Is there anyway to check if a dealer accidently used regular oil instead of synthetic for an oil change? I called and asked the service guy why they put a sticker in my car saying it needed to be changed after 3000 miles, when they told me over the phone that synthetics are 5k-7.5k between changes and only regular oil gets the 3000 between changes.

He said they have a crossfire tech who is the only one that services crossfires so it had to be done right. But he couldn't explain why the 'crossfire expert' wouldn't have reset the crossfires FFS or even bother with the sticker. He didn't think the crossfires system was any different than any other chrysler scheduled service reminder.

so if there is a way that I can check to see if I do have sythetic oil in there, I would greatly appreciate it. Don't trust that the dealer would look out for my best interest.

 

After a couple of days driving, check the dip stick and look for "gook" The regular oil and the the synthetic oil don't like each other and will react with each other to form "gook". Sorry I'm not sure how to better discribe it. That's why once to convert to synthetic, if you never used synthetic, you can't go back to regular.

 

Sorry... I'm no help, but damn... is this your only choice for a dealership to service your Xfire?

I used to change my oil in lots of previous (oops pervious ) cars and you can almost "feel" the difference. Synth oil is still slippery after many thousands of miles, regular oil is not slippery even after a couple thousand miles.

This sounds like we need a pregnancy like tester for oil!

 

This dealer is about 1/4 mile from me. There are others I could drive to but I doubt any would have more service people with crossfire knowledge. Haven't more then 1-2 of them driving around this area since they came out. Also a guy at work is married to one of the managers there and she has been a big help in making sure I get treated right.

I think I am also just being a bit paranoid. It is the first real nice car I have ever had, and is a bit pricier then I should have gone (even as cheap as I got it), so I want to make sure I don't miss any major problems that I can get taken care of right away. Especially before the snow melts and I can drive it more.

Thanks for the replies will check it tonight before I take it in to get the new weather stripping parts installed for the wind noise.

 

I used to work for D-A Lubricant Co. and synthetics can be mixed with mineral oils (regular oil) without forming "gook". Many of the oils made today can go much further than the 3,000 mile "standard". The 3,000 miles standard is a warm and fuzzy standard for most drivers. Some of the viscosity modifiers (polymer) break down and this is what causes oil to leak out your oil filter or drain plugs at 3,000 miles. I use a synthetic blend in my other vehicles and can go safely 6-9K miles between drains. This was not easy for me a first since I too had been ingrained with the 3,000 mile drains.

There are pure synthetics used in "over the road" (OTR) trucks that regularly go 35 - 40K miles between drains. However, these operators regularly have their oil checked by an oil lab to check for wear metals, antifreeze, oxidation and the total base number (TBN). This will build a base line for the engine and show wear metal trends.

I highly recommend that anyone that wants to extend their drains have your oil sampled. This will probably cost about $8 to $12 per sample, but this is inexpensive insurance verse the cost of an engine rebuild.

 

ask to see the emptys.

 

I did see the 8 emptys and I have one half empty. Mobil 1 as per spec.

I expect to get another 12000 miles with the synthetic oil. I would expect 7000 miles on regular.

 

I had the same experience at the dealer.. forgot to reset the service computer, and put a sticker on the window with 3000 miles til next service. That kinda annoyed me to see it put there by a "Crossfire Tech". However I really just think they put that in every car in hopes we'll come back in 3000 miles instead of 7000. Some naive owners who never read the book or looked on a website may be changing their oil every 3000 miles.. I'm sure theres tons of them.

 

Check your bill as synthetic is more expensive than the regular oil and I assume whoever did the change would have billed out for the oil they used.