Low Oil Pressure YM1700

[kenmac]

If you change oil at 3000 miles .You can go 15 to 25000 miles with gr. 4 or 5 synthetic for longer engine life @ less cost than dino.

 

[roxynoodle]

Although you are probably correct about that, that would void my warranty on my truck. So until I reach 70,000 miles and the drivetrain warranty is no longer valid, I must have documented proof that the oil was changed every 3000 miles. Also must change the other fluids being at the recommended intervals. My car, of course, has no warranty and I paid cash for it, so I suppose I can do anything I want with that. It will need a change in about 2 weeks so I will learn about the synthetics and perhaps switch it over.

 

[sandman2234]

Roxynoodle,
I don't know what type vehicles your used to driving, but Chevrolet says both my trucks require the oil to be changed at 7500 miles (or was it 7K).
In fact, the 2001 has a "change engine oil light that comes on at that time. I do know, and this will start a big arguement, that dino oil actually gets better with use. It is the dirt trapped in it that causes the problems. Using a very good filter will do more for long life than frequent oil changes. The people that are selling oil changes are the ones that recommend oil changes at the frequency of 3k miles and making a fortune doing it. Not only are they selling twice as many oil changes than are necessary, but the reclaimed oil is only half as dirty, allowing them less work to filter and resell it as reclaimed/rerefined oil.
Another thing you are probably doing that extends the life of your vehicles motor, and other parts, is driving it for longer distances. People that start them, and drive them short distances are harder on them then anyone. Time while driving gives the engine time to warm up, and then to evaporate the condensed water in the motor. Short trips never allow the evaporation time and the moisture ends up causing sludge, which you say yours doesn't have.
More related to longer trips than frequent oil changes, especially the way most "jiffy lube" type places change the oil, never allowing the plug to stay out more than a split second longer than needed, since they are on a race with time. I usually pull the plug and go get a cup of coffee, so ever drop has a chance to drain.
David from jax

 

[roxynoodle]

It is a 2003 Dodge Ram. They were very specific with me about the warranty and said Dodge would not honor it if all paperwork was not documented. I'm not overly worried about it, but you never know. So until it hits that 70k mark, I'm following the maintenance schedule. The truck I sold last fall when gas prices skyrocketed was a 95 Dodge Ram, that I drove to 213k miles and was still going strong. I did change the oil every 3k on it. I really hated selling that truck because I wanted to know how long it would go. But, $3.39 gas after Katrina made me say, uh, better get a car. 2 trucks = not enough money for heating costs for the house. One of my coworkers bought a Mini Cooper that uses synthetic and only needs the oil changed like every 10,000 miles or something amazing like that.

 

[YM1500D DUDE]

Nissan recommends oil changes every 3750 miles when towing with the 2004 5.6L V8 and it requires 7qts w/filter change. The truck carries a 60k mile power train warranty which equals 16 oil changes before the warranty is up (=112 qts). The owners manual recommends dino oil also.

 

[Jagmandave]

My '04 Audi with the 2.7 L twin turbo calls for oil changes every 10K miles on dino oil!

I think that's a little excessive for dino, but I run that schedule using sythetic. I also feel more comfortable with the synthetic with the turbos, but since I'm warrented till 100k, I'm going to follow their recommendations.

I did get one extra benefit from switching to synthetic oil, the gas mileage went up 2 mpg! That alone pays for the extra cost of the sythetic, and then some!

Now what this has to do with low oil pressure in his 1700, I don't know!

 

[normde2001]

"Now what this has to do with low oil pressure in his 1700, I don't know! "

Heck, he fixed that a long time ago, Dave.

 

[CO_Farmer]

There were seal material incompatabilities when synthetics were first introduced to the public, but that was the main problem, not lubricity or washing out the old crud.

FWIW, I think synthetics are pretty good, but not necessary for everything. I have an Audi twin turbo - I run Sythetic in it to help keep the turbo's from coking up - as a side benefit, it gets 2 mpg better mileage!

..............

Here's what happened in the early 80s when Mobil 1 first came out...

Seals in automotive engines depend on the oil to keep them soft and slightly swelled. The very first formulation of Mobil 1 didn't swell seals as much as conventional oil did, so engines developed leaks, looked like they were losing oil. Mobil started adding an aromatic seal swell compound to their synthetics- problem solved. It isn't an issue today. They learned.

The first synthetic avation oil that Mobil came out with in the 80s was a disaster, those loose engines leaked like the Valdez and it cost Mobil a bunch of money.

But I'm a huge fan of synthetics, first using Mobil 1 in '87, they only offer one big advantage in our 'sorta worn' used Yanmars. MUCH faster cranking and easier starting in the winter up here in the north. I use Delvac 1 5W-40 iin the winter in both my Yanmar 2500 and in my F-250. I also use it in my hand-cranked small gasoline engines. The rest of the year, I switch to premium conventional oils. A good conventional oil will hold its viscosity very well in the heat of summer. OTOH, like someone else wrote here, synthetics may be better for hot turbochargers. But in a naturally aspirated middle-aged tractor, I'm not bothering with synthetics except for in the winter.