Ditto. I don't trust anyone draining the oil and all. When I pull the plug, I tinker in the garage for some time until the oil practically stops dripping. I usually wipe everything down and double check all connections. As Tony Montana says, "who do I trust? ME!"
I had to replace a Ford Ecoboost engine in my Transit due to a guy at a quickie lube shop (One I actually trust) not checking and putting an oil filter on over the previous filter's gasket, causing catastrophic loss of oil and destroying the engine. $12 grand for a Ford factory remanufactured engine. Fortunately, the shop's insurance covered it. That right there is why I'll change my own, if I can. That Transit is too low to the ground for me to do it myself, so I've got no choice with it. On a Jeep, why not do it yoruself? The filter is as easy as it gets and even on a base Sport, it is easy to get under it and get to the drain plug. No problem doing it in 10 minutes.
On my TJ it was because the oil liked to drain onto the oil pan skid plate, not out the hole, so it was easier to let someone else clean up the mess.
Right. I like the fact that my JLUR is so high off the ground, I can just get my creeper and slide on under haha.
Those so-called experts are full of el toro poo-poo. If the oil meets or exceeds API/SAE performance specs, it's more than adequate. What's more, "Full synthetic" is a marketing term and is not a measurable quality. In fact, most (if not all ) "full synthetic" automotive motor oils are made from chemically modified petroleum base stocks.
Yep. Castrol, Pennzoil, Valvoline, Havoline, Napa, Supertech, Quaker State, and some others are Group III base, which are exactly as @Biscuit says, produced from petroleum base stocks. Pennzoil gets theirs from natural gas, but that is still a natural petroleum product. "Regular" Mobil 1 is believed to primarily be a Group III, as well, as is Mobil Super Synthetic. Mobil 1 EP and AP and some of their High Mileage oils are believed to have Group IV base stock. How much? Only Exxon Mobil really knows, but their properties, such as pour point and flash point, and the service interval, indicate a significant amount of Group IV base stock. Mobil 1 0w20 Annual Protection has the best combination of low pour point and high flash point, which make me (admittedly NOT a chemist) believe it has the most Group IV of any of them. It also gives me great confidence in it's ability to protect at high temperatures. It's flash point is higher than most 5w30's and 10w30's I've seen, including Mobil 1's other EP and AP products. You do have to check back at the product data sheets, from time to time, because they do change formulations.
It is outstanding oil. It likely is made with a group IV synthetic base stock, which is true synthetic.
Normally I would say it is due to CAFE reasons, but with this generation of the Pentastar in the JL, they did revise the variable valve system that is very sensitive to viscosity for proper actuation. You can probably get away with using a different weight on the short term, but I would imagine eventually timing or cam phasing codes would post using long term if lets say you went to a 30+ weight multi viscosity.
