I am about to do the first oil change on my car. Any suggestions on what brand to use? I was thinking either pennzoil or quaker state.

 

either would be fine.....my only recommendation....is once you start using a particular brand....stick with it. this has to do with the additives in different brands.......there is varrying schools of thought on this....and I won't go into it here.....but TYPICALLY...its considered NOT the thing to do.

I personally do not think you can go wrong with ANY name brand of oil as long as it meets or exceeds the spec's for our engines.

 

anybody knows if it's possible to pick a specific brand of oil if I'm doing it from the dealer?

 

I'd be willing to bet the dealership only uses one brand: the cheapest possible. You CAN ask them what type of oil they use though. I doubt they'd go out and buy the brand that you request

P.S. Nice car erik

 

I agree. Especially my dealer is offering free life-time oil changes (w/ maintenance services done at the same time)...
Too bad that I can't do my own oil changes @ home. Just don't have any equipments to put the car up...

Maybe I should find a 3rd-party garage

 

you could always buy your own oil and then have the dealer use your oil instead. I would agree as long as you stick with one brand of oil and change the oil at the suggested times will be good. If you want a little better protection, you may want to look into synthetic oil.

 

I hope your wrong about the "Shouldn't be able to switch from one oil to the next kind"!!! I just switched back from Formula1 100% synthetic oil to supreme regular dino oil! As I could not see any difference in the way the car sounded, drove or fuel economy! I was also hoping to see better cold start ups as My car hesitates like crazy when cold! But No change! So, back to the dino oil she goes. 8000km interval of synthetic and now back!

Sir Tidus- All you need is ramps and odd tools like wrench, socket, rags, oil filter cap, oil, drain pan. $40-$50 canadian and your all set. Thats assuming you don't even have a wrench!!!

 

While there are many fine conventional oils on the market today, synthetic oil like Mobil 1 shines in the long haul. I have been using Mobil 1 since the late 70's and I don't claim big gains in gas mileage and snake oil stuff like that. It does cause less wear on the engine period! I've taken engines apart after 80,000 plus miles with synthetic oil and it's almost impossible to measure any wear. Plus the engine is so clean because the flash point of a real synthetic is much higher than convertional oil. You don't get that black / brown burnt coating on everything. If you leave your car for days without using it, synthetic is much better on that first cold start because the oil adhears to the parts much better.

I have friends that race SCCA and IMSA 20 years ago. With conventional oil, they would rebuild the bottom end of the motor after every race. They swithed to Mobil 1, and the bottom end was good for a whole racing season.

Like I said, there's a lot of good conventional oils out there and if you changed your oil regularly you could still get a long life out of your engine, but if you want the best protection possible, use a synthetic.

BTW, don't change to synthetic before 5000 miles to allow the piston rings to fully seat.

Hope this helps,

Paul

 

Everybody should change their own oil and filter (taking old stuff to recycle center). Here's the following DIYer basics to learn:

1. Transaxle gear oil (Redline MT-90 every 30k miles)
2. Brake fluid (Valvoline synthetic every two years)
3. Radiator Fluid (every two years)
4. Power Steering Fluid (every 2 years, Redline Power Steering Fluid)
5. Spark Plugs (every 15k miles)
6. Air Filter (every 15k miles)
7. Change Belts (every 30k miles)

If you must use dino juice, which I don't, Castrol GTX 5/30 winter and 10/30 summer.

Otherwise, Mobil 1 can not be beaten for price/performance, which is what I use with OEM (Mazda) oil filters. I change every 3000 miles, but know I could go 5000 miles easy.

I also use Redline SI-1 gas conditioner/treatment, (add a little every tank full per instructions) on all my vehicles.

On my P5, at 500 miles, I put in Castrol GTX. At 3000 miles, went with Mobil 1. At 500 miles, put in Redline MT-90. Changed out again at 9,000 miles. I plan on running this car till it dies.

 

FWIW the 99+ Protege's power steering system takes Dexron II ATF, and it's supposed to last the life of the vehicle. I'm not sure if Redline Power Steering Fluid is recommended in a system that's designed to take ATF.

 

Looking at the bottle of Redline Power Steering Fluid in front of me it reads "fluid can be used where the manufacturer calls for any automatic transmission fluid such as Dexron, Dexron II-D, or II-E, Ford Type-F, Mercon, or M2C138-CJ such as required by Ford, AMC, Toyota, Nissan, Lexus, Infiniti, Jaguar, VW, M-B, BMW, SAAB, Subaru, Volvo, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Mazda and many others. This fluid also satisfies GM part number 1050017..."

Anyhow, after six years, I sucked out (use my mini-vac hand held vacuum pump I use for blake fluid change-out) the reservoir in my Chevy Astro. Nasty, nasty looking stuff. I waited two weeks then did it again as you only get about 1/2 the P.S. fluid as 1/2 stays in the pump.

To me, car manufacturers use cheap bulk fluids which will get you 100,000 miles, maybe. Why not spend $10 bucks and keep a fresh dose of high quality power steering fluid in your vehicle. I can change out 4 cars in 1/2 hour. I'll bet the fluid pays for itself in increased mileage let alone extending the life of your P.S. unit.

Oh, one more maintenance must:

7. Rotate tires and torque lug nuts. Always, always torque your lug nuts yourself, it feels so good .

 

ex_MGB - How do you suck out the P.S. fluid! Do you just run a hose into the fill bucket/contained\r and suck it out into a jug? PLease tell me! That sounds too easy!

 

For those who don't have the tools or facilties to raise a car and do their own oil change...or you're just a lazy bastard like me:

http://eastwoodco.com/aspfiles/itemd...10246&T1=46151

 

here goes the oil debate again!!!

i'd hope you wouldn't measure any wear. that's less than 1/3 the engine's lifespan even on dino oil. now if you said no wear at 280,000 miles that would be impressive.

isn't that a bit excessive with synthetics? they can easily go double that on dino oil without a change.

i do believe in changing ps and brake fluid every once in a while, they do get contaminated.
IMO unless you race, live where it is very cold, or are otherwise harsh on machinery, it lasts for a very long time on conventional oil and the extra cost of synthetics or frequent changes is just a waste.

 

Damn that is lazy. I agree with you though. It is a pain in the butt to get the car raised and everything. But it is better to change the oil from the bottom, not suck it out through the top. Plus you can look at the rest of the vehicle underneath. Give it a quick once over.