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First oil change... Wow 5w/20 is like water

22K views 158 replies 47 participants last post by  cmaggi2 
#1 ·
Yea I know, another oil thread. :facepalm:

My Jeep is at about 700 miles and I wanted to switch over to synthetic. I have always used 10w/30 or 10w/40 Mobil 1 depending on the vehicle, and never had one that called for a 5w base oil.

The bulk of the factory oil came out of the pan in about five seconds. I'm actually wondering if this is a CAFE thing to squeak an extra 10th of a MPG out of the Pentastar rather than a protection thing.

No visible metal shavings in the pan or on the filter, so I'm going to go to a regular 4k oil change schedule but I'm considering going to 10w/30 if I hit that mileage by the hottest part of Summer.

PS: The JK is an absolute *breeze* to do an oil change on. Ironically, this is mainly due to lack of undercarriage protection. My 2 less off-road worthy pickups (Titan & Tacoma) both have factory metal skid plates protecting the oil pan that have to be removed. :whistling:
 
#138 ·
So why does the dealer want me to wait until at least 5000 miles before I get my first oil change? I thought I was pushing it with 1800 miles on there. I mean, a new motorcycle is supposed to have the oil and filter changed at 500 and then either 1000 or 1500 depending. I had them do it anyways.

Charles.
 
#139 ·
Welcome to the new school of engine oil my brother. Are you willing to shed the old rituals of days gone by and embrace modern oil and manufacturing advances? If so, I welcome you to the new school. This won't be an easy journey. It is not for the low willed or faint hearted. This will test every fiber of your being. Your hands will shake as you try to resist reaching for that wrench, must........change........oil will be the mantra said over and over through gritted teeth. Resist my friend, resist!
 
#140 ·
X2 ^^^^^^^^^^, plus if you change it before 5,000 miles and some will say 7,500, then you will be told that you are wasting our natural recourse's..........The world of change is becoming more hilarious all of the time.............:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
#141 ·
Pfft, this whole changing oil thing is new to me. I've been driving a 4-cylinder S-10 for the last 10 years, and I never "changed" the oil in it. I just kept adding more. So technically it's all been changed at some point. 200,000 miles and still running fine, but old and I don't trust it for long distances anymore.

Motorcycles get changed once a season, and they don't get that many miles either.

Charles.
 
#142 ·
Pfft, this whole changing oil thing is new to me. I've been driving a 4-cylinder S-10 for the last 10 years, and I never "changed" the oil in it. I just kept adding more. So technically it's all been changed at some point. 200,000 miles and still running fine, but old and I don't trust it for long distances anymore.

Motorcycles get changed once a season, and they don't get that many miles either.

Charles.
What I would recommend to you is this. Change it know at 1,800 miles and go back with a good quality 5w20 conventional oil, I use Pennzoil, but there are other excellent brands out there. Run it out for 3,000 miles, by then your oil rings should be seated in, and then change over to a synthetic. I use 5w20 Pennzoil Platinum, but there are all kinds to choose from. Run your synthetic oil out too 5,000 mile oil change intervals and you are good to go.:thumb:
I purchase my Mopar oil filter from my Dealer.
 
#145 ·
I have a 2013 JKU and have about 4500 miles on it so far...still no change oil notice on the dash. i have read in the manual that under no circumstances should i let it go over 10k. i have checked the oil three times so far and it seems to be holding at the correct level. I plan on using the same 5/20 Mobil 1 synthetic 15,000 mile oil that i use in my wife's 2012 durango.

The durango has the 5.7 liter motor and has just over 20k miles on it. i have hanges the oil twice with the oil mentioned above. that motor is using a quart of oil per @2500 miles. i have called the dealer and they say it is perfectly normal and that Chrysler has allowed a quart of oil usage per 1500 miles until the motor has about 75k on it and then a quart per 750 miles? is this real?

is anyone else having a condition like this with there penstars or others?
 
