Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

2001 TJ. Recommended oil?

78K views 67 replies 34 participants last post by  Kota7x 
#1 ·
What oil do you guys use?
 
#2 ·
Regular Oil, usually Quaker State 5W-30 on sale in 5 Qt jugs at Wally World. And an OEM Oil Filter every 3K no exceptions. 3K in all my vehicles for over 40 years and all of them ran to 200K before selling them in good running order. I am sure you will get a lot of suggestions so this is just my $0.02.
 
#3 ·
Not telling you to go look/ search the threads....but this is almost as debated as "manual or auto tranny"......some people swear that only full synthetic will protect their jeep.....many other knowledgeable people say "dino" is fine they also discuss filters.

IDK who is right I used Castrol for many years with a Fram filter. I switched a few years ago to Mobil full synthetic and Mobil filter.

160K + miles and still going strong......IMO get the best you can afford and do it regularly!!!
 
#4 ·
I bought my Wrangler with 187,000 miles on it and I'm getting the oil changed relatively soon and I've heard it go both ways. Mines a 5 speed and I just want to run good oil and gas through it except now a days there's so many brands of oil and filters, I figured I'd ask y'all's opinion. :)
 
#10 · (Edited)
There is no magic brand of oil that is going to be signifiantly better than the others. A major brand of 5W-30 or 10W-30 is going to do a SUPERB job of protecting your engine so long as you perform regular oil and filter changes. My personal favorite is Valvoline conventional motor oil and in almost 50 years of using it, I've never had an engine failure. If Valvoline were to disappear off the face of the planet tomorrow, I'd be just as happy using Castrol, Mobil, Havoline, Shell, Pennzoil, etc.

Today's majobr-brand multiweight oils truly are superb and you don't need some high-$$$ botique oil to protect your engine.

I run a conventional motor oil in my temperate climate. I would only pay extra for synthetic during the winter if I lived where it got uber-cold like North Dakota where synthetic's ability to flow more easily in cold conditions is worth the extra $$$. In my climate which never gets that cold, I choose to run a conventional oil year-round. I do run synthetics in my transmission and transfer case though.
 
#24 ·
There is no magic brand of oil that is going to be signifiantly better than the others. A major brand of 5W-30 or 10W-30 is going to do a SUPERB job of protecting your engine so long as you perform regular oil and filter changes. My personal favorite is Valvoline conventional motor oil and in almost 50 years of using it, I've never had an engine failure. If Valvoline were to disappear off the face of the planet tomorrow, I'd be just as happy using Castrol, Mobil, Havoline, Shell, Pennzoil, etc.

Today's majobr-brand multiweight oils truly are superb and you don't need some high-$$$ botique oil to protect your engine.

I run a conventional motor oil in my temperate climate. I would only pay extra for synthetic during the winter if I lived where it got uber-cold like North Dakota where synthetic's ability to flow more easily in cold conditions is worth the extra $$$. In my climate which never gets that cold, I choose to run a conventional oil year-round. I do run synthetics in my transmission and transfer case though.
Your just touting that Cali beautiful weather! ;-)
 
#12 ·
During temperate months, 10W-30. If you live where it gets uber-cold, run 5W-30 during the winter. If you live in places like Buffalo NY, Alaska, Minnesota, where you can see near Arctic temperatures, run a 0W-30 during the coldest months.

Valvoline, Castrol, Mobil, Shell, Walmart, Pennzoil, Havoline, etc. are all excellent engine oils, any of them will protect your engine extremely well.

I run conventional engine oils year-round here in San Diego, I'd only pay extra for a synthetic during the winter months in places where it gets extremely cold like those I mentioned above. Synthetic has a proven benefit in extreme cold conditions. Not so, at least not in my opinion, in temperate climates. 50+ years of driving with nothing but conventional motor oils, most of my engines going 200k miles before I sell them off, and never an engine problem. So don't believe the synthetic nuts who claim you need to run a synthetic for good long engine life. All you need to do is change the oil and oil filter at the appropriate intervals and your engine will last a long time. Heck Volvo and Mercedes had a series of ads in the 50's showing their customers who had their cars with over a million miles on the engines... before synthetic engine oils became popular or easily found in auto parts stores. :)
 
#13 ·
I'm from Michigan, use 10w-30 in Summer, 5w-30 in Winter...down to -22° once and still cranked fairly easy. Any colder, I would do what Jerry said on the 0w-30! I only use conventional, I have heard that switching to synthetic may aggravate existing leaks.
 
