Oil Change

OIL CHANGE – OIL FILTER CHANGE – Traverse City, MI 49686

Having your oil changed on a regular basis is one of the most important things you can do to keep your car running longer and better. Literally speaking, there simply is no other auto repair service that you can do that will keep your car in tip top performance and have it run for hundreds of thousands of miles.

Check your engine oil often! Your oil dipstick quickly tells you if you have enough engine oil. This should be checked on a regular basis!

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I HAVE MY OIL CHANGED?

We recommend that the typical car owner have the oil and oil filter changed every 3,000 miles or every 3 months. By the way, even if you reach the 3 month service interval and you haven’t driven your car 3,000 miles, we recommend that you have the oil changed anyway. Remember – it’s 3,000 miles or every 3 months – whichever occurs first.

When I do an oil change, WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER SYNTHETIC OIL?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SYNTHETIC OIL AND CONVENTIONAL OR PETROLEUM BASED OIL?

Synthetic motor oil is a manmade substitute for petroleum based oil. One of the biggest benefits with synthetic oil is that it doesn’t gel or gum-up like petroleum based oil. Additionally, synthetic oils don’t vaporize as easily.

In short, the synthetic oil will protect better in severe driving conditions like

• Stop and go driving around, as well as in
• Very hot or very cold conditions
• Extended long driving – long trips

More and more new vehicles are being delivered with full synthetic motor oil; with the recommendation to use synthetic for the life of the vehicle.

HOW COME SOME CARS DON’T NEED OIL CHANGES FOR MONTHS?

Some vehicle manufacturers are extending their recommended oil change intervals. That’s because of the added protection of synthetic oil and the better quality (more expensive) oil filters used. The better filters have to be used so they maintain proper oil flow for longer periods of times (sometimes up to 6-8 months!)

If you’re unsure about conventional motor oil or switching to synthetic, we strongly recommend you CALL OR VISIT US so we can better understand your driving habits and how you use your vehicle.

WHY DO NEW CAR MANUFACTURERS RECOMMEND SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL?

Synthetic motor oil maximizes engine power and fuel economy. To actually see why this is, we’d have to show you with a microscope. Obviously we don’t have that available, so we’ll have to settle for a really good, easy to follow explanation.

In synthetic motor oil, the molecules are uniform, round molecule. ON the other hand, the molecules of conventional motor oil are long hydrocarbon chains. Synthetic motor oil, on the other hand, has uniform, round molecules.

So if you think about it this way, “Which would be more slippery? A pile of pencils or a pile of marbles?

That means synthetic motor oil lubricates better because there’s less friction. Less friction on moving parts in your engine means better wear protection, cooler operating temperatures, more power, and better fuel economy.

Above all that, synthetic motor oil doesn’t sludge up like conventional oil, so it prevents those small oil passages from clogging up.