oil reccomendation + OCI general advice

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Hi All.

Have 2009 mazda6 with the 2.5L I4 mzr/duratech engine.

Car currently has 85k miles. Car previously owned by my parents, and have all maintenance records. It got a couple valvoline 5w20 conventional oil changes until 15-20k, then mazda dealer 5w20 castrol GTX conventional with OEM mazda filter, then various synblend (dealer random, kendal gt1, and motorcraft) the last 20k. All changes were 4k-7.5k miles. I have had car the last 10=15k or so.

Manual recommendation is 6mo/5k for severe, 6mo/7.5k for normal. I do some shorter trips (5miles around town) and then some longer 10-20+ miles drive every couple weeks. I never do 20 short drives in a row, usually at least one 10+ mile drive to get things warm every week or two. I live in a climate like southern MI, Pennsylvania, Connecticut. Cold, but not below 0-10 degF much.

I also don't drive much. Sometimes I drive 5k in 6mo. But other times I drive 3.5k in 8 months. This is main part of my question...

My current plan going forward is use Motorcraft 5w20 synblend and motorcraft filters. I figure it's basically a ford engine and the motorcraft filters are also well received here from my understanding? Currently apartment living which makes doing my own oil changes hard, but ford dealer is a good deal (
My question: Does motorcraft plan sound good here?
Would you change this oil if less than 5k driven at 6mo? For example, I currently have 4k miles on the oil and just coming up on at end of December. Have a long 600 mile drive in the next week or two. Would you wait until 5-6k miles to change (could be 8mo). Or change now to get fresh oil in for coldest winter temps? Oil does look pretty clean now, for what that's worth.

If synthetic would allow me to go a year and would be better I'd also happily try that! I could probably be less than 10k in a year.

Engine looks great through oil cap, and burns 2 qt (if that) in typical OCI.
 
I'd go one shelf over from the MC oil and grab Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20, and you can use the MC filter if you'd like; they're good. On my 2011, the OLM is about 10k, but I have gone way, way past that to 17k on the last OCI. IMHO the PP is an inexpensive upgrade and will easily do 10k in your app. First OCI on PP just keep an eye on oil level for the duration since the cleaning you'll get will likely consume a small bit of it.

I'm at 116k now and mine doesn't use a drop of oil. Don't fear 10k on a good synthetic, especially with easy miles.
 
A synthetic would allow you to go a year, and if you do burn a little bit of oil (which it sounds like you do), a good high mileage synthetic might help with that. Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage 5w-20 would be my first choice (or just the regular Pennzoil Platinum), but M1, Castrol, etc would work just fine.

Edit: Subie beat me to it!
 
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Sounds like Mobil 1 Annual Protection would be perfect. Change it once each summer and be done. Other synthetics could do the same, but you'll always have a little doubt, as well as receiving assurances on here, but at the same time getting advice to "just do a UOA to make sure..."
1 OCI of M1AP and matching filter will cost no more than 2 OCI's of another...because you'll probably end up doing two with the others...needed or not.
 
Id wait to 8 months and 5-6k miles to change it. You are in flip a coin territory. Less than 10k in a year, id go full syn with a premium filter and sleep well at night. Although you would need to compare cost of full syn from stealer first. I could lean either way on this decision..every 6 mth with blend or 12mths on full syn. Im sure both would work just fine. Its a nice car to drive that Mazda 6, enjoy!
 
Originally Posted By: lukejo
Sounds like Mobil 1 Annual Protection would be perfect. Change it once each summer and be done. Other synthetics could do the same, but you'll always have a little doubt, as well as receiving assurances on here, but at the same time getting advice to "just do a UOA to make sure..."
1 OCI of M1AP and matching filter will cost no more than 2 OCI's of another...because you'll probably end up doing two with the others...needed or not.


Under 10k and 1 year? Id use M1 AFE without hesitation. M1 EP if you are paranoid..dont think AP is necessary still at such a low mileage.
 
Originally Posted By: JustN89
A synthetic would allow you to go a year, and if you do burn a little bit of oil (which it sounds like you do), a good high mileage synthetic might help with that. Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage 5w-20 would be my first choice (or just the regular Pennzoil Platinum), but M1, Castrol, etc would work just fine.

Edit: Subie beat me to it!


