• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Winter matenence importance....

S

Senior_XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
NY
I have a 95 XJ W/the HO 4.0L W/130,000 miles on the motor!
1) She burns NO OIL & never has in the many years ive had her!
2) She leaks NO OIL & never has except 4 that rock hittin the pan lip!
3) Compression test was straight across the board,(i think 160psi?).

-- SO,, the argument comes up that i can start running a half synthetic blend of 5w30 for the winter & see how she runs. Ofcourse some say a motor with over 100,000 shouldnt switch; BUT with my motor well kept, sneaking in a half blend could be the key to keeping her in this good condition & maybe push her over the 200,000 mark W/no motor OR head issues.
-- I believe she has "pro long" motor treatment in the motor, tranny, & fuel sys. I put royal purples coolant addative; W/Hi-flo pump & a 3 row rad!! I can keep goin with an MSD ignition,, yellow top,, 140amp alt,, 93octane for the winter,, etc,, etc,,,,WELL,,,, without any arguing,,,, im askin for honest opinions by those with experience with synthetics & those who just know alot about the XJ??!!

Thank You in advance to those that are very helpfull!! :)
((& "Im Sorry" for ramblin & makin a long post!!))
 
This is one of those situations where there isn't a right or wrong. You can get a very long service life out of regular dino oil as well. Many, many reports of getting 200-300k out of their 4.0 using regular oil.

That being said, I'm a big fan of synthetic fluids. I use them in my differentials, transfer case, and transmission. I use conventional oil (5-30 in the winter) in the crank case as I can't quite bring myself to swallow the extra cost of the synthetic and I change my oil religiously at 3,000 miles on my daily driver. I did run Mobil 1 synthetic oil in all of my Corvettes though. Good product.

You could skip the 93 octane gas though and save yourself some money. The stock 4.0 doesn't need anything but 87 to run just fine. Octane is simply an anti-knock index and you won't get any better performance nor is running premium easier on your engine. That is an old myth that dies hard. Don't take my word for it. Search the web for confirmation of this.
 
I've never bothered to run high octane gas in the winter. Ever. Unless you've got pinging issues, it's a waste of money. And if you've got pinging problems, those should just plain be solved.

As far as synthetic goes, I put synthetic in my AX15 when I was still running my 94 as a daily driver. That made a huge difference in shifting below freezing. Still running dino juice in the motor, though.

I have started to run full synthetic in my diesel, though. Switched over between 175k and 200k on the engine, no drips, and at -20, it turns over much better.

As far as the other maintenance goes, air pressure in the tires, check your brake fluid, etc. I don't do anything particularly special for the winter.
 
-- Thanks guys, i believe BirchlakeXJ's 1st comment 2 be the best cause i totally understand the concept of that statement!!
I may just pull the plug & go for it,, but how does the oil filter react to a half or full synthetic oil?? Im currently running synthetic in my rear 8.8 & in my brake sys. The t-case, tranny, & front axle will all have synthetic's soon!!

-- OOh,, i dont pay for my gas but normally i do use 87oct. Im also a big believer that any motor with over 100,000 should run a higher octane especially if its as old as my 1995 XJ!! I do feel a bit more pep & less jeep noises,, "IF U KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!" The best thing here is having a better piece of mind!! Hopefully i will have the FITCH catalyst sys & an upgraded fuel filter sys.!!
 
Last edited:
YOu should just run full synthetic if you're thinking of a blend. I switched to full synth at 150k, no leaks, no issues, no probs. If youre motors solid, no leaks, it won't with synthetic, don't worry.
 
I see no reason to (and never have) run anything other than dino and 87oct in my Jeep. I beat on it while it was my DD and it is currently at 175k miles on odometer (actual mileage unknown, been running 30" tires since 120k miles and got 33" tires at about 140k miles, stock gearing). It is a '93. Might leak a tiney bit around the oil pan but not even enough to make a noticeable difference in oil level over a 3000k mile oil change. I just took the Jeep out of storage where it was sitting for 18 months and it still had a full 6 quarts or so in it. So that goes to show no leaking :) Oh, and dont burn any either. So dino has done me well.

If you want to spend the money and run more expensive oils and such, go for it. But if you are going to run them no matter why why even ask for advice :dunno: I am switching to synth on my 2008 DD, but the XJ will keep getting the dino's. Though I do agree with synth in the trans, t-case, and gears. I will be swapping synth into my t-case and diffs as soon as I get new axles and/or gears, and as soon as I get my SYE installed.
 
Especially if you have no leaks or burning of oil, then make the switch to full syn. And running 93 oct is re-cockulous. There is no reason for it. Most of the guys running strokers are not even running 91-93+oct. Some say that the full syn is a waste, but you can go much longer between oil change intervals because of the properties. YOu can run Amsoil up to 1 year/25000 miles with proper filter changes.
 
Put whatever you want in, But I would forget about the part synthetic stuff & just go full synthetic + a grade 1 filter (Mobil 1, K&N, Etc..) I use mobil 1 year round with no issues (01 with 120K on it), 10w40 winter, 15W50 summer.
You will be suprised how dirty your oil will be next oil change after the switch!
 
Amsoil, Pennzoil Platinum (the only product of theirs I recommend), Valvoline SynPower, All of which have ZDDP.
 
Blend oils are BS IMO. why? HOW MUCH SYNTHETIC IS IN IT? they can call it a blend even if they add a drop of synthetic and the rest is regular oil, and then charge more. I'd either go full synthetic or not. I'd consider using synthetic oil if i routinely ran into weather below 0F , or if i wanted to extend my oil change intervals. IMO syn is good for longer oil change intervals, and turbo engines. aside from that i dont think you will notice your engine 'last longer' w/ synthetic. THe Pro long engine treatment is a bunch of BS as well.

