I apologize again for my posts being so long but this should be well worth reading
The reasons I chose to use synthetic motor oil and what I chose to use for a filter [one that I find
very impressive]
Aside from the better lubrication and commonly known benefits of true synthetic motor oils, my first objective is extended oil change intervals.
In addition: I learned that although conventional oils have virtually no shelf life concerns, THAT is ONLY when they are stored in original containers! That does NOT apply to engine oil IN THE ENGINE after it has been used. Conventional Diesel engine oils are
very high in detergents (I think that synthetic oils are even higher in detergent additives) and that is a good thing. After it has picked up the normal contaminates, including soot, those contaminates (at least the soot for sure and probably most of the other contaminates)
are held in suspension. That's why the oil very quickly turns black. It's the soot being held in suspension and tending not to settle out of the oil.
While held in suspension, these contaminates can break down conventional motor oil in 2 years, even if the truck is hardly ever driven, or being stored and not driven at all. After the oil has been used and is holding contaminates in suspension those contaminates will continue to break down conventional oil. That's why the original manufacturer's oil change specification recommends changing oil after X,000 miles
OR 2 Years. Newer high quality conventional oils may resist breakdown for a bit longer while the vehicle is not being driven much or in storage. Maybe 3 years? I just don't know.
It is my understanding that true Synthetic Motor Oil will not break down due to suspended contaminates while the engine is not running or the vehicle is in storage mode.
My personal opinion is that after driving only 1,000 miles during
a 2 year period, or even LESS miles, that conventional oil has already broken down enough to consider an oil change. For my truck that would be after driving less than 2,000 miles in two years! I have not changed the oil in 3 years and I have driven 3,000 miles during that time. I've been using Shell Rotella T3 from the oil change I did after buying the truck 3 years ago. It's very good oil in terms of protection but
it does use a lot more oil than I would prefer, especially under hard use like towing up hills and over mountain ranges. I think that I've added enough
new oil to stretch that 2 year oil change recommendation to 3 years. Or at least that is my current rationalization, and only hoping it's true. I didn't learn about the oil breaking down while the truck is not being used until sometime during the past 3 months.
I want an oil that is not going to break down while the truck is not being used for weeks or months at a time However, (I've been working on the truck when I can and sometimes it takes a long while for me to get things done) NOW I must use this truck as my daily driver, even for short errands (another reason to use synthetic oil) because my two regular use vehicles are not usable. With synthetic oil I won't worry about using the truck for short errands and frequent restarts during the day when that is necessary.
NOW TO THE OIL FILTER OF MY CHOICE!
I am
very very impressed with the patented technologies and
the patented internal construction of this oil filter AND IT'S NOT INEXPENSIVE. I paid $11.99 each for 3 filters from the manufaturer through Amazon.com with no added tax and FREE shipping (an order over $25.00).
It filters oil particles greater than One Micron in size >1micron, through a patented oil bypass system within the filter so it's listed as filtering down to 2 microns. It's designed for and has been tested extensively for extended performance in both extended oil change intervals in fleets and extended duration before the filter itself needs to be changed.
This is a fairly recent product, I think that fleet tests began in 2011. It is manufactured by SOMS Technologies and it's named the
microGreen Extended Performance Oil Filter.
Start by scanning through the linked .pdf below. It's from a presentation by SOMS Technologies at an International Aviation Ground Support Exposition (GSE). That is an important aviation convention held each year in a different world city. (This year it's in Rio De Janeiro Brazil). This presentation was uploaded to the following website for environmental protection information.
The Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network (WSPPN) [
http://wsppn.org/ ] is a cooperative alliance of pollution prevention (P2) programs throughout EPA Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Trust Territories, and Tribal Lands). The network serves as a technical resource for regional P2 issues through researching, consolidating, and disseminating P2 information. WSPPN was established in 1997 and is run as a service provided by The
Business Environmental Program (BEP) at the University of Nevada, Reno.
The presentation to the Aviation Group begins by simply explaining motor oils, conventional, synthetic, then oil additives and eventually the microGreen Filter Technology with cutaway images showing the patented internal design.
I don't now of any oil filters that can match all of the performance characteristics of this filter, including the ~50% extended filter use before having to change filters. I can't say that there aren't any because I have not done enough research to compare different filters. There COULD be a few specialty oil filters that could match it, I don't know of any but I was so impressed with this one I made the decision to try it with my first change to Synthetic Oil.
I found a significant number of very positive user reviews on this filter, one guy using it in a diesel claimed that the oil was STILL CLEAR (not black) after two years of use! I don't recall if he stated how many miles he drove but
If that is true even after only 1,000 miles of driving in 2 years, that would be extraordinary in itself !
http://www.wsppn.org/pdf/fleets/GSE_Presentation.pdf
HERE is the manufacturer's web page for the spin on type filters that we use, explaining in different tabs, the Technology, Testing & Validation, Savings and Use. Getting a quick glance at this after not looking at it for several months, it's much more impressive than I recalled and mentioned earlier in this post. This is just one example picked at random:
An independently conducted Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)* demonstrates the environmental impacts of using microGreen spin-on oil filters. The findings indicate that our premium oil filters have a significant impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions, compared to conventional oil filters. Specifically:
- Using a microGreen filter can yield savings of 55-104 kilograms of CO2 over 30,000 miles, compared to equivalent size conventional spin-on filters that are changed every 3,000-5,000 miles, respectively.
- These savings are equivalent to 19.79 pounds of CO2 per gallon of oil.
- Overall, microGreen filters contribute to a 75-85% reduction in CO2 emissions.
Here is the URL:
http://www.microgreenfilter.com/Site/Products/microgreen-spin-on-oil-filter.aspx#category-tabs1