What type of oil do you use?

My wife works for the dealership. We purchased lifetime oil plans on the new truck and jeep. She gets a huge discount. They change it while she is working. I think it is $400 a vehicle. The jeep has been getting it done for 4 years now and Im sure it would of already cost close to $400. They count on selling them and then you trading the vehicle in about 2 years. LOL. They have a long time to go on the jeep. We run them till we get our money out of them
 
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The problem with the oil debate is that there are too many variables that will lengthen or shorten engine life. How the vehicle is driven, where it is, average speed, oil filter, average trip distance and on and on. If you want your engine to last, don't beat it to death. Be gentle when it's cold until it warms up and even then, don't rev it like you're pissed off. Also, pay attention to it. Check fluids often rather than waiting for an idiot light to tell you there's a problem. This will get you far more than special and expensive oils and filters.
 
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The problem with the oil debate is that there are too many variables that will lengthen or shorten engine life. How the vehicle is driven, where it is, average speed, oil filter, average trip distance and on and on. If you want your engine to last, don't beat it to death. Be gentle when it's cold until it warms up and even then, don't rev it like you're pissed off. Also, pay attention to it. Check fluids often rather than waiting for an idiot light to tell you there's a problem. This will get you far more than special and expensive oils and filters.

i agree, REG service/maintenance and treating it nice is prob the best thing to keep the TJ reliable - although i do like to work the engine hard on occasion and it can be driven flat out without it exploding itself, unlike some other 4Bs ive driven - to clean my injectors of course! ha ha :)

its the same with people who pretend gearbox, transfer case and diff oils don't exist and when problems arise they wonder why.

if you have money for the flashest engine oil and it works great in your TJ, then you should stick with it, don't keep changing to different types/ brands what ever. service at regular intervals with a new filter and you should have no problems. the thing to remember is that once you have chosen your type of oil, its a consumable, you always have to go back for more.

so every time you need it your gonna have to fork out - which for me is every 5K (assuming people service there own rig here) i simply chose the correct spec best value oil, i wait for it to go on special, for me that's $17.99 for 5L - and i spent the $120 and get 6 of them. i use it in my other diesel 4b and cars and have had no problems. same goes for oil/ air filters, just grab 4-6 at a time, their cheap and your TJ will be set for regular engine services for ages in your garage.

same goes for the other oils needed, for me, these are NULON products Dextron what ever what ever what ever it is you need, gearbox, transfer, if you have a standard Dana 44 rear with a LSD, you need correct diff oil for that or locked etc etc and the other consumables your TJ uses, blue/red gasket sealer etc etc etc

if you live or drive in hot dusty conditions, desert etc fitting a snorkel for cleaner air will help you get a lot more out of your engine oil.

when you remove the plastic cover on your new oil filter. always check inside and shake it out and fill it with oil and then put it on. a mates engine blew up because there was a random piece of metal floating around in there from factory from a cheap ass filter he bought, which we only found out later pulling the engine apart trying to find out what happened - luckily this was not on a TJ.
 
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One thing about Amsoil that I've noticed and why I have to agree with Jerry and others about the 5000 mile mark is that when I push my oil changed out to Amsoil's recommended mileage " and yes I'm using their filters too" I end up adding oil and adding oil to make it to that mileage. That was on a 97 grand am and a 2004 Buick Rendezvous. But if I change my oil "Amsoil" at the 5000 or even 8000 Mile mark I don't have to add any oil and it stays on full.
I don't know if the oil is breaking down and evaporating or what's going on but I have since went back to conventional oil or a synthetic blend and changing my oil at 5000 miles or sooner.
I still use Amsoil in all my small engines and have had no issues and no oil usage but I just can't justify using it in my vehicles anymore.
I do believe synthetic oils are better than conventional (and it would seem that the car manufactures agree).
But unless you have some high performance motor and are using it for what that performance car was built for, conventional oils or semi synthetic oils will work just fine.
I have a 1992 Ford F-150 and have always used conventional oil. It now has 323,000. mile on it and doesn't burn or leak any oil. I've been changing the oil at around the 3000 mile mark and it's still on the full mark when I change it.
So no matter what kind or brand of oil you are using; :private: :private: :private: :private:
Oil is cheap engines are expensive change your oil regularly!! :bash:
 
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At the risk of reviving an old thread, I have a question. What if you don't drive your jeep enough to run 3000-5000 miles in a year. How often should you change your oil if you barely use the engine?
 
At the risk of reviving an old thread, I have a question. What if you don't drive your jeep enough to run 3000-5000 miles in a year. How often should you change your oil if you barely use the engine?
I wouldn’t push it past a year.
 
Where does one "draw the line" between highway miles versus quick city/town trips when it comes to frequency of changing motor oil? I understand about getting engine hot enough to burn off condensation but what about acids/fuel buildup in crankcase due to shorter trips under 5-10 miles? Seems like shorter trips would make you change oil more frequent than once a year or is this over thinking and a waste of money?
 
Shorter trips are definitely harder on the oil. Depending how you use the vehicle over that year you may consider every 6 months.

I shoot for every 6 months myself.
 
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I only take mine to the trails in summertime so I don't put on enough miles to change the oil regularly.
 
