Mixing High Mileage w/ Sythetic

[rengnath]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question regarding mixing oils together. I’m looking for added protection in my engine, and would appreciate some opinions. I have a 2005 Dodge Dakota with a 4.7L V8 and 96,000 miles. The manual states to use 5w-30. I live in south-east Wisconsin and the truck is parked outside during the winter. I try to drive economically to save gas, however I normally have a problem with keeping my foot out of it. My driving style is very mixed with economic driving, along with jack-rabbit starts and aggressive driving. I drive on the freeway and open roads, with little city driving. All trips are longer than 10 miles so the engine always gets to operating temps. I currently am using Castrol GTX High Mileage and I’m happy with it. I did put Valvoline Synpower in the truck when I first got it and ended up with a leak from the front crankshaft seal within the first 1000 miles so I got it fixed and I don’t want to go back to full synthetic. I want to stick with the GTX High Mileage, but for my next oil change I was contemplating whether or not to switch a quart of the High Mileage for a quart of the Edge (Castrol Synthetic). Are the oils going to be compatible as long as they are both 5w-30? Would this have any benefits? My major concern is will the quart of synthetic have any effect on the seals in the engine? There are no leaks any more, but I don’t want any to develop. The engine holds 6qts of oil so roughly 16% would be synthetic, with the rest being high mileage. All opinions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Ibrahim]

WELCOME to BITOG FORUMS!

how long do u intend to keep ur oil change interval?

 

[rengnath]

I do an oil and filter (K&N) every 3,000 miles because I do drive a little hard. The max I ever go on an oil change is 4,000.

 

[rastoma]

Originally Posted By: rengnath
I do an oil and filter (K&N) every 3,000 miles because I do drive a little hard. The max I ever go on an oil change is 4,000.


It would not a bit of good to put synthetic for this short of oil change.

One qt. of synthetic is not like an additive that would 'help'. Either go all synthetic or all dino. And with 3k-4k mile OCI, then all dino is fine.

You could also put in a pint or two of MMO... but that's another story and I just opened a can of worms LOL (I love the stuff though).

 

[hpichris]

You can do 5k easy on a good dino oil. With such short OCI's. Don't waste $$$ with synthetic.

 

[Ronn]

Originally Posted By: rengnath
Hello Everyone,

I have a question regarding mixing oils together. I’m looking for added protection in my engine, and would appreciate some opinions. I have a 2005 Dodge Dakota with a 4.7L V8 and 96,000 miles. The manual states to use 5w-30. I live in south-east Wisconsin and the truck is parked outside during the winter. I try to drive economically to save gas, however I normally have a problem with keeping my foot out of it. My driving style is very mixed with economic driving, along with jack-rabbit starts and aggressive driving. I drive on the freeway and open roads, with little city driving. All trips are longer than 10 miles so the engine always gets to operating temps. I currently am using Castrol GTX High Mileage and I’m happy with it. I did put Valvoline Synpower in the truck when I first got it and ended up with a leak from the front crankshaft seal within the first 1000 miles so I got it fixed and I don’t want to go back to full synthetic. I want to stick with the GTX High Mileage, but for my next oil change I was contemplating whether or not to switch a quart of the High Mileage for a quart of the Edge (Castrol Synthetic). Are the oils going to be compatible as long as they are both 5w-30? Would this have any benefits? My major concern is will the quart of synthetic have any effect on the seals in the engine? There are no leaks any more, but I don’t want any to develop. The engine holds 6qts of oil so roughly 16% would be synthetic, with the rest being high mileage. All opinions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob


Take a look at Valvoline Maxlife 5W30 Syn Blend. See what they say about the *Seals*.

Maxlife Syn Blend

Valvoline MaxLife™ is the first motor oil specially formulated for higher mileage engines. Valvoline MaxLife™ is a blend of premium synthetic and conventional basestocks with a seal conditioning agent, extra cleaning agents, additional antiwear additives and friction modifiers.
The Valvoline MaxLife™ Motor Oil Advantage
• Conditions engine seals
• Minimizes oil consumption
• Maximizes power output
• Resists thermal breakdown
• Reduces deposit formation
• Provides easier cold starts

 

[mechtech2]

I'd just use the high mileage oil alone in your situation.
You'd get the best out of it.

 

[rengnath]

Thanks everyone for your input! It looks like I will just stick with high mileage oil being I dont want to go with full synthetic incase the rear main seal or oil pan gasket has any weak points. I guess the myth was true in my case for synthetic oil causing leaks, even though the engine showed no sign of leakage before I changed over. Now for the K&N oil filter that I use, is it worth the price or no? I pay about $10 for the filter at my local AutoZone. I know the Wix/Napa filters are good, but I normally just pick up the K&N because its convienient. Is it overkill or not? All I have really heard about oil filters is that the frams are pretty bad in terms of quality so I refuse to use one of them.

 

[mechtech2]

The Wal Mart House brand of oil filters r pretty good - especially for the money.

 

[Ibrahim]

Regnath, you are better off sticking to Dino oils, and K&N air filter does a good job for what it is designed for (max air flow rather air filtration), if your goal is maximum air filtration, then there are better air filters out there...

Fram has different Air filters, from cheap to premium quality, Purolator also have good air filters, I have had a very good luck with Donaldson and Baldwin air filters, their really filter well and last sort of longer than regular air filters...

 

[rengnath]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
The Wal Mart House brand of oil filters r pretty good - especially for the money.


Thanks mechtech2 for the suggestion. Is the quality of an oil filter even going to matter in 3,000 miles? Even if I used a fram, will a cheap filter do just as well as a name brand like a K&N with the short OCI?

Originally Posted By: Ibrahim
Regnath, you are better off sticking to Dino oils, and K&N air filter does a good job for what it is designed for (max air flow rather air filtration), if your goal is maximum air filtration, then there are better air filters out there...

Fram has different Air filters, from cheap to premium quality, Purolator also have good air filters, I have had a very good luck with Donaldson and Baldwin air filters, their really filter well and last sort of longer than regular air filters...


Hello Ibrahim, is it going to be the same for oil filters from the same companies? I do use a K&N air filter for maximum air flow, so should I be looking for maximum filtration in the oil filter incase any contaminates get into the oil? My goal here is to have good flow in both the oil and air, but still have adequate filtration. In the long run, will it make a huge difference if I stick with the K&N brand (Maximum flow)instead of using a brand that is known for maximum filtration? Im willing to give up maximum filtration if there is more flow and very little differnce on the affect to the engine. I drive on all paved and open roads, so what would you do in this situation? I like having the performance/gas mileage, so would you do a high flow oil filter or high filtration oil filter? Thanks for all your help!

 

[Ibrahim]

Regnath, K&N will serve you good and you should not be concerned since you change your oil every 3-4K miles, its true that K&N products main priority is performance rather than allowing us to have extended oil change intervals...from what I have learned at least...they are amazing products...but if you are planning OCI's 6K miles and above, I would strong urge you to only increase your OCI after doing UOA's...and proceed from there...


honestly what you got going is good...there are always other alternatives....depending on ur maintenance plan and budget limit...

 

[rengnath]

Alright, then I will just stick with what I have. Thanks for all your help, Ibrahim.

 

[Ibrahim]

u r welcome!