Oil Change information/discussion

[Rabidhamster]

personally.. I'll be going to Amsoil Synth (local dealer is a friend, and local club member) .. and a cleanable oil filter.. (stainless case, screws off.. element comes out so you can wash the crap outta it)

and I know I'll pretty much never hit my mileage before 6months.. so I'll be doing 1month filter clean (and/or before and after races) and 6 month oil change

little anal I know.. but having nuked some engines, and seeing first hand the state people let their cars get too every day at work, I've kinda become anal about maintance stuff

[CamShaft]

It cost me 44$ canadian with taxes to get my oil change and a car wash with it...not too shabby considering it would cost me 5$ for the filter and 10$ or so for oil, then drive 25 mins to my shop and spend an hour checking/changing oil and such...just not worth my time. Maybe one day I will actually do it. Although I didn't ask if it was a syn. blend. I think its petro-based oil at the cost of 13$

Although they gave me 3 oil pan washers for free, which was nice.

[lchaidez]

Cool, so has anyones engine acted up yet? My next Oil change is up later on this month.

[jasiuplguy]

Oil changes are very vital to new cars, especially when they are exposed to rough driving and conditions. I recently purchased my GTS and myself was not sure what oil goes in the engine; many claimed it is synthetic since the first service is scheduled @ 7500 miles. Big surprise! It is a regular oil they put in those engines when the cars are rolling off the assembly line. I called couple Mitsubishi services; however, not everybody that I spoke to was very knowledgeable about the 2008 model. Service manager at Max Madsen cleared up all my doubts. He confirmed the regular oil right of the bet and told me that the 7500 miles service is for "Farmer Bob" who drives long distances at constant speeds not causing the engine oil to break down as much a someone driving in the city traffic. He said that a new car owner shouldn't overlook the 3000 mile oil changes. When I asked him about synthetic oil he said it is better for the engine and I can switch to it; however, I should do it with the first oil change not with fifth, etc. The sooner you do it the sonner the engine gets used to it. There is also a rule, if you switch to synthetic you have to stay with synthetic. I asked him what about the service mileage then? He said that no matter if synthetic or regular he would do the oil changes every 3000 miles for better output and efficiencies of the car. I'm sorry about the long post but I hope it will clear all the doubts about changing the oil. I'm pretty sure I will change to synthetic; it is not cheap to do it; but if you want to baby the car and the most important component of it then it is the way to go.

Jon

[Blacksheepdj]

Originally Posted by jasiuplguy

Oil changes are very vital to new cars, especially when they are exposed to rough driving and conditions. I recently purchased my GTS and myself was not sure what oil goes in the engine; many claimed it is synthetic since the first service is scheduled @ 7500 miles. Big surprise! It is a regular oil they put in those engines when the cars are rolling off the assembly line. I called couple Mitsubishi services; however, not everybody that I spoke to was very knowledgeable about the 2008 model. Service manager at Max Madsen cleared up all my doubts. He confirmed the regular oil right of the bet and told me that the 7500 miles service is for "Farmer Bob" who drives long distances at constant speeds not causing the engine oil to break down as much a someone driving in the city traffic. He said that a new car owner shouldn't overlook the 3000 mile oil changes. When I asked him about synthetic oil he said it is better for the engine and I can switch to it; however, I should do it with the first oil change not with fifth, etc. The sooner you do it the sonner the engine gets used to it. There is also a rule, if you switch to synthetic you have to stay with synthetic. I asked him what about the service mileage then? He said that no matter if synthetic or regular he would do the oil changes every 3000 miles for better output and efficiencies of the car. I'm sorry about the long post but I hope it will clear all the doubts about changing the oil. I'm pretty sure I will change to synthetic; it is not cheap to do it; but if you want to baby the car and the most important component of it then it is the way to go.

Jon

Dude, you ROCK.
I now feel a thousand times better about spending all that money on Mobil1 oil.

Just did my second oil change today. Easy as cake.
I keep looking at that wussy H-brace under the car and thinking how I need the RRM one, though.

[bluewaterDEMON]

Advance Auto Parts just released some information on maintence items. Here is a list of oil filters from the partsamerica.com website:

Mobil1 Oil Filter: Part #: M1110
K&N Oil Filter: Part #: HP1010
Purolator Pure One Oil Filter: Part #: PL14610
Purolator Oil Filter: Part #: L14610
Advance Auto Part brand Oil Filter: Part #: AA7317
Bosch Premium Oil Filter: Part #: 3323


I do work as an Automotive technician at an independent shop, so I will cross reference these oil filter part numbers to see if I can come up with any other brands (ex. Valvoline, Fram, Wix).

