I use Rotella 5w-40 and change it every 5,000 miles, in the Rover, my wifes Sedona and my mothers Escape.

 

How does the oil filter you would buy at a lr dealer compare to these filters ??

 

Save your money, just go to NAPA or any other parts store and buy a NAPA, WIX or Purolator oil filter.

 

Hey spike do you use the 5 /40 in summer as well ? I would think a bit thin ? ESP. Syn?

 

Yes I have been using the 5w-40 in the summer as well.
I used to use the 15w-40 in the summer but it got to hard to time the oil changes with the weather.
I would wind up having the 15w-40 in the engine into Dec/Jan still and thats to thick for the temps we get here.
If I lived in the south or any place it only got below freezing for a few days a year I would use the 15w-40 all year.
We wont get above 20 for a month at a time here.
And I change my oil every 5,000 miles no matter how long it takes to drive those 5,000 miles.

 

I know I live I in. Now but I still think 5w syn is pretty thin for the low ( no ) tech disco 4.0/4.6 ? Would be cool if the 15/40 was syn I think that would be perfect .

 

Being a synthetic oil or not makes no difference on thickness, it just will not get thicker when cold.
The Rotella T6 is not a true full syn anyway, neither is Mobil 1.
Only Amsoil, Royal Purple, Esso, etc. are true full syn's.
Mobil 1, Rotella, Valvoline... they are all mineral base stock oil's with synthetic additives.
Royal Purple (for example) is a synthetic base stock with synthetic additives, so a true full syn.
You can tell by the price, RP is over $10/qt, Rotella is $21/gal.

 

That's what I ment cold thickness ( quick oil press ) I use red line heavy shock proof in my diffs & t/c . But not worth 12/15 $ per qt for low tech 4.0/4.6.

 

Here's another thing to avoid. Those three nasty words - "made in China". I bought a used Mercedes and went to the store and bought oil and filter. Filter brand I don't recall, but is was probably what they had, cheap, etc. Last time I make that mistake.

Changed oil this weekend. Found multiple holes punched in filter fabric, like it was assembled wrong. Plus a number of pleats had split. My oil PSI was erractic at idle. Lots of valve noise at startup until oil warm. Wix on left, brand X on right. Went with Rotella 15W40 and Wix, no valve rattle at start up, and oil PSI gauge is smooth operation again. 93 Mercedes with M104 24 valve DOHC six. It was talking to me, I was just to dumb to listen.

Follow up - went back to parts store, Advance. The filter comes in a Purolator box. They make their own filters well. They rebox the good MANN filter. But their bean counterz have taken to sourcing from the most populous nation on Earth where quality control is not up to speed. When it is, we'll close up even more plants. Moral - Look inside the box.

 

Damnit Spike, I thought I'd be better off with rotella than the amsoil I had been using. I guess I'll switch back next oil change.