MaxLife vs. MaxLife Syn....Help me choose

[LumberWolf]

Hello all, I am new to the site, this is my first post although I have lurked quite often in the past. I am looking for a little assistance in picking a new oil.

Specs:

2002 Dodge Dakota SLT Crew 4x4
4.7L v8 w/ auto
77,500+ miles

Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Habits: daily driver...commute to/from work. I work in construction and run around alot so the truck haas to idle for extended periods once in a while.

History: I bought this truck pre-owned from a Dodge dealer in January w/ approx 68,000 miles.

OCI History: I have changed the oil twice so far and used Valvoline DuraBlend 5w30 with Purolator PureONE filters. I am not sure what the previous owner used but I am pretty sure they just took it to a Lube Shop due to the generic oil filter I found upon the first change I did.

I am a confessed Valvoline guy, I have always used it, not sure why, but have always been pleased with the results. Since my truck recently crested 75,000, I am considering trying MaxLife due to all the good things I have been reading about on BITOG.

My question is this.... Given the info I provided, would it be better to stick with the MaxLife "dino" (I know it has approx 15% PAO); or, could I benefit from the MaxLife Full Synthetic? I dont know much about either, but I think I read that the Syn was a Group III Hydrocracked.

Who knows , maybe I should stick with DuraBlend, but I thought I should at least try the MaxLife given it is free right now after rebate. Also, the Valvoline website picked MaxLife Syn for my truck on the Oil selector.

Oh, I am also planning to use a WIX filter as well on this Oil Change and do a total tuneup on the truck as well.

Thanks in advance for the help, sorry this post was so long.

-Aaron

 

[psudaytona]

I would say Maxlife Synthetic. Engines tend to make alot of heat at idle it seems and alot of stop and go city type driving does the same. And given that its free....I would say get the best you can get, namely synthetic.

I am gonna switch my old dodge daytona to Maxlife dino soon I think. Hoping it will make the leaky seals in the front of the engine slow until I can get a chance to replace them.

 

[dave1251]

How long of an OCI are you going for? If it's 5K or less go with reg. maxlife. I would run syn maxlife to 7.5K. There is my 2 cents.

 

[Clyde65]

My vehicles are doing so extremely well on regular MaxLife, I just might keep them on it. As for you, if you can get your mitts on some MaxLife Synthetic, DO IT!

 

[TallPaul]

I am a Valvoline nut too. I have run regular Maxlife in my motorhome with great success. That said, for your hot climate, lot of running around, and lot of idling, you might as well spend the few extra bucks and get the Maxlife Synthetic. It is very good oil. I will be running Maxlife Synthetic in the Aerostar which gets a lot of idling and generally runs hot because of the engine packaging.

I would rate Maxlife better than Durablend. Also use 10w30. No need for 5wXX in your area. Hey, I use 10w30 here in Detroit.

 

[surfstar]

When I saw that Maxlife was being given away, I had to choose if I wanted Syn or "dino" Maxlife for free. If you go with the syn 10w30, it meets some high-end specs that many oils don't. It's also a "thicker" 30wt oil. 11.51 cst for SL and 11.8 for SM.

Specs for SL 10w30: API SL/SJ, ACEA A3/B3/B4, BMW LL01/98, VW502.00/505.00, MB229.3/229.1

Other Maxlife specs that I looked up (all 10w30):

code:

---

Syn dino ML Syn dino ML

100*C 11.8 10.66 11.51 10.66

40*C 71.6 70.4 72.28 70.4

TBN 7 8 10 8

Flash *C235 216 230 216

Pour *C-42 -33 -42 -33

Noack 8.7
date 4/27/06 5/2/06 9/2/04 9/2/04

API SM SM/SL SL SM/SL

---

Either is a great oil and I picked up some dino for free thanks to Valvoline also. I recommend you snag up as much free Maxlife as you can (use friends/relatives addresses - not that I would do that

) I think the rebate is good 'till 7/31.

http://www.valvoline.com/maxlife/microsite.asp

 

[Mr Nice]

quote:

---

Habits: daily driver...commute to/from work. I work in construction and run around alot so the truck haas to idle for extended periods once in a while.

