I have to take my car to one of those quickie oil places because I can't get to the dealership. What kind of oil should I tell them to use?

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a Jiffy Lube type place? My car was due for an oil change about 600 miles ago and if I wait to take it to the dealer, it may be another week or two (500 miles).

Oh, the car has about 4500 miles on it.

Thanks

 

5W30. I don't trust the quickie lube places anymore after they cross threaded my drain plug on a previous car. Caused the car to leak oil until I got it fixed. I change my own oil now. BTW, the first scheduled oil change is 5000 miles so you'll be fine if you wait until then.

 

I actually put Synthetic Blend in my car; the same oil my moms boyfriend puts in his 2004 440A Roush.. so, I dont think it's a bad choice, haha.

 

I got my first oil change at 1000 miles. I asked so many people when the first one should be done and ultimately, the service guy said there was no reason not to do it at 1000, so I did.

I think they put 5W 30 or 20 in but I'm not sure which. I'm not going to use synthetic. I went through that debate when I had my S2000 and I decided to go with the normal oil.

I just don't want to do any damage by letting it go over this soon.

 

Well, on the oil cap it says 5W30, so that is what I would have them put in.

 

I'm a firm believer in Mobil 1 full synthetic. Been running it since the 80's, and never had a car with a wear induced internal engine failure.

My '96 Intrepid has 160,000 on the clock and is still strong, and burns not a drop of oil. The only engine work it's ever had was a preventive change of the timing belt and waterpump at 100K.

I just switched my 'stang over at it's 5K change. And I agree with the poster above, I do all my own changes, don't trust the places where the kid changing my oil's previous experience with oil was prolly running the fry-o-lator at McDonalds....

 

I'll be using Castrol Syntec 5W-50 for my first oil change, and every one thereafter. It is the best stuff in the world, a virtually flat viscosity curve.

 

The owner's manual says 5W30 synthetic blend. It also says you can use normal oil. Sounds like you can use whatever you want. I would use mineral oil the first few thousand to break in the rings, synthetic blend or synthetic oil after that.

 

I put Mobil1 synthetic blend on my 2nd oil change because of all the good things I have read about it. I actually took my own oil with me to the oil change place and paid them $15 to change it.

First oil change at around 1K I put Motorcraft.

 

Mobil 1 10w30

 

When using any oil, please remember that the bearing numbers are calculated on the total clearance between the bearing and rotating journal surfaces. The higher the number at a given temperature, the thicker the oil. The recommended Viscosity (thickness) for the V6 is 5W-30, wherein:
5 = the actual thickness at 32F, and is equal to a "5" single viscosity oil at 32F.
W = generally acceptable for Winter driving applications.
30 = the actual thickness at 212F, and is equal to a "30" single viscosity oil at 212F.
DO NOT use a 10W-anything, the oil is too thick when it is freezing. You really should use an oil with a 5W- base number.
Another way to look at it is like this:
= A 5 weight base is required for proper thickness for freezing engine start-up.
- A single-weight straight 5W oil will get really really thin as the temperature increases, so we never use that.
- A 5W-30 oil will get thinner as the temperature increases, but still at acceptable levels.
- A 5W-50 oil barely gets thinner at all as the temperature increases. It is almost a flat viscosity curve.
Natural oils have what is called "Index modifiers" added to them to keep the oil from thinning too fast. A natural 5W-30 oil is a base 5 weight oil with synthetic modifiers which keep the oil from thinning too fast as temperatures increase, BUT some synthetic modifiers can break down in hot conditions. Some natural oils rated at 5W-30 can break-down and start to behave like a 5W-20 after just 200 really "hot" miles.
If you use an oil with a higher second number, that is OK, but it will negatively affect your fuel economy. Mechanical resistance is a little higher, because a "50 equivalent" oil at the boiling point is going to be thicker than a "30 equivalent" oil. The advantage of the thicker oil at the boiling point is that if it breaks down a little, you still have a safe operating viscosity, which will prevent a bearing crash. Also, if you modify the engine for more power, an oil like Castrol's Syntec 5W-50 will carry more piston load at full operating temperature.
So why doesn’t Ford recommend a 5W-50? Because Ford will take EVERY ADVANTAGE to get the highest level of fuel economy possible (the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE). When we modify our cars for more power, the flatter viscosity curve is a good thing.

 

Ok, I'm sold. I'll use that for my next oil change.

 

Yup.. will be changing oil again before winter anyway.. check!

 

I took it to the "Jiffy Lube" type place down the street. They have a small ramp the car has to go up, but this car doesn't fit. They said it was too low and the muffler would come off.

AHHHHHHH. My S2000 was too low to fit in a car wash. I always washed my car by hand, but in the winter it would have been nice to have the option of going through a car wash to get the salt off. Now the Mustang is too low to go to the oil change place.

darn it. I need an oil change desperately. I can't change my own. heck, I can barely manage to change the batteries in the tv remote.

How bad is it? It's been 3500 miles since my last oil change. When does the damage begin? The dealership is about an hour away and I just don't have time to drive there, back and wait.

:bang: :bang: :bang:

All I wanted was an oil change.