Ok first off we all know that back in the early to mid 90's the car manufacturers came out with long life transmission fluid and engine coolant. Ever since then there has been a huge rise in the number of transmissions, rads and water pumps being changed at dealerships and service stations. I am a firm believer that this was a calculated move to take advantage of the consumers faith in the "recommended" service intervals. We all know that poorly maintained coolant systems can lead to your engine becoming a casualty also.

Fact : Most dealerships have transmissions instock and ready to bolt into your car the second you have any problem. They are only too happy to bill you $4000 (canadian) for a new tranny. It seems kind of odd to me that they would have multiple tranny's on hand...

I find it interesting that the 2.0 and 2.3 litre engines that are in service in europe were shipped with 5w30 oil and not the 5w20 oil that it comes with in North America. This kind of has me thinking conspiracy

I am wondering if this 5w20 oil plus recommending a longer oil change interval is just a way of wearing out the engines quicker? As long as the engines last to the end of the factory warranty period, they are covered.

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable consistantly pushing the rpm's on my little 4 cylinder mazda. I just see a problem with bearings down the road with 5w20 oil and 8000km oil changes.

Many people say just to switch to a 5w30, 5w30 synthetic blend or full synthetic. But I am also worried about using an oil that the engine wasn't designed for.

Anybody have any opinions on this topic?

I will be discussing this topic with my mechanic friends over the next few days, I will let you guys know that they say on the topic.

Kev

 

interesting idea...

personally, i think synthetics are a waste of money. the key to long engine life and proper lubrication/protection is changing your oil. i change my regular motor oil (5w20) every 4k miles (i do 90% highway driving) I've talked qualified people who think synthetic oil is a load of B.S. and that ud be doing ur wallet a favor if you just change ur regular motor oil when it needed it. I invest my saved money on mobil or castrol oil with a high quality oil filter.


just my 2 cents

 

there is alot of conflicting info out there about whether synthetic oil is really better or worse for your car, honetly, i have my oil changed every 3k miles, at the dealer. i drive about 80-90 miles per day, a mix of highway/city driving. honestly, if i changed the oil myself, i would probably use a little thicker oil, and a better oil filter than what the dealer uses. who knows, it could be a conspiracy to get us to the dealers more and spend money on the car, that we should not have to spend, if the manufacturer recommended what would make it last the longest. watch out for un-marked cars and black helicopters.....

 

welp i've jumped the gun and im tryin oil called royal purple its like 10 bucks a pop. it also says it last until 10k miles, but personally i dont believe everything i read, so im doing an experiment. Royal purple is used among the pro racers and such and they said it will increase gas mileage and HP/TQ but i didnt feel anything on the power and i just filled up today and i only got an increase or 3 or 4 extra miles. i do some city driving but mostly freeway, but i did notice that my city mileage was increased GREATLY but as for freeway its pretty much the same. hopefully next fill up will have a better increase. Also im gonna get the oil changed at 5k and go to mobil 1, test that out since everyone on my old forum use that stuff and says its pretty good, since they dont really use royal purple since its so expensive i'll check out with local lovers of cars to see if we should increase viscocity

hey mike what oil filter do you use?

 

Royal Purple is pretty much the best oil you can get, providing you can afford to keep it in your engine consistantly....

Let us know how it works for you, it might be worth the extra money.

 

well. at my local Advance Auto Parts (or Auto Zone, ill double check) they sell a Puralator High Micron Oil Filter . It claims it has better filtration than the standard filter (it lists a percentage of filtration, but i threw away the box). It costs $8.36 as oppose to the regular Puralator which costs 5 and change. I'm going to keep looking around at different oil filters. If ya find anything good leme know.

I just checked - K&N does not yet have an oil filter available for the 2.3L mazda 3 - so im outa luck, but does make one for the 2.0L. I've never used a k&n oil filter before, but heres a link to read more... http://www.knfilters.com/oilfilter.htm

 

Thanx mike for the info!

I think i'd be afraid to use the K&N though, it sounded good until they said it "stopped flow back", that seems like a new technology, and its a little iffy to me, i'd definately not use it if i were using turbo cause it might cause "coking", but i will check out the puralator

 

i was reading the info about the oil filter, and it didnt mention it will "stop flow-back" it actually said it has an "anti drain-back" valve for certain application, depending on vehicle and filter. and if it did mention stopping flowback, that would probably be good thing, to not let oil pass in the opposite direction of flow.

 

I dont know man, letting oil sit in around lettin it cool around moving parts kinda scares me for some reason, like it might get chunky when the oil starts to get old, but i might not have as much knowledge as others when it comes to the mechanics and reasoning for it.

 

I use AMS oil in my 2.3 Mazda 6. I have got about 10-15 more miles on a tank. It has been proven by racers like me and others that racing oil like Royal Purple, Redline and AMS is the best oil period!