Cougar

Well I have an 06 Ls Cobalt and has about 3 k miles on it. I was thinking about using royal purple oil but my bro says to go conventional oil and next time go synthetic. He claims that his 03 dodge pickup leaks half a quart of oil between his oil changes. He said that maybe there wasn't enough time for the seals to break in and thus causing his truck to leak a little oil. What do you guys suggest? Go synthetic or stay with conventional this time?

Thanks.

Mindriot

I'd agree with your bro. I would say at least your next change should be a conventional oil. Let everything break in nice, let the components soak up the natural oil. You can always swap to synth. You car is still brand new. Just changed my oil using castrol gtx today and I've got 8000mi. I'm probably going to make the change to synth at 12,000mi. Don't forget to change the filter.

G5GT2007

dont mean to get off topic put where is the oil filter for the 2.4 i cant seem to see it from looking at the top of the motor

Cougar

Any recommendations on conventional oils?

vaacoustic

Should be right under the intake manifold. Standing in front of the car, it will be the right front of the engine (driver's side).

Mindriot

to sunfire. The filter cap is to the right of the intake manifold, above the dipstick when looking down at the motor in a 2.4l. Round black cap with hexagon fitting.

to cougar. Castrol GTX is a quality motor oil. In the past I've heard quaker state use a wax in their formulations, which is probably a bad idea in the long run.

diablo2007

i would suggest mobile 1 you can never go wrong with that, i use that in all my cars 05 cobalt,01 blazer,01 silverado,01 tdi, 01 ram 1500, but not in my cherokee mobile 1 is too thin for high mileage motors

G5GT2007

k thanks ill check it out tomorrow.

and for oil i used mobile with a ac delco filter on the sunfire going to do it for the G5 to

css9450

I like Castrol GTX too; in fact I'll probably keep using it since I doubt I'll switch to synthetic.

The "wax" thing is a very old urban legend and completely untrue.

Mindriot

probably right css.

and for info's sake FRAM CH9018 oil filter works for the 2.4l. I was going for a acdelco (built in bypass) until I discovered our cars don't utilize a canister style filter.

Malaclypse

iTrader: (1)

Stick with conventional oil until about 5k miles. Then go for a quality synthetic and change by the Oil Life Monitor. When the OLM gets to about 10-15%, I'll change the oil. Happens to be around 7 - 10k miles. On a good synthetic like Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec 0w30 that's more than reasonable.

rally

Sunfire dont forget to remove your plastic engine cover or you wont see the filter.

As for switching to synthetic or staying conventional you can switch. I switch at 2900 and haven't had any problems with it. I now have over 10K on the car, never leaked or used any oil.

As for OIL LIFE, go off it, its really accurate, but dont forget to do a manual check every once in awhile. My OLM told me 25% yet my check yielded BLACK oil. So I changed it.

diablo2007

damn i change my oil when the olm reads around 93% which is around 3000 mi

TexasTieaga

A master mechanic for GM told me that Castrol GTX is the best synthetic for GM's 4 cylinders. And they told me my car utilizes a canister type filter. Yeah, how would I change my OWN oil. (money to be saved here). Stupid canister.

css9450

Give it a try, its extremely easy! Easier than almost all other cars. By the way, I don't jack up the car to get the drain plug off and I'm not a tiny little guy either. I reach in from just ahead of the passenger's side wheel. Easy and saves money.

Castrol GTX isn't synthetic, but its still good oil. You're probably thinking of Castrol Syntec.

mkulrey13

iTrader: (39)

i just did 2 oil changes in my friends balt and my girls cavy, fright have about 3k on his and we changed to mobil 1 sync. also used that on my girls cavy which has 125k. any suggestions on what oil to use next time on the cavy? or should i say with MB1 sync?

G5GT2007

^^^ use the high miles one. and how do you change the oil on the 2200 motor i gave up that filters a pain in the a$$

mkulrey13

iTrader: (39)

the cavy? its behind the engine.. its hard if ya dont have the fram with grip filter, learned that the hard way haha but it is a pain

rally

Interesting seeing as GM uses Mobil1 for everything.

kenhebe

I am not trying to hate on you by any stretch of the imagination, but Royal Purple is designed for high performance/race engines. It is really a waste of money to put this in your LS.

rally

I put it in my N/A 3800 Grand Prix when I had it, its good stuff, but it won't last more than 3000K miles. I believe ZZP tested it and showed it starts to breakdown at 2000K miles. They used it in one of their race cars.

And RP can be used in anything, it won't hurt it. You'll just spend about 2 or 3 dollars more per quart than say Mobil1

css9450

Too rich for my blood. I'll stick with the Castrol GTX which is on sale at Pep Boys right now, with a coupon and mail-in rebate.

rally

IF anyone wants cheap Mobil1 goto walmart and buy it in the JUG, its equal to 5 quarts. At my walmart its only 21 bucks. It may vary to your location, but still good buy

TexasTieaga

This GM tech was retired and was teaching an auto tech class when he told me this... in class. And now that I think about it, GTX isn't synthetic. Thanx for jogging my memory rallyyellow06.

Mstumpy06

dont run syn unless your car is designed for it. i have had many older cars that when switched to synthetic they start to leak. stick w/ conventional. plus save some green. the syn tends to be a little bit thinner bc of its higher quality lubing properties.