At 11:22 AM 3/14/2000 , you wrote:
>I just had a guy who installs satellite dishes tell
>me about using Mobil1 10w30 in his ram. He said he
>was told not to change this oil at all, just the filter,
>because Mobil1 never broke down. So over a period of years
>he just changed the filter and topped it off with a new
>quart of Mobil1. Sound strange? It did to me. He said he
>put 118,000 miles on the truck before it was traded in and
>never had a problem. There is no way I would do this to my
>truck, I'd swear it was a sales pitch if I didn't know what
>the guy did for a living.
>
>I think someone on the DML posted that Mobil1 was a man made
>hydrocarbon based oil who's viscosity would break down after
>9000 miles. Something was also said about polymer based oils
>(like Redline, Royal Purple) not breaking down and just getting
>dirty. Anyway I relayed this info to this guy who just shrugged
>his shoulders and said again, he never had any problems. Makes
>you wonder how much money we throw away on this stuff. I've
>thought about adding 1 qt. of Redline or Royal Purple to mobil1
>just for added protection, mpg and maybe change the oil every 5
>to 6K miles instead of the regular 4K interval. I can't afford to
>go with all polymer oils $10 a qt.X 5 = $50 bucks, $60 with the
>Mobil1 filter and change it every 4K, I love the Dak, but geez.
>
>GS -
Mobil 1 is a Synthesized Hydrocarbon Base oil, a lab copy of Mother
Nature. It does break down. Maintained engines take up to 100,000 miles
to show signs of engine wear, externally. All he is doing is taking that
100,000 plus mile life and shortening it to 50, or even 30,000. There
won't be an immediate bang and that's it. The parts will wear quicker then
normal. Bearings will wear, opening up the clearances, oil pressure will
drop over time as the bearings wear. Cylinder walls will get glazed by the
rings and oil will get past the rings causing oil smoking. At startup,
it'll eventually sound like a diesel until the oil pressure increases to
support the crank in the bearings.
I've seen the insides of engines after 100,000 miles that have been
maintained properly. I've also see the insides of engines that haven't
been maintained properly, it's a big difference, and it's not much you can
tell by just looking at it from the outside. It will take some time for
that guy's engine to show the signs of wear. Smoking is a sign. Also the
grumble at startup.
My .02
Mike
__________________________
mschwall@flash.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:49:43 EDT