I've changed oil on many cars, and I have noticed that most convential oils at around 3,000 miles will look like synthetic oil at 3,000 miles. However, I have seen cars go 25,000 miles without an oil change while running a convential oil, and the engine sludge was amazing! I've seen a few engines survive 30,000 miles without an oil change only because synthetic oil was used.

The biggest advantage of synthetic oil is it's resistance to thermal breakdown and oil sludge build up. Synthetic oil also has very low friction, and would make them unsuitable for an engine's break-in period.

As you all know, Mitsubishi set's our 2008 Lancer's maintence intervals at 7,500 miles. This leads me to believe that synthetic oil is factory-fill, but not mandatory on future oil changes. If synthetic oil is recommended, Mitsubishi should of/would of said something.


Anyways....Hopefully Mitsubishi will clear this up in the near future, and give a solid answer. Either way, if you change your oil at the industry standard 3,000 miles, this should not be a big worry.

[bluewaterDEMON]

Here are two pictures of a Toyota 1.8L DOHC valvetrain. I replaced this engine due to a blown piston. The owner went a good 25,000 miles (convential oil) without an oil change, and the sludge build-up was more than this engine could handle.

[lchaidez]

Originally Posted by bluewaterDEMON

Here are two pictures of a Toyota 1.8L DOHC valvetrain. I replaced this engine due to a blown piston. The owner went a good 25,000 miles (convential oil) without an oil change, and the sludge build-up was more than this engine could handle.

OUCH that is sick... I've seen oil and coolant mixed and its not a pretty thing either.

poor engine *tear*

[jasiuplguy]

Advance Auto Parts just released some information on maintence items. Here is a list of oil filters from the partsamerica.com website:

Mobil1 Oil Filter: Part #: M1110
K&N Oil Filter: Part #: HP1010
Purolator Pure One Oil Filter: Part #: PL14610
Purolator Oil Filter: Part #: L14610
Advance Auto Part brand Oil Filter: Part #: AA7317
Bosch Premium Oil Filter: Part #: 3323


I do work as an Automotive technician at an independent shop, so I will cross reference these oil filter part numbers to see if I can come up with any other brands (ex. Valvoline, Fram, Wix).

I've changed oil on many cars, and I have noticed that most convential oils at around 3,000 miles will look like synthetic oil at 3,000 miles. However, I have seen cars go 25,000 miles without an oil change while running a convential oil, and the engine sludge was amazing! I've seen a few engines survive 30,000 miles without an oil change only because synthetic oil was used.

The biggest advantage of synthetic oil is it's resistance to thermal breakdown and oil sludge build up. Synthetic oil also has very low friction, and would make them unsuitable for an engine's break-in period.

As you all know, Mitsubishi set's our 2008 Lancer's maintence intervals at 7,500 miles. This leads me to believe that synthetic oil is factory-fill, but not mandatory on future oil changes. If synthetic oil is recommended, Mitsubishi should of/would of said something.


Anyways....Hopefully Mitsubishi will clear this up in the near future, and give a solid answer. Either way, if you change your oil at the industry standard 3,000 miles, this should not be a big worry.

As I mentioned in my previous post "NONE OF THE NEW 2008 MITSUBISHI LINE CARS COME WITH THE SYNTHETIC OIL STRAIGHT FROM THE FACTORY!" Please look back for the explanation of the 7500mi service. The original factory oil is a regular non-synthetic oil so you have an option to either keep up with regular oil or change and "STAY" with synthetic. (The above post says that you can switch back and forth between the two. Sure you can but is it worth it?) I have seen engines on which the oil was switched several times and due to that the seals were broken and the oil was leaking. (The engine gets used to one and then suddenly you pour a totally different thing in there, then it gets used to the new thing and you switch back again. Definitely not recommended!) Some people might not care since there is an extensive warranty on the power-train on the new Mitsubishi's and whatever damage there is the warranty will cover it as long as you can prove that you did a regular scheduled engine maintenance. I am obsessed with cars and I just would not be able to treat it in such a way that it could suffer any damage due to my laziness or stupidity. I hope it is the same for all you out there. Treat that engine right. For all of those that will be switching to synthetic my suggestion is to break in the engine with regular oil, do not go pass the 3000 mile mark and switch to synthetic, otherwise stay with the regular oil and don't forget to change the oil every 3000mi.

