Originally posted by Pepse:
I never have been real picky about what brand of regular oil I use; to me "motor oil is motor oil". Altho if I go synth I am not sure what I'll get. I know, most people will say Mobil 1, but that's obvious, since its been around the longest and so on. But I gotta justify in my budget that spending $30+ dollars every 3000 miles is cost effective.



I've always used a 5k interval, and technically I suppose I should be on the "severe" 3k schedule based on my short commute to work.

I switched to synth at around 50k, and had my oil analyzed at 60 or 65k. My numbers were not as good as some people on here, but well within the range where I'm confident that my engine was still being protected.

Unfortunately, I don't have an analysis of dino to compare.

I don't know what kind of driving you typically do. Is it the type of stuff that's hard on an engine?

Also, just reading your post above, it sounds like budget is of significant concern. While synthetic oil is technically "better" than dino, I'm not sure it's really worth it to you if your main problem is a bit of harmless ticking from your engine's top end. Dino can and will protect you nearly as well as synth in normal driving conditions.

Oil analysis is a good idea, too, but to get the data you need will cost you $30 a pop. Might want to do one or two early on to get an idea of what your change interval should be, and then check it every couple of years.

Hope I'm not just rambling, here.

Function before fashion. '96 Contour SE "Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998