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First Oil Change

2K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  Jeeples 
#1 ·
Hello fellow JK'ers :thumbsup:

My JK Unlimited will hit 1500 miles this week and I am planning on dropping the oil for the first time. I had wanted to do it at 1k, however didn't feel like fooling with it while it was bitter cold. It's supposed to hit 70 on Saturday! :2thumbsup:

That being said, and yes I did do some searches, I am looking for some input on oil and filters.

On my '01 TJ which had 100k miles I ran the suggested Castrol along with a quality filter.

With the new motor in the JK, I am looking to some of you who have had your JK around for a few oil changes to give me some feed back.

Questions:

Filter Recommendation? Mopar, Mobile 1?

Oil Type Recommendation? Dino or Synthetic?

Oil Recommendation?

Magnetic Drain Plug? - Mopar? Part #?

Anything else I should check while I am down there?


Thanks in advance,

Adam
 
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#2 ·
At only 1500 miles stick with regular dino oil. Plus the 3.8 recommend 5w20, which is part-synthetic anyway. If you want to switch to a full synthetic wait until 7500-10,000 miles to do so.

For an oil filter, i feel Mobil 1 is overpriced. Wix / Napa Gold, PuralatorOne are good filters at a reasonable cost.

I'd recommend Valvoline for oil, Castrol is still good too though.

A magnetic drain plug would be fine, don't know where you can pick one up though. I've got magnetic plugs in my diffs, but havent found one for the oil pan yet.
 
#3 ·
At 1500 miles the rings are seated. Why would anyone want to produce further engine wear by not switching to synthetic oil? Synthetic oil's cold weather pour ability will help to protect that engine on those cold morning start up. Not trying to start an oil war, but I still can't understand not wanting to use sythetic on a new engine after rings are sealed. Many cars come with synthetic from factory. Friction = Wear = bad.
 
#4 ·
i think 1500 is a tad bit too early yet. I say change it at 4500 after you change it this time so 3k miles later then change over to full synthetic. I dunno about everything being seated at 1500. I say wait a little longer. also dsr ur playing up the cold weather ability and how much wear is going to occur if he waits one more change. If he starts now and all isn't seated then he may have problems but if he doesn't and waits he won't have problems since it will definately be broken in come that time.
 
#5 ·
dsr said:
At 1500 miles the rings are seated. Why would anyone want to produce further engine wear by not switching to synthetic oil? Synthetic oil's cold weather pour ability will help to protect that engine on those cold morning start up. Not trying to start an oil war, but I still can't understand not wanting to use sythetic on a new engine after rings are sealed. Many cars come with synthetic from factory. Friction = Wear = bad.
Having worked at a Jiffy Lube during my short life, and having done more oil changes in one summer than most will do in a life time. I would have to agree with Second TJ wait until the engine settles in before putting a fully man-made oil in there. I understand that some engines will "seat" around 2000 miles, but you always want to err on the side of caution with a new engine and allowing some wear on your engine after the break-in period can be good for your engine. Personally I will wait until my third oil change before switching to Royal Purple oil.
 
#6 ·
I am a chemical engineer and know the rings are seated at 500- 1000 miles. I am not playing anything up with the cold. Most wear occurs in an engine during start up. This can be made massively worse during the cold when dino oil is jelly in the oil pan. For those that don't believe, put 1 quart of mobil 1 and one quart of regular dino oil in the freezer and then see which pours out faster. Then imagine the entire time you are trying to get oil into the top of your engine.

Why would you have a problem putting the man made oil into your man made engine? The car manufactures like Corvette, BMW, Porshe, VW just to name a few disagree and put in synthetic from the factory.


The nice thing about this country is you can do what the hell you want. My advice is just that advice. I just don't understand where all this "bad for you engine stuff" started about sythetic oil. You saw the same thing about ethanol in the fuel when they first started doing it. Now we are selling e 85.
 
#7 ·
Not very knowledgeable in oil here, but I seem to be getting that synthetic is great.....particularly in cold weather.

What are the opinions for usually warm year-round weather? Live in south texas (laredo), and we don't see much else other than:

Extremely Hot
Very Hot
Hot
Warm
A little cold
cold (about 10 days a year...lol)

Thanks!
 
#9 ·
dsr said:
...The nice thing about this country is you can do what the hell you want. My advice is just that advice...
dsr your deffenatly right it is just advice...I mean being a chemical engineer you are a good source. Being that I'm an architectural engineer I could give you even better advice about building structures. I have done lots and lots of oil changes in my lifetime and learned alot about the actual useage of oils in your engine.
 