At the risk of reviving an old thread, I have a question. What if you don't drive your jeep enough to run 3000-5000 miles in a year. How often should you change your oil if you barely use the engine?

I could be wrong, but I think this is another situation where synthetic is a good option. I think it is more resistant to breaking down.
 
I`ve tried a few oils for my car, but as I`m not an expert in it, I always ask for experts advice. When it comes to oil change, I always try to choose the best one, and recently I found a good article, where I saw the list of the best motor oil for jeep wrangler https://carfluidsexpert.com/best-oil-for-jeep-wrangler/, there are detailed descriptions of them and all the pros and cons of each.
 
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For the engine in all my vehicles I have always used synthetic. I typically use whatever is the least expensive of the name brands at the time and the Mopar filter. My 98 4.0 has 130,000 miles on it and I don't have to add oil between changes (4 - 5K). I do have some seepage from the rear crank seal but not enough that it leaves drops on the garage floor on a regular basis. just put some Redline MT 90 in the AX15 after 23,000 miles with the appropriate Amsoil in it and first impressions were that it shifts MUCH smoother and less notchy than ever before. My son has a 97 SE and he uses the same oil philosophy. His rig has 210,000 miles and was not well maintained by the PO. For the first few years after he got it 4 years ago he was very hard on it off road (young male driver). The little four banger keeps chugging along on 35's (with 5.13's) and he only occasionally has to add a quart between changes.
 
Hi
Here in SOCAL I use a conventional Valvoline 10W-30 year-round. But if Valvoline were to disappear tomorrow, I'd happily run any major brand of engine oil... they're all superb now.

If I lived where it got really cold, I'd switch to a 5W-30 synthetic for the winter but go back to conventional 10W-30 once it started warming up. I've never been a fan of Mobil-1 after reading lots of reports of increased iron levels in oil test samples with that oil from Blackstone Lab's oil analyses.
Hi Jerry! Belated congrats on your son's wedding.

I live in the Middle East and the winters are around 20C (68F) and the summers are a scorching 45-50C (113-122F). Would you recommend a 10W-40 oil or is 10W-30 also fine?

Additionally, would you advise to use synthetic, or non-synthetic oil?
 
Hi

Hi Jerry! Belated congrats on your son's wedding.

I live in the Middle East and the winters are around 20C (68F) and the summers are a scorching 45-50C (113-122F). Would you recommend a 10W-40 oil or is 10W-30 also fine?

Additionally, would you advise to use synthetic, or non-synthetic oil?
Not Jerry but he would recommend 10w 30 conventional to his dying day lol
Me I live in Western Australia and I have just switched from 10w-30 to 10w 40 Maganatec and it has taken away a fast short start up rattle. I have 5 litres left so my next change in November (start of Australian summer) will be with the 10w-40 but in the Hight of my summer (February) I will be going 10w 50 which is what many West aussie TJ owners use without adverse affects but running improvements.
Temperature are subjective, we dont get cold temps here and all our temperatures are taken in the shade and at one point in the city! reality is when the temp is said to be between 39 and 42 my in shade temp readings are regularly around 47+ (116F+),Air temperatures are different around the world and I would presume your air temperature would be higher than Australia but similar.
Let me tell you something for free 10w-30 is too thin an oil for your summer temperatures plain and simple :)
 
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You have succumbed to Amsoil's misleading oil life claims... what you don't realize by not changing your oil at the intervals recommended by Jeep is that your oil FILTER gets just as dirty as with any oil and you're leaving it in past its useful life. Engine oil picks up dirt, contaminants, naturally occurring acids, combustion byproducts etc. at the same rate no matter what the quality of the oil is. By leaving the oil filter in 2X as long as it should be you're asking for the filter to go into bypass mode.

I don't care HOW good an oil is, it still needs to be changed at the engine manufacturer's recommended intervals. Amsoil misleads their customers on a lot of things like that. They're laughing all the way to the bank thanks to the snakes in their marketing and sales department.
This point has always been a concern with the longer oil change interval recs with synthetic oil. Oil viscosity has to do with average molecule length. My understanding is synthetic oil molecules are more uniform and thus when they start to degrade, the average length is more slowly effected. So, they can be run longer and still maintain viscosity. But that doesn’t make them any less contaminated after a certain number of miles than conventional. So regardless of oil type, I keep change intervals on the low side.
 
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I had a 1990 M3 and would send the oil out for testing every change. I put very few miles on that car during the year but would change it every year. I used pretty expensive oil due to the solid lifters. I let the oil go for two years just to see if it broke down due to age. The test results were almost identical. Ever since that test I go by mileage not age. I should note that I have never gone past two years for the oil change on my TJ. I use Mobil 1 high mileage in my TJ.
 
May I ask you fine folks your opinion? I certainly do believe in changing oil every 5k, but what if it takes 12 to 18 months to get those miles. Summer driving only, vehicle in a temp controlled building.thanks
 
May I ask you fine folks your opinion? I certainly do believe in changing oil every 5k, but what if it takes 12 to 18 months to get those miles. Summer driving only, vehicle in a temp controlled building.thanks
I don’t think stock TJ motors are that particular, so whatever is probably OK. But, if you are storing it in the winter, I think fresh oil every spring when you take it out makes sense.