Izzy Dizzy

Yep, I didn't buy that lifetime fluid BS in my 722.6 Benz either. Serviced my transmission 3 years ago along with the harness coupler (the weeper) and Valvoline MaxLife ATF and trans running strong with 180k. That subject has been beat to death on the Benz forum. Some guys insist on using MB dealer brand fluid at $20 qt! I guess they have money to burn??? The MaxLife is $20 per gallon.

aklim

I think if you follow the MB Spec or exceed the spec, you are golden.

84 4+3

Just when you think it dies it comes back again.... life time fill on anything is just a selling point for the company. Just like maintenance free batteries it's a matter of how much less you can get away with not having to do to get it out of warranty so you can get your real money. As far as any manufacturer is concerned, as long as it makes it through warranty they aren't liable for any defects past there. Vehicles are seen as disposable, so why should they make more work for themselves. A lot of industrial equipment is the same way. You can rebuild it but dollar for dollar replacing it with new when the old one craps out makes more sense because if the rebuild dies it's on you, if the new one dies the manufacturer has to fix it.

aklim

I think another part is how little maintenance you can get away with. 5 things if you buy his car vs 3 if you buy mine is a selling point As you said, when you run out of warranty, we can fix it for a small fee.

IDK about the the difference between the new and old as far as writing off goes. Which is more profitable? Fix it and write off the repair bills, eat the unscheduled down time or buy new and have a little more efficient a machine and get a write off? I might be wrong about the accounting terms but you get the picture

Izzy Dizzy

You are correct! At the time I was leaning towards buying Shell ATF which met all the MB Specs. Then I found that the Valvoline MaxLife DexMerc was also on the list. I even called Valvoline tech support to confirm what's written on the container (meets/exceeds MB specs etc) and they confirmed same. I've had zero issues with the Valvoline.
My next up project is dumping the "Lifetime" fluid out of my BMW 328ix with 70k miles. It's got the GM 6 spd automatic which is similar to the ones used in Cadillacs. That trans calls for Dexron VI. I'm going with full synthetic (got a deal on a case of 12 Amalie brand for $70) I believe after a pan and filter drop the Bimmer will take around 7 qts. I'm putting new drain plug and pan bolts as well. Of course no dip stick and the big PITA is having to fill it from underneath with the car running, but I have an electric fluid transfer pump to help that part of it. I have a couple of clean 1 gallon jugs and I plan on measuring what comes out during the fluid swap.
On another note, I did an oil change on my 89 L98 a few months ago. Had Mobil 1 in it from the last oil change, but got a deal on Castrol Magnatec full synthetic 5w30. Using it with an AC delco filter. But I'll be changing that out soon. Going back to Mobil 1 10w 30 and using a K&N filter. I plan on replacing a pint of the Mobil 1 with Schaeffer's Moly E.P. oil treatment.
Funny thing about the Mobil one European Formula 0W40 is speced for my Benz and used to be speced for my Bimmer, but Mobil 1 has since been removed from the "approved" list of BMW oils! Of course the Bimmer has the Castrol logo on the oil fill cap! Sounds more like a marketing ploy since Mobil 1 didn't change their formula from when it was on the BMW approved list.
Lot's of games, lots of noise, lots of confusion out there when it comes to choosing the right oil for your car. Sometimes you just have to trust your own gut.

84 4+3

Exactly. All about the sales.

Depends on the equipment, basic things like pumps are far easier to just swap out only because the cost and time associated with repairing it vs just unbolting and bolting in a new one is a no brainer. A replacement motor is roughly the same cost (within 100$) of just buying a whole new pump. And the warranty is better. Of course there is a rule of scales and anything that had to be special built, not bought off the shelf, is going to be a fix rather than replace proposition. But you get the idea. Out of everybody buying any car, how many people actually plan on keeping it more than 5 years or even how many people just lease and then lease a new one after? It's the same thing, it's going to cost me money to fix, well I'll just buy another one. I'd wager the average time most people keep a vehicle is around 3.5 years. I'm 1 of 2 people in my friend circle that still daily's their first car and it still looks as good as when I bought it. Everyone else is on 2,3, or 4 and they've totaled out a few along the way too. I just can't afford nor have the ability to replace it with something comparable.

