ( possibly thru the head gaskets ). Everything found in the oil sample will indicate something - an increase in wear, possible rusting, etc. Most labs will include a recommendation as to what to look for with the sample results. The service is free to my company as we buy out lubricants from this vendor but a price of $50/sample sounds about right.

eortiz

As what Mean Gene said. Also, it will tell me what state/condition is my oil in after 5,000 miles. If it is still good for use, then I will take another sample at , say 2500 miles, then go from there. I just want to see how long the characteristic of the oil will last before I completely flush/replace it. I have not found any independent lab to work with but I'm sure there are a couple out there.

Goods

I used to work for a major oil company .. let me see if I can dig up an old contact ...

I've heard of in the past that there is a company out there that does an oil analysis on a small sample for ~20 bucks. They have a little sample bottle and addressed mailer package.

I'll post more details if I can find 'em.

///MDex

This would rock; esp for all of us who are in the Type A boat.

Mean Gene

Dex - I LIKE your pic in your signature but have a question for ya. Why R your brake lights on? Don't ya know that you're supposed to coast into & accelerate out of a corner - helps the weight transfer & controls the steering bias. Yep, I see that the pic show U entering the turn but my answer to things has always been typical of us rednecks - if some power's good, then more is BETTER!!! :eek: LOL - J/K!!!
I'll also check with my lab vendor & see if there's something I can work out for any Members that might want to try the oil analysis. I know that Texaco has the same packaging setup that Goods spoke of but don't think their service is available for the general public.

///MDex

Thanks - glad you like it - it seemed like an act of congress to get it hosted / linked. It took me all day to figure out that Yahoo / Geocities won't let you do it.

Anyway, that was probaly one of my oh-crap, I'm-too-fast-for-this-curve curves.

I'm gonna do some research online today to see if I can find an oil tester vendor too.

///MDex

This is just the first one I've found, but they seem to do brake fluid, fuel, oils, lubes, etc..

Per my breif skimming, you purchase a kit from them, then send it to them for an analysis.

I've sent them an email to ask for prices, but check it out yourself in the meantime to see all the services they provide.....

http://www.herguth.com/
Herguth Laboratories, Inc.
101 Corporate Place
P.O. Box B
Vallejo, CA 94590

Another:
http://www.titanlab.com/

duster

Some folks on this board recommended this company to me a while back. I haven't used them yet. I ordered the test kits and have them stored in the garage.

Kits are free and the analysis is $18.00.

The company seems focused on customer service and making the process as easy for us a possible.

Try http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html

Ron

///MDex

I got 3 documents from Herguth. They mostly describe what is in the kits, and how to use them..

They are in MSWord2K format. PM me if you want me to email them to you. WIll probably be Monday before I can get them out - I'm leaving town soon and won't have a chane to dialup and push them out the door - 3 docs zipped up are 656k.

MG and duster - is it worth going with a high dollar test to really determine what's going on?

$200 vs $20 is quite a variance. Granted, $200 get you 5 kits....

Looks like the Spectrochemical Analysis would be the most informative...

http://www.herguth.com/testing/spectro.htm