Car Questions

cchen

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,062
0
76
I just purchased a 1990 Mazda Miata and I want to take care of the car as best as possible.

I'm want to switch to either a synthetic blend or pure synthetic oil. so far, i believe the engine had used just regular oil. Would the synthetic blend be the best choice? Which brand is the best or the most cost effective? And concerning oil filters, does the one that I purchase matter in the car's performance?
 

CirekL

Senior member
Nov 16, 2000
541
0
0
Don't worry too much for the type of oil, just worry more on the frequency of the change. Go with the factory recommended weight. As for filters... it's not a high end performance car, I don't see how oil filters could make a difference.
 

Atrail

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2001
4,326
0
0
I would go synthetic or regular. NO blend.
Frankly in a car that old, I would not bother with synthetic.
Change your oil every 3,000.
The oil filter will not increase performance, it will keep your engine cleaner, so
get a good name brand one Fram or one of the other brands (or whatever the owners manual recommends).
 

AlwaysWong

Senior member
Nov 7, 2000
291
0
0
Many car guys swear by a particular brand of motor oil, but it really doesn't matter too much. I suggest you continue using regular dino oil as there is a tiny bit of controversy over synthetics and its blends. Regarding filters, I usually buy the biggest one I can find that has a decent brand name. That is usually Purolator or AC Delco (Fram and Quaker State are usually smaller). Unless you cut open the filter and count the folds in the filter and analyze the quality of the paper, you really don't know how good it is. Regardless, it makes sense to use a bigger filter because you get a little bit more oil circulating throughout your engine.
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,514
34
91
<<Regardless, it makes sense to use a bigger filter because you get a little bit more oil circulating throughout your engine.>>

Uh, no. You don't get extra oil circulating through the engine. You do get a tiny bit of extra oil inside the filter itself, but a physically larger oil filter does not increase the amount of oil circulating through the lubrication passages. The oil pump pumps X volume of oil through the system in Y amount of time. In order to increase the amount of oil circulating, you must either increase X (more volume in same time), decrease Y (same volume in less time) or do both (more volume in less time). A larger oil filter (neglecting restriction effects which are certainly small enough to be ignored) has zero effect on X and Y. In fact, the only componant that can alter X and Y (aside from engine speed, which affects all oil pumps and is thus unimportant in this discussion) is the oil pump itself. A physically larger filter has the same effect as a larger sump. It allows more oil to sit around. It does not allow more oil to circulate.

As for the original question, unless you are really beating the crap out of the car, synthetic (full or blend) will not offer any measurable advantage in the next 20 years or so. Regular oil changed at 3,000 miles with a decent (I recommend FRAM) filter will be more than sufficient for any normally driven liquid-cooled street car. Now, if you routinely drive in hot weather, dirty environments, accelerate hard, and basically kick the crap out of the car, then you will achieve some benefit by switching to synthetic. Personally, I run regular oil in my normal car (209,000 miles and counting) but synthetic in my air-cooled cycle and in my air-cooled 914. Synthetic handles thermal extremes better than conventional oil and air-cooled engines tend to heat up a lot more than liquid-cooled engines do. Also, air-cooled engines rely on the oil as a coolant to some extent as well. If you really beat on the car and think you need synthetic, I would use Mobil 1, I've had good luck with it and it seems to be generally considered to be the best synthetic that is widely available. As for conventional oil, they are all fine. I use Texaco/Havoline myself but Castrol, Valvoline, Penzoil, etc are all fine too.

ZV

EDIT: Just to point something out, whatever you do, do NOT use any oil/filter/lubricant that has Teflon (also called PTFE) in it. The claims that Teflon (PTFE) increase lubrication are not only patently flase, but since Teflon (PTFE) is actually a particulate SOLID, it is filtered out by the oil filter. Even if the Teflon (PTFE) is smaller than the filter's pore size, it should be noted that Teflon (PTFE) expands greatly when heated, so once the oil reaches operating temperature the Teflon (PTFE) particles will expand and be filtered out or get stuck in small oil passages. There have been cases in which accumulation of Teflon (PTFE) deposits have severely restricted oil flow in small passages. Again, do NOT use anything with Teflon (PTFE) in it. An example of a product to avoid is Slick 50.

