I had planned a short oil change interval after doing my front cover this fall because I had some pretty bad varnish. I had a gallon of Rotella 5w40 and 2 quarts of mobil 1 15w50 which was doing fine until this week of 0-5F nights. I could not bear the laborious starts and few minutes of lifter noise so I dumped the oil a bit early (2000 miles) and switched to mobil 1 0w40. That stuff starts up really nicely with zero lifter noise and it is still is a 40w so the truck still purrs like a kitten at temperature. I really like Rotella 5w40 and the Mobil 1 TDT but I think the 0w40 is going to be my january-march oil.

I'm not sure if anyone else is into additives but I also use an additive called Lubro Moly MoS2 anti friction. It is a Molybdenum and boron additive that boosts moly by about 350ppm, I've been using it for a while now in all my vehicles. I also did a Berryman Chemtool flush just to get rid of any risidual varnish and leftovers from the front cover job. I'm a chemist and a chemical engineer and do believe this additive helps wear especially in out flat tappet engines. Oilss are blended to a price point and moly and boron additives are expensive.

Anywho in short, cold bad, mobil 1 0w40 good.

 

Um. YEP!

 

I dont like Mobil 1 0w-40.
The $12,000 engine in my Sprinter blew up at just under 167,000 miles of nothing but Mobil 1 0w-40.
She drank the oil too. Had to add 2 quarts every 1,000 miles or so, got so bad I bought it by the gallon jug ($23) because it was cheaper than the $7 per quart.
So at 167k and changing the oil every 10,000 miles instead of the recommended 15k she blew up.
Got this van brand new, it's a '06, she's dead.
Looking for a used engine, still $6,000 and I will be using 15w-40 diesel oil and changing it every 5,000 miles.

Glad the oil is working out for you but I would not use it long term.

 

Yeah you've mentioned that before not sure if the oil was to blame or you just had another underlying problem maybe 10k was just too long (those euros really are into long drains in engines that really should not be doing extended OCIs), I think for a commercial van like that a real HDEO is a better choice. It is definitely not a long drain oil, it does shear down to a 30w in some instances (by design) but it is mobil's flagship oil and I do believe it is a good winter oil for flat tappet engines. It has the high ZDDP and the super high HTHS and TBN.

Believe me for the spring and summer I got 3 gallons of Rotella syn, 2 gallons of M1 5w40 TDT, some syntec 5w40, mobil 1 15w50 and 3 gallons of Delo 400 15w40 but I do believe (I spend way too much time studying used oil analysis tests) in the winter this is a perfect 5000 mile oil.

I will do an UOA and post it up here at the end of the winter.

 

(I spend way too much time studying used oil analysis tests) in the winter this is a perfect 5000 mile oil.
---And this is why I love this forum--be sure to post those results up for all of us!

 

exactly....

question for lipadj46:
recently changed the oil on my 2004 Ford in which I usually use Mobil 1 synthetic 5W20. They were selling Mobil1 synthetic Extended Performance....

So from a chemists perspective, is the claim that it pushes the interval to 15K miles valid? What are they adding to it that makes it go 3X longer?

At this point I am running Mobil 1 synthetic 10w30 in the Rover, and 5w20 in my 2004 Ford F-150. Pretty happy with both, and changed regularly at 5K. And I don't have to top up the Rover since I have fixed the PCV.

Run Amsoil Synthetic on the Buell, and 15w40 Delo on the old Ford F250 Diesel.

 

Rotella 5w-40 is supposed to be the good stuff, but it's expensive. I'd think it would be great in the winter. I have been using M1 0w-40 for a while now and I'm happy with it. I have no leaks, no noises and the tranish that was covering my dipstick when I got the truck is gone now. Like you say, I don't go over 5k miles on it either though.

 

Mobil 1 5w20 EP will run for 15K/1 year in a 2004 Ford with the following caveat: If you are doing severe service like short trips where the oil does not come up to temp a lot or if you tow a lot then you may want to stick with 10k. Either way if you are nervous about extending your OCI you can get a used oil analysis with TBN (total base number) for $35 from Blackstone Labs at around 7500 miles to see how the oil is faring.

The EP lines of M1 have more antiwear additives and a more robust basestock with more "real" synthetic (PAO).

Keep the Rover at 5000 miles with the synthetic unless you do a UOA with TBN and they say you can go farther, you can also try M1 5w40 TDT, Rotella T6 5w40, Mobil Delvac 1 etc. They are dual rated diesel/gas oils that blow regular passenger car synthetics out of the water.

BTW the mobil 0w40 was great this morning truck started like nothing at 8F and I only had 30 seconds of lifter noise.

 

When a oil change sets you back $135 and you are driving 1000-1200 miles a week and the manufacture says change the oil every 15,000 miles what would you do?
Change it once a month?
Or once every month and a half to 2 months?
I am not the only person who had their Sprinter engine blow up, they all have used the same oil with the same oil change intervals.
One guy put a rod threw the side of the block, you could see it sticking out.
I am not trying to be a nay sayer, just beware I guess.

The Ford that I am driving right now, I use Rotella 15w-40, change it every 5,000 miles and the engine has 245,000 miles on it and a oil change is $35 at Valvoline Instant Oil Change.
Ford recommends the 5w-20, there is one guy who is actually using that oil in his van and he adds a quart a day, and that is in the winter time, wait until summer.
He bought the van used so this is his first time using a Ford, he has always had Chevy's before.

Just my $.02.

 

Believe me there you are not the only M1 0w40 naysayer. The problem is that it is not really a long drain oil it shears, it is designed to shear. It does great in most engines out to 10,000 but some engines are very hard on oil whether they be direct injection or whatever they chew up oil. If I were in your situation I would do what you are doing now and use a real HDEO with the proper rating. As long as your Ford does not have variable valve timing you do not have to use the 5w20 and even so you have obviously proven that 5w20 is not necessary although the motorcraft 5w20 semisyn is an awesome oil for $11 for 5 quart jugs at walmart.