US test of Mobil-1 lifetime

[Rory]

For those who insist on frequent oil changes, I thought this article was interesting:

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

 

[Myros]

it certainly makes me feel less guilty

about missing an oil landmark. Our 300te has a drink problem, it likes a gargle of oil. I'm putting in about a litre every thousand miles. Within manufacturer's guidelines, I know, and not bad for a lived in 155k miler, but still more than any other car I've owned. According to this, if i change the filter every 6k and keep topping up, I should get away with one oil change a year. I don't use Mobil 1 though, usually Chevron 5W40 fully synth.

 

[C220GJS]

I hope these results are being circulated widely in the US ,as being a member of a couple of forums there, it really annoys me when people are boasting about using fully synthetic oil and advocating oil changes at 3000mls or even less. When I have responded to these posts advising them of the long life of synthetic compared to mineral oils I have yet to get a positive response, they probably think I'm just another tight Scotsman.
The problem is that the Jiffy-Lube type chains have the American motoring public brainwashed into changing all fluids at short and regular intervals, obviously a waste of the world's resources but good for their business!!!!.:-(

 

[television]

It makes interesting reading, Maybe I will try that, this is easy with the mb with the filter on top,not so easy maybe on some others where the filter is lower down,but they could all be above the high oil line as the oil is pumped.
I will check some other cars.

Malcolm

 

[kid-jensen]

C220GJS wrote "..........the American motoring public brainwashed into changing all fluids at short and regular intervals, obviously a waste of the world's resources......"

"Waste the world's rescources" is what the USA does best!

I've always changed the synthetic oil on my cars on a yearly basis with a filter change as well. The oil is pretty dark at this point due to the crap it's carrying in suspension.......but hey, that's what it's for!

In my defence I must say that mileage is normally less than 3000, but my mechanical sympathy won't allow me to leave it any longer......

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

I have commented on this quite a bit in the past as I have used Mobil 1 in my Sprinter which assyst gives an oil change interval of around 23k. At the 90k service I took some oil samples and sent them to 2 seperate labs for analysis. While the results were not identical they were similar and both labs said the oil was not ready for changing and with further sampling a longer life could be safely achieved. I reckon that oil could have ran upto the 30k mark which is astounding and I think anyone who uses an expensive synthetic oil but changes it at 3-6k is wasting there money and a cheaper but quality mineral oil is just as good in that case.

 

[battwell]

synthetic vs mineral oil

sorry guys im an oil agnostic.
i use mineral oil in my sprinters.
ok i change it at 6-9000 miles along with other major checkups.(at £6 for 5 litres i can afford to!) my 312 has done near 500000 miles on it and never required engine work. it only uses about a litre every 4000 miles.
does this make me a bad person? all my vans are out of waranty anyway.

 

[Hibbo]

I also use cheap but good mineral oil and change mine every 5000 or so.

If I had a new car and was forced into having it serviced I would definately go for top whack synth and take the long intervals.

 

[Adrianh1]

Facts get in the way of feelings?

Yep, the evidence looks strong NOT to change so regularly. But I change the oil on my 190D 2.5 every 3k and every time I do the engine is ALWAYS quieter and always a bit smoother for it. The car just FEELS better for it. And no amount of information to the contrary can dislodges this feel-good fuzziness (engine almost 190k and still returning 40 - 45 mpg).

Adrian

 

[eric242340]

This is, indeed, an interesting subject. Most of our customers use Mobil 1. Now the 220 - 320 and 350 - 112 and 113 engines are prone to burn oil. So the chinese being tighter than Jews/Jocks ask to top-up the oil and hardly ever change the oil. Now I have followed these engines for the last two years and they still burn exactly the same amount of oil. It hasent got any worse, and their engines seem to need less repairs than the engines that have regular oil and filter changes:roll:

 

[Rory]

and their engines seem to need less repairs than the engines that have regular oil and filter changes:roll:

That's interesting, and the article does say that engine wear decreases as the oil gets older, which flies in the face of those who believe that regular oil changes will prolong the life of the engine - could they really be doing more harm than good?

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I don't believe in long change intervals. Oil is the blood of the engine. Keep it fresh, use good stuff, and have a nice long engine life.

Its a false economy to save what....£30?...on an oil change if you're keeping the car for good.

You have to remember that the yanks are driving around in cars built in the 70's and 80's. Thats very unusual over here. People gawp in amazement when I tell them I've got nearly 180,000 miles on mine.

 

[Rory]

I don't believe in long change intervals. Oil is the blood of the engine. Keep it fresh, use good stuff, and have a nice long engine life.

Its a false economy to save what....£30?...on an oil change if you're keeping the car for good.

I understand what you're saying, but they only really holds water if you own the car from start to finish. If you're coming into the cars lifetime some way along the line then you don't know how it's been treated, and if you're selling before end of life, then you're just benefiting the next owner (which is nice of you).

You have to remember that the yanks are driving around in cars built in the 70's and 80's.

That's a bit of a sweeping generalisation! Most Yanks I've seen (in California and Florida) seem to drive Porche Cayenne's!

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Well I'm the kind of person who looks after my cars, just because....well, I don't believe in treating them like cheap chinese tools. Thats about it really.

I spent an absolute fortune on my TVR, none of which I got back, but I really don't regret any of it.

If we all treated cars with more respect, 2nd hand values would be much higher than they currently are. Look on the Mercedes Shop forums, most people over there have much older models than we do, and they're religious about keeping them running 100%. I like that, makes me want to move over there

Just look at the old clunkers you see driving around every day, blue smoke billowing from the exhausts, Transit vans with back doors made from rust. Its not hard to keep these things from happening, and the savings can be immense.

I think in the UK we don't really have a long-term outlook on life. Theres too many people twitching the curtains and trying to out-do the neighbours. Me, well this Mercedes won't be going anywhere until it dies. In the meantime, I have resolved to buy another TVR as a second car, once savings allow.

I know I'll be spending probably £250-£750 a year keeping the Merc running in servicing and repairs, but thats insignificant compared to the depreciation on a new model. Fred Smith over the road with his brand new Hyundai may extoll the values of his 'cheap' car with all the toys, but the reality is that such things are massively more expensive than a bit of preventative maintainance on what is basically an excellent prestige older car (W210) that will easily outlive the Hyundai many times over.