[Shop-talk] Oil grade selection

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008, Bob Spidell wrote:
> Ford recommends their 5W-20 semi-synthetic for my new Mustang--you think 
> 30W is thin!--and oil changes every 7,500 hundred miles regardless of 
> usage.  I gave it a lot of thought and, since I drive mostly city miles, 
> decided to go to a 5,000 mile interval.  And, I stuck with the 
> 5W-20--against my instincts, at first--when I found I can get it for 
> $2/qt at WalMart.  Yes, the manufacturers need better CAFE numbers, but 
> new engines are built with such tight clearances a quality thinner oil 
> will be fine.  I believe Ford's engineers know what they're doing--even 
> if their accountants don't ;)

Everyone should make their own decision on this stuff, but you can get oil 
analysis done (what's the plural of analysis?) to tell you the condition 
of your oil.  You can use that to determine if its ok to extend your 
change intervale.

One place is blackstone: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

I've been happy with their service and the price is pretty reasonable to 
me.

I routinely run >5k miles on conventional oil in our Chevy Venture and 
Toyota MR2 and >8k on synthetic in our Honda Civic.  Oil analysis in each 
case at the end of a run made me feel fine with that.

Mark