Thanx
Jon

[Mark Hubley]

I changed the oil on my '08 Lancer for the first time this past weekend at 3,000 miles. I used Mobil 1, and from now on I'll get on the 7,500 mile schedule.

Here are three reasons why I change the oil on my cars myself:

1. When I do it myself, I know that it gets done right . I can think of at least two times where mechanics charged me for services that I later found out they did not do. One involved asking a mechanic to change the brake fluid on my 944, then having the brakes fail a week later going into turn 3 at Summit Point. I was extremely pissed when I bled the brakes and saw old, crappy fluid . I now do all my brake work myself. It wouldn't surprise me to find mechanics out there charging for synthetic oil changes and putting in cheap oil.

2. Changing oil is easy, and it's really easy on this Lancer. I have a pair of ramps, which I put on an incline in my driveway so that the car is level when on the ramps. The location of the oil filter on this car is perfect! (You have to be a contortionist to get at the filter in my wife's Toyota Tacoma.) There is an Advance Auto next to the grocery store I shop at, so it takes about ten minutes in Advance to get my oil and filter. It then takes about 15 minutes* of labor to change the oil. Usually I do something else for a little while as the oil drains. This is less hassle for me than going to a Jiffy Lube or any other place for the oil change, and I know it gets done right. Plus, there is the manly testosterone rush that comes from working on a car .

3. It saves me a few $$$. My wife and I have five vehicles between us, and it saves me time and money to do the maintenance work myself. It also exposes me to fewer opportunities to be ripped off by a mechanic. "Oh, while we were changing your oil we noticed that your _______ needs to be replaced. We can do that for just another $__00.00." Most of the time while I am under the car I can take a few minutes to look at CV joints, look for leaks, inspect the brakes, etc.

*I should say that FUTURE oil changes on this car will take about 15 minutes. I still want to kill the person who installed the oil filter at the factory. It was a ***** to get off this first time. My strap-type filter wrench didn't want to get a good grip on this rather small filter. I ended up wrapping a couple layers of duct tape around the filter, then the wrench finally gripped. Of course, I hand-tightened the new filter. Next time it will be a cinch .

By the way, the drain plug is metric. If memory serves me correctly, it is 17 mm.

[FinestSoldier]

Originally Posted by blitzkrieg79

Jeeezzz, $60 for an oil change on a 4 cylinder 2.0 liter engine? I guess my dealership (Bell Mitsu) is not that greedy afterall, costs me $23 for an oil change on a Lancer, it's not even worth my hassle of replacing it on my own.

sup bro, thats where i bought my lancer from. bell mitsu lol. later on we should meet up bro . get all the lancers up in a bunch

[FLOW1]

Nice.

[lchaidez]

just checking up. My lancer has about 9200 miles on it already. I just did my 2nd full synthetic oil change at 8900-9000. Car is running great, oil looks clean (well not clean!) when emptying.

I use Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 5W-20 about 30$ an oil change + additional 7$ for K&N oil filter HP-1010 I believe.

Next oil change scheduled @ 10500 (i do them frequently) ~

[evo_soul]

I dont take chances I get oils done at my other dealer free for life so I spend about 5 dollars extra and get Mobil Extender Performance Oil.
That and the fact that when i am not in town and i know my girlfriend doesnt change oil on time. if she goes over the normal threshold, she wont kill the car.. I mean hey, 15000 mile intervals on this oils is crazy enough, but since i run it on my Mazda and Honda, I know its good. The Honda has just over 500,000 km on it. :S and other parts of the car are starting to fail but the engine is fine.

anyways here is the link if anyone wants to read up

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...rformance.aspx

watch the video of the study they did on running taxi's in Vegas hahha lol, look at the engine they take apart and inspect the parts. its crazy lol

anyways my 2 cents

[krnkimchi702]

you guys are lucky you have a garage.. im a college student living in the dorms.. so i dont have anything.. i dont want to buy a ramp b/c i would have no where to put it.. but i think im going to let mistu do the engine change.. yeah i know its easy but id rather have them do my oil change and if something happens i can blame them hehehe