Synthetic Oil (?)

[CRPerle]

Does anyone use synthetic oil in their motor home?
I know it's more expensive, but fewer changes while making a lot of miles on the road is pretty desirable...
Any other pros/cons?
Rig has 9700 miles on it. Probably adding 10, 12, 15K this year...
Thanks!

 

[Lt Keefer]

I would not suggest you extend the mileage between oil changes on such a new engine. Sure, use synthetic, it's probably called for by the manufacturer anyway.

 

[16ACE27]

Does anyone use synthetic oil in their motor home?
I know it's more expensive, but fewer changes while making a lot of miles on the road is pretty desirable...
Any other pros/cons?
Rig has 9700 miles on it. Probably adding 10, 12, 15K this year...
Thanks!

Yes, everyone.

 

[Redsand]

It's becoming difficult to find non-synthethic.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

I do EXACTLY what Ford recommends in the service manual... both oil type and interval. Trying to outsmart an automotive engineer is NOT a game I'd play. There's a wealth of information about service in that little book. It baffles me why many people either ignore it or try to one-up the engineers who wrote it.

 

[Bob Nodine]

Does anyone use synthetic oil in their motor home?
I know it's more expensive, but fewer changes while making a lot of miles on the road is pretty desirable...
Any other pros/cons?
Rig has 9700 miles on it. Probably adding 10, 12, 15K this year...
Thanks!

You have a new engine under warranty so follow the maintenance instructions in the manual. Discussing oil seems akin to discussing religion and politics. Everyone has their own opinion and think their opinion is correct. The manufacture of your engine has spent many hours and testing to determine the oil change interval. Why try to out smart them.

 

[16ACE27]

You have a new engine under warranty so follow the maintenance instructions in the manual. Discussing oil seems akin to discussing religion and politics. Everyone has their own opinion and think their opinion is correct. The manufacture of your engine has spent many hours and testing to determine the oil change interval. Why try to out smart them.

Not new, no longer under warranty on a 2017 Thor Hurricane 34J. But otherwise I agree with you.

 

[Mark54]

Does anyone use synthetic oil in their motor home?
I know it's more expensive, but fewer changes while making a lot of miles on the road is pretty desirable...
Any other pros/cons?
Rig has 9700 miles on it. Probably adding 10, 12, 15K this year...
Thanks!

I ONLY use full syn lube on all my vehicles regardless of fuel type or age of vehicle, new and/or used. It's never too late to change.
That goes for the transmission as well.

Better lubricity and longevity. I keep the change interval the same as well. (not the EV of course)

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

Coming up on two years now and I haven't changed oil once in our Chevy! 36,000 miles!

 

[martix_agnet]

Coming up on two years now and I haven't changed oil once in our Chevy! 36,000 miles!

You put 36,000 miles on a single oil change? I hope you typed that wrong because that is a very very bad idea. It might seem fine right now, but you'll be thinking twice about it when the engine goes out extremely early in its expected life.

 

[MCP-THOR]

Coming up on two years now and I haven't changed oil once in our Chevy! 36,000 miles!

Well that doesn’t jibe with your post #5. Are you just having fun with us??

 

[Lt Keefer]

We had an early 2000s CR-V and it had an oil life monitor. It took a lot of miles to get it to say the oil change was due. It supposedly monitored how the engine was used to determine when to change the oil. I still changed it every 5,000 miles.

 

[EA37TS]

Check you owners manual.

Cummins says don’t waste thee see money. Jeep TSB says no full synthetic in the 5.7 hemi. Refused to sell me full synthetic service plan so I have to use a synthetic blend.

 

[dkoldman]

Coming up on two years now and I haven't changed oil once in our Chevy! 36,000 miles!

Easy for you to say because don't your RV run on solar power, and you use Flintstone like feet to get it started.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

Hint... the "gas pump" is in the garage. This isn't "your father's Chevrolet".

 

[CRPerle]

Thanks! The manual is equivocal...recommends a blend (pretty much all non-full-synthetic oils are blends these days per Truck shop), but says full synthetic is "optional" and has a different recommendation for Canada...

Truck shop also said 6-8K miles on full synthetic is fine. So, back where I started. Might do full synthetic in a month or 2.

We are now at 9.7K miles (2K by us), but the rig is 2017.

 

[phalexander]

There is no downside to using full synthetic and a couple of benefits. I use Mobil 1 in all of my engines (except the generator which Onan says not to). I buy it on sale at AutoZone for $39 (5 qts plus a filter).

 

[16ACE27]

There is no downside to using full synthetic and a couple of benefits. I use Mobil 1 in all of my engines (except the generator which Onan says not to). I buy it on sale at AutoZone for $39 (5 qts plus a filter).

What Onan really says:

Cummins does not recommend the use of Synthetic oil in Onan RV generators as there are no long-term benefits for the additional cost.

In other words - you can use it, but you still need to change the oil on the recommended interval.

 

[Litespeed-THOR]

Synthetic Oil

I use Mobile 1 truck 5-20. Mobile 1 says it has a 10k service life. Ford says 7500 interval. I change it yearly or at 5k. I don't stress if I am 500-1000 miles from home and I am due for a 5k change. On our 8k trip around the country 3 yes ago I changed the oil in OR. The rig does not use any oil and runs well. I would like to keep it that way.

 

[dkoldman]

What Onan really says:


In other words - you can use it, but you still need to change the oil on the recommended interval.

I was gonna sit this out because I try to stay on sidelines for Oil and Air threads. But for reason you state... Ford and Onan oils specifications overlap per both manual. I use one oil that meets both mfg specifications from a major oil brand that is always readily available at Wal Mart. I usually buy the bulk containers but do keep one quart with me if ever in pinch. I can only recall once where a top off was required and it was with the genny where we spent an entire week in Houston in a baking sun and genny ran effective 6 days continuous for AC. I just change the oil yearly on both at the same time on my schedule, miles / hours be dammed