BTW if there is one time to run 93 octane its in the summer not the winter, to ward off pinging. If the engine does not ping, more octane is DECREASING engine performance. Not to mention technically its harder to start a car with 93 vs 87 octane in the winter, or any other time for that matter.

There is nothing special to do for winter maintainence that shouldn't be already done, or done at other times of the year. Aside from getting things done that you want to do/that are starting to go bad, before its miserable to work on it in the winter vs the end of the summer/fall
 
Looks like your current maintenance ways have gotten you this far, why change now. My 89 xj has 369,000 mi currently,and like yours doesn't burn a drop of oil. I'm the original owner and I use Castrol 20w-50 and fram filters( although I've recently changed to Bosch). I drive this sled 100 miles everyday and it has never let me down.
 
I am a huge fan of synthetics. My rig leaks like a sieve so I'm running less expensive dino for the now. if you do switch, go full synthetic, blends are BS, you either Pit or get off the SHot. i've been an amsoil distributor for many years, and used it in NON-leaking trucks for those years...
 
Banditt007 said:
Blend oils are BS IMO. why? HOW MUCH SYNTHETIC IS IN IT? they can call it a blend even if they add a drop of synthetic and the rest is regular oil, and then charge more. I'd either go full synthetic or not. I'd consider using synthetic oil if i routinely ran into weather below 0F , or if i wanted to extend my oil change intervals. IMO syn is good for longer oil change intervals, and turbo engines. aside from that i dont think you will notice your engine 'last longer' w/ synthetic. THe Pro long engine treatment is a bunch of BS as well.

BTW if there is one time to run 93 octane its in the summer not the winter, to ward off pinging. If the engine does not ping, more octane is DECREASING engine performance. Not to mention technically its harder to start a car with 93 vs 87 octane in the winter, or any other time for that matter.

There is nothing special to do for winter maintainence that shouldn't be already done, or done at other times of the year. Aside from getting things done that you want to do/that are starting to go bad, before its miserable to work on it in the winter vs the end of the summer/fall
Click to expand...

I've read that in several places also.. that "blends" are the oil companies biggest money makers. they put a very small % of synthetic in it and charge a large % extra. Mobile 1 tried to stay "above" this for many years.. but they were missing out on too much money by staying out of the "blend" market.. and gave in..
 
89 xj 4.0 all i use is 10w30 summer & 15w30 in the winter (5w30 if i have to) she leaks from the back (not sure if its from the top or bottom, haven't gotten into it yet).
the diffs i haven't changed yet (haven't run her in 4 wheel a lot), and when i had to replace the t-case .. not sure what i put in it syn or dino tranny fluid (what it calls for).
im leakin oil & tranny fluids. not sure if the cherry juice is from the tranny or the t-case? everything is covered in either black oil or red juice. lol.

i just need to put her up on blocks & tear her apart & fix her right. (i hate working outside in this cold weather !)


key note; all this work will be done , but preferably after gettin another dd.






edit; rule of thumb i used to replace a quart of oil with LUCAS oil treatment... then it got a bit too expensive to add when i had to change the oil, so i stopped usin it. but it is a great way of keeping oil "up in the engine" when not runnig it. (less start up friction, etc etc).
 
Last edited:
stephenspann27 said:
I've read that in several places also.. that "blends" are the oil companies biggest money makers. they put a very small % of synthetic in it and charge a large % extra. Mobile 1 tried to stay "above" this for many years.. but they were missing out on too much money by staying out of the "blend" market.. and gave in..
Click to expand...


NO SH!T!! This is actually true?? Why would top companies do such a thing only to risk there reputation when it WILL eventually be discovered??

You guys got any links to news articles or reports found by some sorta basis besides just hearing this from someone else??

WOW,, thats just plain WRONG!!!!
 
hey senior!! why is it that you always end your sentences with two characters of punctuation?? it seems like you are rather fond of the exclamation point!! even when there is absolutely no need for it like when naming your rigs stats!! it gets really annoying!!
 
stewie said:
hey senior!! why is it that you always end your sentences with two characters of punctuation?? it seems like you are rather fond of the exclamation point!! even when there is absolutely no need for it like when naming your rigs stats!! it gets really annoying!!
Click to expand...


-- Well im sorry u feel that way,, SOOO I thought of a good idea 2 help u out,,,, instead of posting useless & insulting info on other threads,, why dont u try skippin OVER these "annoying" threads & DONT reply 2 them!!!! ((This Includes My Threads!!))
This will make it less "annoying" for urself & EVEN BETTER advice would simply be NOT 2 read my threads & just move on & then u wont ruin your own day!!!!
:looser: :gag:
 
stewie said:
hey senior!! why is it that you always end your sentences with two characters of punctuation?? it seems like you are rather fond of the exclamation point!! even when there is absolutely no need for it like when naming your rigs stats!! it gets really annoying!!
Click to expand...
I think he's big on random capitalization and punctuation in hopes of getting it right by accident. It's a little headache inducing to read :twak:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
New Jeep...new problems!
Replies
0
Views
288
CheapJerokee
C
C
New Jeep...new problems!
2 3
Replies
44
Views
3K
CheapJerokee
C
B
Help with a WHOLE bunch of stuff on a new 1999 Sport.
Replies
15
Views
2K
CMNCHE
C
XpedientJ
NO-HEAT/Variable-HEAT ; BLEND DOOR...and, PREemptive recommend w/RADIATOR replacement
Replies
0
Views
946
XpedientJ
XpedientJ
D
1986 xj pioneer w/ 3.4L swap 2000 obo
Replies
4
Views
764
Das_Joop
D
Back
Top