#14 ·
Modern synthetics have an additive that helps swell the seals so you don't get new leaks. I'm definitely not a synthetic engine oil fanatic but it would definitely help your engine crank faster in that -22 weather as well as flowing into the engine's nooks and crannies faster during cold starts. For non winter conditions, I'm all about using nothing but conventional engine oils. :)
 
#15 ·
Living in South Florida where it's always hot I use conventional 10w-30 Castrol year round. Like others have said brand now a days isn't important, they all do a great job as long as you change it regularly. I use NAPA Gold filters but I have a corporate account at NAPA so I get them cheaper than I can anywhere else, that's also why I buy all my parts at NAPA. I actually buy my oil at K-mart because around here it is the cheapest by a long shot.

I use synthetic blend in my Kia Rondo because that's what the dealership put in it when I bought it. I change the oil every 3k miles without fail. The Kia, an '07, has 154k miles on it and runs like a top, we expect it to last another 100k at least.
 
#17 ·
I use 10W30 Amsoil OE synthetic oil in the jeep (signature in the Camaro). I've had zero noises or ticks and I have run OE in it since I bought it last summer.

Either way here is a chart I put together that compares synthetic as well as conventional oils against one another- specs are as advertised by the suppliers


Synthetic and conventional oil comparison chart

and then here is the definitions of each category so it is easy to understand and read

Oil definitions page
 
#18 ·
:tomatoes: I like synthetic oil 'cause I don't want to use up all the dinosaurs...

Since I use synthetic in my Hyundai and Ford, and it is not that much more money when you can extend the changes out a bit, I'll probably start using it in the Jeep as well. Synthetic has a better tolerance for heat, doesn't cook off as easily which is what causes sludge to build up. I don't think the 4.0l is a tight-tolerence high-revving powerplant but then again it won't hurt either.
 
#19 ·
As Jerry said, change oil & filter regularly. You don't have to spend a lot to get great oil today, todays oils are fantastic, just use what is best for your climate.

Jeep 6 cylinder engines will outlast the Jeep if taken reasonable care of, mine has over 300,000 miles and running strong.
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
I would run Amsoil, I used it in my bikes along with my Audi and really like it, however with the jeep I don't put to many miles in it and my oil change intervals are so short at 3000-4500 miles that I feel that would the premium I would be paying for added protection I wouldn't be getting my money's worth.

I really like the defy and plan on sending a couple samples to black stone to see if the 4 liters like it as well.
 
#27 ·
I would run Amsoil, I used it in my bikes along with my Audi and really like it, however with the jeep I don't put to many miles in it and my oil change intervals are so short at 3000-4500 miles that I feel that would the premium I would be paying for added protection I wouldn't be getting my money's worth.

I really like the defy and plan on sending a couple samples to black stone to see if the 4 liters like it as well.
They have a whole bunch of different grades. For the Jeep I use their cheap stuff which is Amsoil OE - it only runs about $4/quart. I only use their top stuff in the LS1- that motor sees track time and some hard street miles.

The problem is most stores (atleast around me anyways) only ever carry the medium grade Amsoil stuff and they charge $20/quart which is beyond insanity and something I would never every pay.

So in my case, I look at $4 a quart and compare that to getting something like Castrol GTX at the store- a 5 quart jug costs me about $20-25 plus tax. I mine as well run the synthetic


Anyways, if you send the sample of Defy in I'd be curious to see the results if you don't mind...I always like learning new info!
 
#25 ·
I have 6 cars, two tractors, two quads, and 5 motorcycles all using Mobil 1 synthetics. I also use their grease in everything including two trailers. With bearing buddies my car trailer is a 1997 and has never had a bearing failure. My cars have between 75k-200k miles on all of them. I have never had any bearing failures and the crankcases stay clean. I either buy at Autozone when they offer the filters with the oil on sale or buy just oil at Walmart. I change oil in the cars at about 10k even with the extended life.
 
#28 ·
I didnt know that about the Amsoil, i just figured everything was pricy since the 5 quart jug I got of their Euro blend was like $40. And my audi took 9.5 quarts.

I will def send away for the results, i havent recently sent any away for the TJ since i like to get a baseline of using the same oil 3 times to see if there was any metal change or what not. however I didnt know the oil that was in it and switched twice before discovering the defy.

I am going to stick with Defy for the next few changes so i might as well get some results.
 
#29 ·
Ya- you honestly have to buy from their site and become their "premium" member for a year which costs I think $10-$20 for the year- and you pay wayyyyy wayyyy wayyyy less than you do in the stores. It is kind of schemish and not the best buisness model in my personal opinion because it makes them seem greasy.

I'll be dead honest though, if I had to buy AMS at store prices, I wouldnt do it- I'd take the second best oil in my chart based on my useage and buy their stuff.

I dont know what your Audi takes but they have some of the Euro stuff for $30/5 quart jugs. My buddies use it in their Beemers and VW's.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top