EDIT 2: After reading the oil filter reviews, I think I'll take back my FRAM recommendation and I think I'll be using a Purolator filter next oil change.

EDIT 3: Grammar.
 

thedarkwolf

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
9,025
121
106
If you go blend I would blend your own. I think its cheaper that way and atleast you know how much synthetic is in it. But since its not a turbo or superchared I would probably just save my money and stick to dino juice.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
I think those of you who say that the oil doesen't matter are wrong.

Oil isn't oil.. synthetic is far superior to petrolium engine oil in every way.. It's worth it, IMO.

Saying that "Its not worth" using synthetic in a car that old(It's only a '90!) is like saying, "It doesen't matter if I smoke cigarettes, I'm going to die eventually anyway.". :Q It's definately not going to hurt anything. I understand the idea, though. It makes much more sense to start off with a brand new engine, and take very good care of it than it does one where you have no idea how it was treated. Still though, the worst using synthetic is going to do is increase whats left of the life of your engine, reduce engine deposits, last longer, etc..

You don't have to worry about mixing oils. They're all compatible with eachother.. change the oil, put some good stuff in it.

Oh, and about filters.. It certainly does matter.. There are bypass filters available out there that filter down to 0.1 microns. Engine wear is caused by particles in the 15 - 45micron range. As you can imagine, it cuts down on engine wear a lot.
 

AlwaysWong

Senior member
Nov 7, 2000
291
0
0


<< <<Regardless, it makes sense to use a bigger filter because you get a little bit more oil circulating throughout your engine.>>
Uh, no. You don't get extra oil circulating through the engine. You do get a tiny bit of extra oil inside the filter itself, but a physically larger oil filter does not increase the amount of oil circulating through the lubrication passages. The oil pump pumps X volume of oil through the system in Y amount of time. In order to increase the amount of oil circulating, you must either increase X (more volume in same time), decrease Y (same volume in less time) or do both (more volume in less time). A larger oil filter (neglecting restriction effects which are certainly small enough to be ignored) has zero effect on X and Y. In fact, the only componant that can alter X and Y (aside from engine speed, which effects all oil pumps and is thus unimportant in this discussion) is the oil pump itself. A physically larger filter has the same effect as a larger sump. It allows more oil to sit around. It does not allow more oil to circulate.
>>



Gee, ZV... I guess I should've double-checked my grammar in my quick post. When I said "more oil circulating" I was not implying a greater rate of flow. I just meant there was physically more (a greater volume of) oil within the crankcase that will constantly be circulated. BTW, you mistakenly used the word effects instead of affects ("which effects all oil pumps"). hehe
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,514
34
91
<<Oil isn't oil.. synthetic is far superior to petrolium engine oil in every way.. It's worth it, IMO.>>

Again, no-one is arguing that regular oil is better than (or even equal to) synthetic. However, the benefit of synthetic over conventional oil in an engine that experiences frequent oil changes with decent filters is so small that the difference is not likely to be noticed within 40 years of engine life provided that the engine is not pushed hard. Unless a person is really thrashing an engine or is waiting forever between oil changes, the benefits of synthetic are so small that they are not likely to be noticed within the period of ownership of the vehicle.

ZV

EDIT: Oh, and sorry if I read your intent wrong AlwaysWong. I'm working on a term paper (2 pages to go, woo-hoo!) and the caffeine was wearing off.
 

BCYL

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
7,803
0
71
Just stick with regular engine oil... I wouldnt recommend you use synthetic oil for an engine this old...

BTW, great choice! You will have tons of fun with the miata!
 
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