OK, I'm being too lazy to change my own oil again. I let a friend borrow my jack and I have to go pick it up and... yeah, just not into it right now but my car is due for an oil service.

In my experience, lots of the cheapo shops use tiny, crappy filters that I don't trust. I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations for oil change shops that will use the OEM filter (or a comparable, high quality one) and Mobil 1 synthetic, preferably in the Pleasanton/Dublin/Livermore or Mountain View area (where I work).

Thanks,
Sean

 

Oh yeah and I'm not against carrying in my own oil- they probably use the synthetic blend instead of the full synthetic anyways...

 

A friend of mine works at the El Camino 76 station at El Camino and Los Altos Ave.
If you bring your own oil/filter he will definitely do it for you. Talk to Greg (owner of the station) or Jared (my friend, doesn't get there until noon or 1 today though) and tell them Nick sent you.

4350 El Camino Real
Los Altos, CA 94022
(650) 941-0244

 

I was REALLY unhappy w/ Mobile 1 in my STi. I switched to Redline about 10k ago and I wish I would have never ran M1 in my car. Redline vs M1 on an oil change is $15 more, a small price to pay.

 

I ran redline 10w40 and 5w30 a lot but, at 8/qt, it's pricey. I changed every 3k and that was a rip off. Hahaha.

 

Why weren't you happy with mobil? did you do used oil analysis? also you're heavily modded compared to me... right...

LIC recommends the stuff..

 

Even when I had just my catted downpipe and a tune, it still drank mobile1 like no tomorrow. That oil breaks down quick and you still have oil in there but it's not lubricating like when you first put it in. I went from 5w30 to 10w30 and it helped a tad but when I went from M1 to Redline consumption all but stopped completely.

There is a lot of information out there about how poor M1 is, I suggest you start checking it out.

 

I still had consumption with redline, actually. Just like Mobil 1, it would happen only after I put about 2000 miles on the oil. Without any scientific knowledge about oils, I am thinking that the oil breaks down and then the engine burns it up. This is why I subscribe to 3000 mile change intervals rather than 5000 or 7000 that some recommend... it can't be as good as when it was new.

 

Any M1 30-weight oil shears down to a 20 weight really quick... from what I've heard it's also technically no longer a full synthetic, but rather a hydrocracked synthetic (now made from a mineral oil base, IIRC). There's some good info over at BITOG on the subject.

You can still get the original formula, full synthetic M1, but it's now only sold as motorcycle oil (Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40).

 

I read BITOG sometimes but people there are just insane and it's hard to translate their oil analysis to anything relevant to my application!!! jeez...

According to my understanding the Mobil drive clean 5000 is a blend but the real good stuff, the stuff that they say lasts 15000 miles that says "Fully synthetic" on the bottle... is the full synthetic.

 

Yeah, they get overly geeky and hung up on certain things at BITOG... but the gist is that M1 full synthetic is not technically a full synthetic - nor is it a blend. It's a PAO synthetic, which is lab-derived from mineral sources, as opposed to an ester synthetic. They still get to call it a full synthetic though, due to a loophole in the law.

It's still a decent oil I'm sure - I would just stay away from the 30 weight, or at least change it every 4k miles, especially if you drive hard. I've had 3 UOA's done with M1 10-W30 over the past 90k miles, and 4-5k miles seems to be the cut-off before the oil breaks down. I'm at 95k miles now and will probably use their 10-W40 high mileage formula from here on out.

 

I change it every 3k anyways... I don't abuse it, but, it's an STi, so, I probably drive it harder than the average car.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to speedelement to get it changed... parts are about 30 bucks and I think it's worth $20 for the time I'd spend getting greasy underneath my car with my ghetto jack stands.

 

Sounds like it's time to go Redline Race. 40wt IIRC (15w/40) It's nice stuff and I run it all the time. btw I have always changed my oil @ 3k or before.

 

Wow, !!@!1123


40 weight straight race oil in my street car? Do i need to get an accusump to run that????

 

I have run it for DAYS now and have 0 issue, only what seems like better perf (more consistent) and I consume about 1 quart every 3k instead of 5.......