PPHM 5w20 or any of the above as well as full syn Valvoline maxlife 5w20

case closed
laugh.gif
haha
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Originally Posted By: lukejo
Sounds like Mobil 1 Annual Protection would be perfect. Change it once each summer and be done. Other synthetics could do the same, but you'll always have a little doubt, as well as receiving assurances on here, but at the same time getting advice to "just do a UOA to make sure..."
1 OCI of M1AP and matching filter will cost no more than 2 OCI's of another...because you'll probably end up doing two with the others...needed or not.


Under 10k and 1 year? Id use M1 AFE without hesitation. M1 EP if you are paranoid..dont think AP is necessary still at such a low mileage.

I agree with you, but most are BITOG are paranoid to a degree. Look how few UOA's are over 10k miles. You're recommendations are correct, but I think I'm balancing the emotional side of things along with the chemistry....especially if he starts reading threads on short-tripping in freezing temps.
 
Regarding oil usage. The car doesn't really seem to use any oil to my knowledge. I haven't had it long enough to really get a good idea, but if it does use ANY it's so low that it never goes out of range on the dipstick.

So I'm not inclined to use a high milage oil unless it's really necessary.

I think if I went synthetic I'd either find a way to do myself or find a good local shop and bring my own oil and filter (if they don't have what I'm looking for). Moving soon to east coast and won't know the good shops there!

Maybe one year on synthetic is the way to go. Would probably cost a little less and potentially even be better.

If you were to go one year on synthetic... when would you try to do oil change? Before winter? Summer? Doesn't matter.

I think my current plan is to move there, see if low driving amount is the same, and then consider synthetic in the next year if it would still work!

Would motorcraft filter be good for 10k with synthetic of use one of those fancier mobil1 or fram ultra models?

Based on other reading here... I have changed over ATF (car sadly has 5speed AT and not MT... oh well). Hadn't been done when I got car at 70k. Mazda doesn't say when to change but I think similar ford AT's say to do it. Have done two drain and fills and now fluid seems quite red (vs maybe a tiny hint of red color before in the brown ATF before if you squinted and drank a couple beers : ) )
 
while replies to o.p. are well informed, they seem oriented to diy changes, but o.p. (like me and other apartment dewllers) are limited to dealerships. $40 6mo oci with mc synblend at ford express lane seems like a fine solution. what about a simple $20 6mo or 5k conventional oil change at wm? im not criticizing just wondering about the cheapest, simplest, still valid, solution for folks in this non diy situation.
 
Originally Posted By: jstert
while replies to o.p. are well informed, they seem oriented to diy changes, but o.p. (like me and other apartment dewllers) are limited to dealerships. $40 6mo oci with mc synblend at ford express lane seems like a fine solution. what about a simple $20 6mo or 5k conventional oil change at wm?


I agree... is it really only $20 at walmart? I get worried about cheap filter they might use and I have read that can cause problems on these engines vs a reasonable one that won't collapse.

Maybe I just have a fear of walmart... maybe dealers vary, but the local ford one is pretty good and I trust them to not screw it up.

I view WM kind of like Jiffy Lube I guess.

I would probably just buy my own and take to independent mechanic vs walmart. maybe that is irrational.
 
it’s not irrational at all to bring your own to a trusted mechanic. if i could find one and get changes done this way without alot of hassle i certainly would.
 
If it were my car and in your circumstance, I'd change it every 7500 miles (or once a year if driven less than 7500 miles per year) at the $40 dealer, using the good MC synblend oil and presumably a good MC or Mazda filter.
 
Originally Posted By: lukejo
I agree with you, but most are BITOG are paranoid to a degree. Look how few UOA's are over 10k miles.




5 of my 8 OCIs since owning the vehicle have been over 10k. While the wear metals may be slightly higher than universal averages, this is at 238% of the universal average mileage (17k vs 7k). Just because most people do change their oil before 10k does NOT mean they are doing anything statistically significant to help lengthen their engine's lifetime. A good bit of the UOAs posted are people still within warranty mileage, so they will most definitely be on the low side of 10k.

Choose a good synthetic oil, good filter, and don't worry. 10k OCIs are not going to shorten the life of any modern, port-injected engine. I will not comment on GDI because I have not owned any, and will not for as long as I can.
 
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