Hi Everybody,

Long story short, I bought a 2011 Outlander SE 1 1/2 months ago, and also got a service plan for 5 years, which includes oil changes, alignments, etc.
At 1100 miles, I went for my first oil change and requested to have 0-W20 full synthetic oil, which of course led to extra charges, no matter my service plan, but, that was fine($19.99 instead of the $50 I was told initially). Oil was changed, I got home, and that's when I looked at the printout they gave me, oil was listed as 5x$6(which couldn't be full synthetic), filter, labor and also a nitro refill on the sheet, which I haven't requested, but was listed as $59.99(it's part of my service plan too).

Let's get to the point, I am suspecting that they just put regular oil, and wanted to know if there is a way to tell post factum if the oil is full synthetic or just regular mineral, or just synthetic blend.

If it matters, the oil filter they installed is MZ 960116(i am not sure if there is a difference between synthetic and regular oil filters)

Boy, now when I look at it the story isn't short at all, sorry about that.

Basically can I tell now, what kind of oil they used ?
And also how often should I change synthetic oil ? I am thinking 5-6K miles, don't really want to go over that

Thank you.

 

oil change at 1100 why isnt first at 7500? Also mobile 1 can be bought for around $4.00 per qt here

 

I wanted to get rid of the first oil at around 1000 miles...just to make sure that particles from the manufacturing process and the brake-in are gone.
What was interesting, the engine sound was different on my way home, I mean not as loud somehow. Felt smoother.

 

You are dealing with computer coding the mechanic press a button and something show on the invoice, something a human coded not really the truth.

If it felt smoother it probably is synthetic, mine did on the second oil change when i went for it.

6k is not unreasonable with synthetic oil.

 

Here is my experience with oil changes in a (at one time several years ago) new vehicle, with analysis on all samples by Blackstone Laboratories (I am a simple customer of same) on our vehicle (a left-over '04 purchased in early '05) since 2005 (not a Mitsubishi product, but with a Mazda 3.0 L Duratec V6, Petrol, U.S. engine, just so you know.)

But enough:

At 600 miles the engine is on its way to break-in, but has a lot of manufacturing residue in it. So change the oil out (as well as the oil filter,) as you did at 1,100 miles. Probably close enough.

The Blackstone report will indicate very high iron contamination, and other contaminates from the manufacturing process. In my engine -- I chose to get it out of there at 611 miles.

Have the oil changed + oil filter again at about 2,000 miles, and again at about 5,000 miles. This will flush the contaminants out, at least according to the analysis reports I received from the lab. YMMV, of course.

After that, go for 5,000 mile oil and filter changes, or whatever pleases you depending on your requirements.

No worries here. Just my 2 cents and all that. 80K and counting on the Duratec, and all is well.

Have fun with it.

Don

<edit / add>

To answer the O.P.'s question more directly, I have a spreadsheet on all gasoline fill-ups / mileage (over 300 of them), maintenance, product use like "Chevron Techron" 20 oz gas additive, in-cabin air filter changes, engine air filter changes, the use of Dino / Semi-syn / Full Syn oils -- everything ... and there is really no discernible difference for me, anyway, w/r/t engine wear analysis or gasoline mileage for any of the "improvements" (but please follow the oil / filters / etc. change requirements, or possibly ask for trouble from the manufacturer.) There are simply no discernible results for wear and gasoline mileage for doing this maintenance for me, according to my records. It is just a tax to keep things in good shape. The experiments amount to spending money to try something out that end with with no results at all, at least for me. For me, status quo is, and can be a good thing, though. But do what you want.

For me, nothing special, change things out according to factory recommendations. For the tranny flush, let the dealer do it. Period. Do not play with air or oil filters -- factory all the way.

My 2 cents. Have fun with it.

<edit / end add>

Don

 

I really thought the days of a very easy break in where over and the 500 mile oil change. I guess for the $30.00 its piece of mind.

 

Thanks for all the responses!
But still, out of curiosity, do you guys know a way to tell of the oil is mineral or synthetic....something like color, smell, anything that would make difference ?
Plus, do you know if this MZ 960116 oil filter is for regular, or synthetic oil?

 

filters are filters...some are better than others, but they do not care if the oil is syn or dino.

by look or smell, there is no way to tell. I know my local dealer uses 5w20 Castrol dino oil as their bulk oil of choice.

 

The problem is your definition of "full synthetic" in North America. It's like calling food organic.

For $6/qt they probably used a group III or synthetic blend. Which for your drain interval is perfectly fine and better than mineral oil. In fact some group III oils are better than lower quality group IV basestocks there is some overlap in quality. Examples of these types of oils would be AMSOIL OE or XL lines and normal Mobil 1.

For about $11/qt you can get a full synthetic group IV, V basestock oil which will shear less in use, keep your engine running cooler and with high quiality additives hold its TBN number over a long drain interval. Examples would be AMSOIL Signature Series or maybe Mobil 1 Extended Performance, not sure about M1 EP as they don't like to share information.

Looking at the oil you'll never know unless you have a lab test it - expect that to be expensive. The filter won't tell you if they used synthetic or not. Just call up your dealer and ask what their synthetic bulk oil is in the shop.


To maintain your power train warranty you need to change it as required by your owners manual - not sure what yours is but my 2009 is 5W-20 every 6,000km or 3 months.

That being said, how many people have ever had a lubrication based warranty claim on a non-modified engine? I haven't heard of many except for a few sludge monsters. If your radio stops working, it's not because you didn't change your oil every 3,000 miles and the dealer should still warranty the radio work.

What you need to know is that if your engine explodes or a substandard oil filter blows out and all your oil drains onto the road seizing the engine the dealer is going to ask you for proof of maintenance and you'll need to provide that for warranty work on a lubrication issue.

I've yet to see it with high quality products and excellent Mitsubishi engines which is why I am going to 6-month/16,000-km changes at the same time the winter tires get swapped and rotated once the 5 year warranty expires.

 

10x again,

I figured there is no way to tell what oil they used...its kind of frustrating but what can you do, we'll have to go that way of it's that important for the warranty.
BTW, I noticed that my car's service reminder was set to 13900 and 11 months, so they did change that, but then there was a sticker on my windshield(which my wife actually noticed) that says I need my next oil change in 3 months/3000 miles ... go figure.