---

Then Maxlife Synthetic would be the better choice.

 

[LumberWolf]

Thanks guys for all the info.

Looks like I will try the Syn.... will there be any issues switching to that as this will be the first full synthetic used in this engine?

Also, I checked my manual for my truck , and it says with the 4.7L that 5w30 is reccomended (for optimum fuel economy). Of course I want the best economy, but given where I live and the temps, 10w30 seems better for the summer. Would I notice any difference in the 10w30 over the 5w30 in terms of fuel economy? Or should I stick with what the manual says and use the 5w?

 

[LumberWolf]

Surfstar:

Can you decipher that table you posted? I am not sure what all of that means other than the API rating?

 

[TallPaul]

Two of my vehicles spec 5w30 preferred and 10w30 allowed. I run 10w30. You should be just fine with 10w30 year round. Doubt you would see a fuel economy effect.

 

[surfstar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by LumberWolf:
Surfstar:

Can you decipher that table you posted? I am not sure what all of that means other than the API rating?

---

I'll try. This is off the top of my head from what I've learned on BITOG.

First two rows are viscosity in centistokes at 100* (pretend thats a degree symbol) and 40* celcius. Third is TBN (total base number) - higher is better basically. When TBN is depleted the oil has become too acidic and can become corrosive. Flash Pt in *C, higher is better = less chance of burn off. Noack is similar but measures volatility, lower is better, also relates to burn-off. Pour Pt in *C, how low a temp the oil can pour at, in low temps synthetics excell here. The date is from the Valvoline spec sheet. I included the date b/c the 9/2/04 was pretty old when I first looked up the specs and the newer spec sheets weren't listed yet, so I added those for comparison.

I'm not pretending to know what I'm talking about, so please don't flame. That's just my understanding after reading around here for a while.

Some people shop for oil by looking at specs, some at add packs, some by price, etc or all of the above.

 

[Blue_Goose]

Didn't rebate end 7/15? I went out on the 15th and bought 5qts..only to read on the form that must be postmarked by the 15th...

Oh well, guess I was getting greedy anyways


Goose

 

[LumberWolf]

Goose-

I believe they renewed the offer... the new one expires in late August

 

[LumberWolf]

Ok, one more question about my choice:

Should I get the Maxlife Syn. in a SL or find some SM?

I went looking today and all I could find was SL. I researched it quite a bit on BITOG and it seems that SM is preferred. What would be preferable for my truck?

 

[surfstar]

All of the ML Syn I picked up was SL rated, and I'm happy with that - you can see that the TBN and Noack are *slightly* better for the SL 10w30.

Either oil will protect fine. SL will have more ZDDP anti-wear additives and SM should sport more calcium and moly with reduced ZDDP levels.

The additive packages in Maxlife are pretty good, and I actually didn't add any VSOT or SLOB (see additives forum for info on these acronyms) to boost the levels. Just wanted to try straight ML oil.

 

[Islandvic]

LumberWolf,

I have used both Conventional and Synthetic versions of Maxlife in high milage Ford and Chevy V-8's. Both engines consumed less oil when Maxlife was used, compared to other Syn and Conventional oils.

I like them both equally well. Conventional is great for 5k mile OCI's. You can push the Syn to the 6-8k mile OCI range no problem.

As for which to use, it depends on your budget and your OCI goal. I live in humid and hot south texas. Both worked well here.

WalMart has the best deals on Maxlife. 5qt jugs for $11 for dino and $20 for syn. Sometimes they have 5qt mini-cases of conventional for $8-9.

Both SL and SM versions are great for your application. Dont worry, just buy it and enjoy.