I'm about to start my first rinse phase (I'm doing the 100,000+ miles plan). It takes me about six months to drive 3,000 miles in this car, and I have been (and will continue) changing the filters in the middle of the cleaning and rinsing phases.
My question is, since it takes me so long to drive 3,000 miles, would there be any advantage (or disadvantage) to doing a complete oil change in the middle of my rinse phase? I'm using low-cost dino oil, so money isn't a factor here. Would it help to rinse the engine? I just don't like the idea of leaving dino oil in my engine for that long, particularly when I have so many short trips on this engine.
Good question. Thinking about how the rinse phase works, I can't think of a reason not to. I mean, during the rinse phase, the clean oil rinses the Auto Rx and liquefied sludge from the metal to the filter - if you changed the oil, wouldn't the rinse phase just "continue" until all of the contaminants hit the filter?
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2001 Ford Ranger, 4.0 V6. Mobil 1 0w-30, Motorcraft FL 820s filter, 3oz Auto Rx
Thanks. This gives me added peace-of-mind that I won't have to leave older oil in my engine for what I would consider to be an extended period of time, especially considering how I drive (city driving/short trips/cold starts in winter, etc.).
I changed my oil half way through each of my rinse phases, even though oil on dipstick looked clean what came out of the pan was darker, I feel changing the oil half way through the rinse phase is good because the filter does not build up with junk as quickly and if your oil filter is near capacity there is not stuff floating around your engine just in case filter is filled and you are about to go into bypass mode, I am still a big fan of taking the car on along run not just a short 5 mile trip. If you notice a loss of power or your temp gauge is going up chances are you may have a filter that is close to filling up.
Sounds good. I think I'll go with the complete oil change at mid-rinse. I want to maximize my results using Auto-RX, and I think this will give me the most peace-of-mind. Thanks for the extra input on this!
On a similar note, I've noticed that certain "synthetic blends" are as inexpensive (if not lower in price) than major-brand dinos. For example, the Conoco-Phillips trio of Motorcraft, TropArtic, and Kendall, are all synthetic blends that are often cheaper (at least at Walmart) than Valvoline, Castrol, Pennzoil, Quaker State, etc. dino oils.
Are these synthetic blends that I mentioned in the Group III category? Are all synthetic blends Group III for that matter?
Yes, these are Group III oils, the only Group IV oil's are Amsoil 100% Synthetic and Redline oil, and maybe Mobil 1 but that is suspect to what I have been reading on BITOG, any Group IV synthetic oil is going to be more than $6.00 a quart, at Wal-Mart you can get there Super Tech dino oil for $1.54 a quart and there Super Tech synthetic for $2.97 a quart, the problem I have with synthetic blend oil's is how much of it is synthetic, for the rinse phase I would stick with a dino oil as this has seemed to show the best results for me and others, you can learn more about Group III oil's on BITOG or go to Google and type in Group III oil's. To find out if your oil you are choosing is Group III or IV do a search or become a member on BITOG and post your questions there.
Thanks. I am a member on BITOG, but was unable (even though I searched) to find a "list" of Group III oils. Is it safe to assume, then, that all major brand dinos are Group III?
Yes, you'd be safe to assume that. Castrol Syntec (except 0W30), Valvoline SynPower, Valvoline MaxLife, Havoline Synthetic, SuperTech Synthetic, etc., all use Group III. Mobil 1 is a gray area. Some of the really thick grades might be using Group IV's as well. The typical 5W30 and 10W30's will be Group III.
Synthetic Blends can have as little as 1 fl oz. of synthetic in that quart bottle ,, most people seem to assume a blend is 50/50 ... not true ... I haven't seen a breakdown of what each brands synthetic percentage is..
neidermyer is right. The amount of synthetic will be very small. Also group III's can be labeled as synthetic in many cases, regarding their pour points and better resistance to oxidation. So it is likely that some of the blend are merely a blend of group II dino and group III dino.
