Hi! I have a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis with 168,000 miles. I have owned it since 20,000 miles. I have been using Mobil 1 Extended Performance motor oil that used to say good for 15,000 miles or one year between oil changes and now says 20,000 miles or one year between oil changes. I did the same with a 1998 Grand Marquis and got 225,000 miles out of it before the head gasket started leaking. I change the oil myself and went to Mobil 1 because of the extended time between oil changes to minimize the times I climb my butt under the car.
So what do you think about changing oil once per year with up to 15,000 miles between oil changes using Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil???
1 year/5k miles. Whichever comes first. I don't care what kind of synthetic oil you are using, I don't care who makes it or what they claim.....that's the limit.
Go over to your own detriment.
I wouldn't just say no to that, I would say H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks NO!
No.
You have a dipstick, you can see for your self how your oil turns into smudge. Also you can look at the oil cap for smudge deposits that have formed inside of your engine.
I think 20k miles is ridiculous, many engines get worn out prematurely by manufacturers claiming these “extended intervals” (full synthetic oil hasn’t changed much - manufacturer’s just calculate how much damage from improper lubrications the engine can handle during it’s estimated lifespan. A Ford sigma can last you 2x if you service it twice as frequently as recommended)
Having proper lubrication is important, Even the hilariously unreliable BMW 1.6L “Prince” gets quite reliable if you ignore the recommended intervals and change it every 7k miles.
on older well built engines, sure some could handle not having the best possible lubrication, but on anything modern - that’s a death sentence to the engine.
nets and passages in the engine get clogged, the oil pump gets destroyed, the chain will wear out, the VVT solenoids will get clogged and the Phasers will get stuck, and the particles suspended in the oil will grind up any softer materials…
I don't care what the label says about the oil. If you're not changing your oil, filter and pcv valve every 5000 miles maximum, you're lazy and deserve the worn out engine you will get.
This is the kind of thing you wind up with when you cut back on oil changes...
WOW! That is nasty!
Not a good idea. I always prefer to do 5k or 1 year with synthetic or 3k/1 year with conventional. 10k miles is the absolute maximum if you ask me. The whole 15/20k thing is all marketing and Mobil will not pay for your prematurely worn out engine as they will blame it on anything other than their absurd change intervals. I believe Scotty has said that this can be done but only in vehicles that are driven exclusively on the highway since highway miles cause much less wear and tear than stop and go driving. There's nothing wrong with using their oil, but I would change it much more frequently.
As others have said, that is way too many miles between change.
I do go a bit farther, but I do tons of highway miles, I also keep an eye on what the oil looks like. If it starts getting dirty, it is time to change.
Thankfully my GX470 still looks pretty clean when I change it, typically at 7k. I also use the mobil 1 15k or 20k variety. I also use a very good filter designed for synthetics.
Well Scotty has stated his critical opinion about extending oil change intervals, MANY times before in his videos. It's not exactly a secret.
Show us your oil analysis results from a lab, and photos of the inside of your engine, and I'll tell you my oponion
