Oil Choice

[Wandrews530]

I have a '20 HJ and will be doing my first oil change soon. Looks like I'll probably average 3,000 - 4,000 miles a year. Just curious what the opinions are on using regular oil vs. synthetic.

[Trapper2020]

Have been using synthetic for the last 40 years. For the small increase in price in my opinion it is worth it for the added protection. What do you do with your cars? Safe travels

Enjoy the journey

[Marcm157]

I use synthetic in every vehicle and small engine I own and have been doing so for years. I still change my oil every 5K regardless. If I were putting as few miles as you are on a motor home, I would still change my oil every 6 months regardless of miles. Time is just as important as miles...

[CAG]

Save the environment. Use synthetic. And before you waste oil/money by changing
More often than necessary. Send a sample off at 6 months to have Blackstone or one of the testing company give you a report. Most all vehicles now days are a year or 10K miles. My 04 Duramax was 10K or a year so that tells you how long ago the idea of short duration changed.

Install a Fumoto valve so that you can take samples periodically.

[Happy wife / happy life]

Synthetic oil withstands heat much better than conventional oil,heat is one of the biggest enemy's of the engine. I use synthetic oils throughout my truck,engine,transmission,transfer case,front and rear differential and power streering. How often to change it(engine)? I think there are two camps on that question,one every 3 or 4 thousand miles (I'm in that one) and some manufacturers say 10,000. Personal choice i guess.

[SloPoke]

We use the recommended oil/fluids by Freightliner / Cummins. We let them do our annual service / inspection / warranty / recalls all at the same time... Usually in a couple of hours while we wait.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by Happy wife / happy life

Synthetic oil withstands heat much better than conventional oil,heat is one of the biggest enemy's of the engine. I use synthetic oils throughout my truck,engine,transmission,transfer case,front and rear differential and power streering. How often to change it(engine)? I think there are two camps on that question,one every 3 or 4 thousand miles (I'm in that one) and some manufacturers say 10,000. Personal choice i guess.

It might be a personal choice, or if you follow the owner's manuals on most modern vehicles, it is overkill. European vehicles have used extended changes for decades. My 2014 Lexus (Japanese) is 5K or 6 months which in today's world is the minimum. Some over the road trucks go 100K between changes.



Engines run cleaner, oil life is extended because of that and synthetic oil is a better product than dino oil. The camp is getting smaller as people realize that dumping all oil with better than half the life left is wasteful. I ran tests on oils from all of my vehicles at change time. All, and I mean some that ran over 10K came back saying there is life left in them. But, then I use a higher grade oil (trans fluids, diff cases, and transfer cases) also. Amsoil's tests beat most all others.


A little info on who it is that wants you to change your oil so often.
https://www.cars.com/articles/do-you...1420663072289/

[Rustynuts]

This is probably one of the biggest debates on the internet. I have never used synthetics and all my vehicles will outlast me. I go by the manufactures recommendation and in the case of Cummins I change at 15k or annually whichever comes first and use Rotella T4.

[RVermont]

While I change the oil on my cars and truck I prefer to let the Freight liner/Cummins/Alison service center handle the m2. I have to take it in for the state safety inspection each year and have it completed then. I only drive 10-12 k per year so it fits within the recommended mileage. Saves having to deal with a large quantity of used oil. As part of this process they have found several items that I might have missed. They plug in the transmission and engine to verify any updates and take care of any recalls.

[JohnAZ]

I was at Freightliner yesterday getting my DEF overheating problem fixed and asked the service manager, he said Shell Rotella T6 if you are preferential to synthetic, otherwise T4, which they use for service unless customer requests synthetic... $2.50 upcharge per quart for T6.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by JohnAZ

I was at Freightliner yesterday getting my DEF overheating problem fixed and asked the service manager, he said Shell Rotella T6 if you are preferential to synthetic, otherwise T4, which they use for service unless customer requests synthetic... $2.50 upcharge per quart for T6.

I have had great success with Rotella oil as well, I started using it in my gasoline vehicles 15~20 years ago and I could visually see via the oil fill cap that the engine was cleaner. Now there is a Rotella oil specifically made for gasoline engines, however I am not sure if it is any better that the T4 I had been using.