For the first 1,500 miles of my rinse phase, I am using Shell Rotella T 10W-30. I should get these miles covered by the end of the year. It starts to get really cold here in January and February, so I'll switch out to either Motorcraft or Kendall 5W-30 for the second half of the rinse phase. I'm of the opinion (at this point) that any of the Conoco-Phillips synthetic blends should be fine for the rinse phase, especially after 1,500 miles of dino Rotella. By the way, for the record, my car is a 1994 Ford Thunderbird with the 4.6 V8. I have 103,156 miles on the car as of today. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a second treatment, since I don't really think the engine was too sludged up. A lot will depend on what I see come out of it during the rinsing phases.
If your 4.6 is an overhead cam engine I would recommend using 5W-20 or 5W-30 if you have to, I think I read on Crown-Vic.net that guys who were using 10W-30 were havung problems with there engines, you need the oil to get to the cam as quick as possible, I believe that Ford is now recommending 5W-20 going all the way back to sometime in the 1990's, I am not sure how far back, without me writing a long post your best bet is to get on BITOG or Crown-vic.net and read the posts.
My Ford Factory Service Manual for the 1994 Thunderbird calls for 10W-30 for the 4.6 V8. My owner's manual calls for 5W-30 for the 4.6 V8. I've heard from other places (not just here) that Ford has back-speced the engine for 5W-20, but I've also read in many places that the spec 5W-20 was strictly due to meeting CAFE standards, since no mechanical changes were made to the engine itself. I have to admit, I am confused. I deferred to the Service Manual, because I figured the writers knew what they were talking about, plus 10W-30 is a stouter oil that resists shearing better.
Bottom line: I'll check CrownVic.net (I've already searched around on BITOG) for more info. Thanks.
I think that Crown-Vic.net is going to be your best bet for getting information, any oil with a Maintenance Dose of Auto-Rx is going to be an excellent oil, the trend now in motor oil's is towards thinner oil because it gets to your parts in the motor quicker, remember almost 85% of your engine wear occurs at start up, maybe 10W-30 might be ok for the summer but I would look to 5W-30 for the winter which it seems like you will be doing.
After an enormous amount of research, checking BITOG, the CrownVic.net forum, my Thunderbird club forum, and others, I received mixed reviews. It seems some are running 10W-30 with no problems, and others have had all kinds of issues with it, including their oil filters literally blowing off in the winter. Heck with that! I called the local Ford dealer and talked with their service manager, and he recommended 5W-30 and/or 5W20, and confirmed that my engine was also retro-speced to 5W-20. I told him my service manual stated 10W-30, but he said that it was revised soon after the printing, and mentioned some of the same problems I read about on the various forums.
Ultimately, I decided to play it safe. I stopped by Walmart on my way home, picked up a 5 qt. jug of Motorcraft 5W-20, and just got back inside after doing the oil change. I've never run 5W-20 in this car, but I figure it won't hurt, and will probably be better for the cold months ahead. Thanks Brent (and others) for your advice. I appreciate it.
You will love the 5W-20, on my 04 Marauder which is specked for 5W-20, which I used for one oil change, I then went to Amsoil 100% Synthetic 0W-20 with a maintenance dose of Auto-Rx my gas mileage improved, I think that I read on Crown-Vic .net that guys who were using 10W-30 were having oil burning issues at 100K, 10W-30 was more of a spec back in the 1980's when the clearances on engines were looser, you want the oil to get everywhere as quick as possible, I can only see using a 10W-30 if you were racing or driving in the middle of the summer in Arizona where the temperature is above 100 degrees, a lot of guys on BITOG are getting excellent UOA's with the thinner oil, remember that Motorcraft 5W-20 is a semi-synthetic oil which is a Group III oil which is great for using with Auto-Rx, for more protection in the future you can go with Amsoil 5W-20 which is a Group III oil or 100% Amsoil0W-20 which is a Group IV oil, good luck and I think you made a very wise choice on the oil you choose.
