Im curious, truck has 36k miles on it and im going to switch over to synthetic oil. However when you first do your oil change and put the synthetic in should you change the oil soon after that just to get all the regular oil out and make sure its 100 percent synthetic? or does it not matter? am i good to continue using AC delco oil filters or is there better ones to use with synthetics?

 

Synthetic oil does everything just a little bit better than regular motor oil. It is compatible with all major brands. The only time a quicker oil change would be recommended is if you had to add oil between changes and the same oil was not available and you had to mix brands or oil type. At that time, it would be recommended to change your oil as soon as possible and fill the crankcase will all one brand and weight of oil. So to answer your question, change to synthetic oil and run it to your regularly scheduled oil change interval and it will be fine. Just remember, you still need to follow the manufacturers recommended oil change intervals.

 

i always change my oil every 3k miles, just as im picky with my stuff! But good to know i just drain the old and put the synthetic in and not have to do it again

what about the filter?

 

AC Delco filters are fine...if you want to spend more coin, the Mobil1 filters are excellent but pricey. With synthetic oil, you can go a little further between oil changes if you'd like. It's great to change your oil every 3k, but not really necessary with today's oil technology, even with conventional oil. Personally I'd recommend 5k with synthetic, and I'm being conservative....7.5k is not an uncommon oil change interval with synthetics.

 

I switched at 36k too (went to the dealer for good measure with the warranty). I switched and do it every 3k with mobil 1 and a delco filter myself. I would go more miles, but it ends up being every 6 months or so anyways because the poor thing sits so much now. There is no compatibiliity issues to worry about, just drain, refill with the new stuff and forget about it.

For what its worth, I pay $22 for the 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 at Wally World (I buy 2 and eventually use the leftovers) and pick up delco filters at my dealer for about 3 bucks.

 

You will be throwing away a lot of moneyif you change at 3k with synthetic.

As said 7.5k is no big deal for synthetic, in fact some recommend changing once every 12 months or 12,000 miles.

 

^ yeah i wouldn't change every 3k with synthetic that would be stupid. I'd go 5-6k on synthetic

 

I would probably run longer than 5-6k with synthetic. Thats the advantage of synthetic. There is no point in running it if you don't take advantage of the long intervals. I would run 5-6k with conventional.

I would just rather waste money on other things... And I'm sure if you told a GM engineer that you change your oil at 3k, they would fall down laughing at you.

 

you can buy the AC delco filter at wal mart too

 

I know this is a different monster, but I work for Lexus, and they recommend changing the oil and filter every 5k, along with a tire rotation, and this is with conventional oil. Some of our vehicles (07+ LS460 and 10+ RX350) now run 0w-20 synthetic, and they're currently on the same interval.