MatthewMiller

It very much depends on what you're using the car for. If you're just cruising around on the street, then oil choices aren't that critical. If your doing any track lapping, where the oil will truly see high temps and high shear conditions, then the Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-30 and 10W-40 are some of the few that meet ACEA A3 ratings. The 10w-30 makes a good track-use oil. The High Mileage 5W-30 has bit lower HTHS and is rated at A5, but probably makes a great street oil.

The only thing that stock, street-driven C4s do to stress their oil is they run pretty hot by design. That would be enough to make me use a true synthetic oil, just to make sure it doesn't break down quickly from the heat. Especially for someone who puts significant miles on their C4 (e.g. daily driver), it would make a difference in terms of how well the oil is still performing toward the end of its interval. It would also allow for more extended change intervals than the old-school 3000mi standard.

81c3

Ok, I am not understanding why this has taken so many replies and Im wondering how many more after mine will be written.... I saw it said, and it should have ended there.... but here it is one more time.... If the engine is stock and the car is used as a stock car was intended to be used, THEN SIMPLY FOLLOW THE OWNERS MANUAL! Thats it, no more.... its over...

84 4+3

Its also been repeated several other times in several other of the same threads...

MatthewMiller

The OP's car is 33 years old. Do we honestly not think such a car could benefit from oils that have been developed since 1985? Chevy obviously thought so, which is why they went to a Mobil 1 factory fill in 1992, and specified a very short list of oils from then on that would satisfy warranty requirements (GM4718M, which is itself now superseded by DEXOS). Maybe you would want to spend your time looking for SD-grade oil for your L98 (or whatever we had available at the time), but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask what newer oils could be an improvement on that, even for street use.

84 4+3

Because pretty much any name brand oil that meets the viscosity spec is as good or better than what was available 30 years ago...

81c3

I understand where youre coming from, but were talking about an iron 350 with iron heads.... there is no advantage to going with anything other than good old 10w30 or 5W30 that is available at the local Wal Mart or any big box auto parts store...thats what I was getting around to. Theres no good reason for him to switch to Mobil One that I could think of...Definitely not on a 33 year old regular iron block/head Chevy 350 that red lines at what.... 4500? Its not a race car and its not seeing anything other than regular street duty which means it will run perfectly fine on regular old 10W30 or 5W30...

Polo Vert

As a frame of reference I have an old 2004 GMC Sierra truck (5.3) that has been my daily driver for 10 years. I've kept up with proper maintenance and fluid changes but as far as oil I have just used whatever good name brand 5w-30 that happened to be on sale at the local parts store. A couple oil changes ago I put full synthetic oil in it. The engine ran fine before and runs fine now. Changing to synthetic made no real difference in day to day usage. I take good care of my vehicles and I expect to get 10 more years out of this truck and I doubt my choice of oil really has much bearing on that as long as I keep to proper change intervals. Your results may vary.....;-)

mixalive

I have 154K on my 92 LT1 and have always run Synthetic. My engine does not smoke and runs like new. Castrol Syntec10W30 Full Synthetic.

Izzy Dizzy

Well here's my take on synthetic oil usage. I have a old Benz wagon that came with Mobil 1 from the factory. That's what I use in it. My BMW came with Castrol synthetic, so I use that in it.
My 89 Corvette came with conventional motor oil. But I use Mobil 1 in it. I don't put lots of miles on any of my cars, so I only have to change the oil once a year! I use synthetic in my Corvette because I believe it's a better formula, so why not take advantage of scientific advances? The difference in price between synthetic and non synthetic is minimal. All this talk about synthetic causing oil leaks? I don't believe that. Oil leaks out due to bad seals or gaskets and I don't care if you put Olive Oil in your car, if you got bad gaskets or seals, guess what's gonna happen, it's gonna leak. This thread will never end, so enjoy the ride, beat it to death, share your opinion, criticize others, rant and rave, whatever floats your boat or lubes your Vette!

84 4+3

There is some truth to it causing leaks... certain types of gaskets and seals can not take the synthetic and would leak... granted by this point in time those seals should have all been replaced by now anyway.... I'm talking very early days of the technology here. The other truth is that if the engine was sludged up some and the synthetic was added it would clean better than a comparable conventional and could uncover some leaks that are already there.... that being said neither of those is due to the type of oil. If you have a leak with conventional it may get a little worse with synthetic because the molecules tend to be more uniform and smaller to an extent... again, not a cause but an effect.