#10 · (Edited)
What ??....... My point is that it is the 21 st century and the oils( emulsification of particles, soot, and acids) are much better than they were in the 1970's and 1980's. Back then you needed to change your oil every 3000 miles if you wanted your engine to last. Even better yet are the synthetics. Alot of things we do to our cars are "because that was the way my dad did it". It absolutely perplexes me how so many people are scared to put a better product(synthetic) in their car.
 
#11 ·
Wow so I really didnt finish my thought. I certinly do that from time to time. I guess my point was just that I agreed with you dsr. Folks are just gonna have to take the advice people shell out and do some reseach and determine what they want to do.
 
#13 ·
rlj said:
:popCorn:

more thoughts please......I wanted to use synthetic on my first oil change and my mechanic told me that he would only use what was recommended by the manufacturer.
He prolly thinks its going to void your warrenty. I had one guy that came in for an oil change and this was back when 5w-20 oil was just starting to be used in honda's. Well I started to put pennzoil 5w-20 in and he came in screaming and yelling that his warrenty mandated quakerstate 5w-20 he got on the phone with the dealership and was crying that we had voided his warrently. Well as some may know quakerstate is owned by pennzoil, not that he cared to much about that. Anyways the bottom line is that some people get very upset about there warrentys and I'm sure that your mechanic is just being careful.
 
#15 ·
rlj said:
:popCorn:

more thoughts please......I wanted to use synthetic on my first oil change and my mechanic told me that he would only use what was recommended by the manufacturer.
The manufacturer recommends a certain timing, fuel ratio and exhaust system too, but we all know they can be modified and run better than what a manufacturer recommends with no damage to the vehicle.

I personally use Mobil 1 in every vehicle from the start including my Harley Davidson. The dealer even had that as an option for my first oil change.

I also, just today, changed my oil in my JK or the first time. 2985 miles and filled 'er up with guess what? Mobil 1. If it was good enough for the Corvette I had, it is good enough for another vehicle that I love and want to protect.
 
#17 ·
Whether you buy your clothes at Walmart or Neimans. The end result is the same. Protection! Neiman's will be higher quality and more expensive, but if maintained properly, neither will allow the elements to hurt you.

Same for oil. Change it regularly as well as the rest of needed maintenance and the engine will last yo ua good long time. Unless you are consistently extremely hard on your engine, you will be fine with anything you put in.
 
#18 ·
First oil change @ 3,000 I went to synthetic...never been a Penzoil fan, but went with the purple stuff on someones recomendation...my Harley came with syn. from the factory I feel ok with it but am not too sure about the penzoil...I put a rebuilt engine in a Toyota truck 3 yrs. ago ant they would not warranty it unless I started it out on Quaker State (forgot the name) synthetic.
 
#19 ·
dsr said:
Man, I need a life!! A quick check of the mobil one 5w-20 msds sheet says it has been approved and meets DaimlerChrysler material Standard MS-6395 which is what the manual states on page 356 is the recommended choice. You can tell your mechanic to relax.
Dude... You do need a life! J/K :thumbsup: Good find on the oil thing from the manual! Looks like Mobil 1 it will be!

I too used to own a C5 Corvette, I change the oil religiously every 3k. However, I typically had the pedal mashed to the floorboard! :D
 
#20 ·
SAXON said:
First oil change @ 3,000 I went to synthetic...never been a Penzoil fan, but went with the purple stuff on someones recomendation...my Harley came with syn. from the factory I feel ok with it but am not too sure about the penzoil...I put a rebuilt engine in a Toyota truck 3 yrs. ago ant they would not warranty it unless I started it out on Quaker State (forgot the name) synthetic.
Quaker State and Pennzoil are the same thing. There is no difference between the brands just the label. Now with that said I used to always run Quaker State 4x4 in my '95 XJ, but thats what the Jiffy Lube that I worked at stocked so I could get it for free. As for my JK I will be running Royal Purple shortly (after a few oil changes and a raise at work).
 
#21 ·
Here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

Just about anything you want to know about oils, what ratings, viscosity, and additives mean and do for your vehicle.

You might also try wandering into the forums they have as there are many questions like this asked on a daily basis, not to mention some charts with a lot of cool oil analysis data on them.
 
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