#146 ·
I sometimes read the Bob is the oil guy site, this seems like a similar heated threads there. I'd love to know why the 2012 calls for 5W30 and the 2013 and 2014 calls for 5W20. I think it was CAFE. Post #137 here nails it, if Chrysler says 5W30 is OK if 5W20 is not available then at least you can make your own decision of what is better, and not be locked into 5W20 if you don't want to use it. I just wouldn't want to give them an out on a warranty claim, but according to the OM running 5W30 can't give them an out if it meets the Fiat spec. I'd use 5W30 then.
 
#147 ·
At least on the 3.6 JKs you get options. On my 2011 the owners manual specifically said 5W20 only and if you use something else the warranty may be voided. I've got that printed out and saved if somebody wants to see it. So it sounds like Chrysler is at least letting you have some flexibility now.

As far as the synthetic vs. conventional oil debate goes.. I've asked many times for somebody to break open two identical engines at 100,000 miles, one run on syn all it's life and the other run on conventional all it's life, to prove to us that syn does something magical and so far nobody has taken me up on this offer.

I've swapped engines, lots of them torn down to the crank and rebuilt, just lots of engine experience with multiple brands and models my entire life and I have never seen where synthetic oil does anything special. What I have seen is a lot of engines with 250,000 to 500,000 miles on them run on conventional oil the entire time.

You can waste money to "feel better" if you want and buy only synthetic. You can drain the oil at 1,000 miles even though it's still going to look like honey with all it's detergents remaining and throw money away. You can buy only Mobil 1, despite the fact that it meets fewer manufacturer specs than other cheaper oils, just because the forums say to. But please... don't try to convince others that they need to follow suit, because that's how internet B.S. spreads like cancer. The key is this: change the oil on a regular schedule and don't neglect the other fluids from bumper to bumper and you're vehicle will take care of you.
 
#148 ·
I don't have pics, but have rebuilt big blocks in the 90s for muscle cars and hot rods. I have seen motors torn apart after years and years of use using both conventional and synthetic. The amount of carbon buildup from using conventional oil was tremendous compared to synthetic. Alot more work to clean it up.

I've been using synthetic since.

Unless the quality of conventional oil has changed the last decade. Cause I haven't rebuilt a motor in years.
 
#150 ·
If you are changing synthetic at less than 10,000 miles you are wasting money, and not taking advantage of its main advantage. I buy Mobil 1 in 5 qt. bottles at Walmart for $25. Conventional oil is $16/5 qts. I change filters @ 5000 miles, oil and filter @ 10,000 miles. The synthetic works out cheaper if used the way it is meant to be used. Been doing this for years on multiple vehicles with no issues.


Even changing at 10,000 miles is conservative for synthetic. Lots of guys running 300,000 mile vehicles with 15,000 mile synthetic oil changes out there.
 
#151 ·
You are getting value from the oil but a good filter should last 10,000 miles too,. Especially a filter like a Mobil One filter, the gold colored Purolator filters and a several others. Filters do a better job if they have some use to them, a 5000 mile filter change is probably a waste. Lots of talk about it on the Bob is the oil guy site. But if you have a warranty it is a good idea to follow the owners manual for oil and filter changes.
 
#153 ·
Recently I was looking at oil for my first oil change, ' 14 JKU Rubicon. With a lifetime warranty, I thought it important to follow Jeep manual on oil. Was amazed to find that the 7.5 gallons of Castrol GTX I had on hand does note meet Chrysler specs (FORD yes, Chrysler no). Castrol Edge does, but not regular 5w20. Also could not find where basic Mobil 1 did either. I keep proof of oil change,use the correct viscosity and want there to be no question on warranty when a claim comes up.

Any way - all oil is not equal and it seems Mercedes....er, Fiat.....ER, Chrysler has some tight standards that many oil producers/refiners don't meet.
 
#155 ·
Oil should meet SAE specs not Chrysler specs, differences between brands of same oil (5w30 synthetic for example) are very minimal. Otherwise it would be much larger issues for oil makers. Engines working only on specific brand(s) of oil is non-sense, Chrysler will never admit this.
 
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