KarlT

Greets. I currently have 1,100 miles on my new Elantra. Recommended first oil change is at 3,500 miles, then every 7,500 miles, thereafter. Historically, I have always changed the oil after 1,500 miles -- then at 5,000 miles switched to Mobile 1 and changed the oil every 5,000 miles thereafter. What thinks the group?

Warm Regards

KarlT

pas1216

I remember reading or hearing somewhere that you should wait a while before switching over to synthetic oil in a new car or motor. Maybe someone else has heard that too?? Not 100% sure?????



Me, I ran whatever Hyundai put in at the dealership until the warranty was up, then I switched over to Mobil 1 synthetic. Not sure why I did it that way, it's just the way it happened.



As for oil change intervals.... I change my synthetic engine oil every 5000 kms (3100 miles) OR once when it comes out of storage and once more near the end of summer.





EDIT - I should probably add that when I was running regular oil I would change the oil more frequently (every 3500 - 4000 km). I know to some it may sound like a waste changing your oil so frequently but if someone can tell me a reason why it would be bad I'd like to hear it. Plus I just like working on my car

majik

I have heard others say to wait 2 or 3 changes, then switch. Not sure why.

pas1216

I think it has something to do with the engine break in period

majik

I switched mine to Mobil 1 Full Synth at 4,000 miles. I'm at 14,000 now. No problems that I know of. Couldn't hurt to get a good 2 or 3 oil changes first.

CBowley603

Synthetic = less friction = less break-in. That is why it is recommended to wait until after the break-in period. Some cars come from the factory with synthetic, so I say whatever. Although I don't run synthetic because honestly most of the cars I have ever owned had over 90k miles and the gunk was the only thing holding the oil in.

majik

oil should be there to lubricate, not plug holds or gunk up to hold it together.



it seems to me like that whole "gunk holding it together" is a myth.

WytchDctr

I had a friend with a honda that started leaking after the guy switched. However, before that he thought regular oil and the cheapest filter out there was good for 15-20K miles of his jackassery driving style.

CBowley603

It was a joke man. But also what ^^ he said. I had some extra synthetic oil left over from my dsm and my Maxima needed an oil change and it had 200+ miles. Once I threw in the synthetic I started leaking oil like a mother-

krazytib

From my experience with synthetic oil is that if your car already has a small external oil leak when using non synthetic 5w30 and you switch to a synthetic 5w30 you will end up with a little bit more of an oil leak. If you have no leaks then by all means switch to synthetic if you can afford it. Not only does the new synthetic oils work better they also can be ran for more miles before needing to be changed.



I recommend running a full synthetic oil over a synthetic blend which is really just 1/2 standard oil and 1/2 synthetic. I used to run synthetic in my Tiburon until my valve cover cracked and it started leaking oil and synthetic oil just made the leak worse, now that it's fixed the price of a qt of synthetic is over $8 which just doesn't seem worth it to me.