My '94 Celica with 256k miles never knew it to be true. Good ol' Fram orange is pretty much all I've ever used, though I did switch to the "high mileage" ones somewhere around 225k. That's what's on there right now.
If you are going to go with extended oil changes 10-20k miles you must use a high quality filter and if not a Group 3 Polyalphaolefin (PAO) oil, an actual full synthetic oil would be best. Mobil 1 and Castrol Syntec are not true synthetic they are (PAO) Group 3. Red-Line, Amsoil, and Royal Purple are the common true synthetics. If you paid less than $15-$20 a quart for oil it's not a true synthetic.
Your filter has to be high quality. Even then I would advise you change the filter and top off your oil at 8k-10k miles.
Oil filters that are able to go for extended runs are Wix, Napa Gold, and Bosch. Those are the 3 brands I trust for long term use. My truck with over 170k miles drives like it did over 13 years ago when I got it new.
I have been changing it every 2800 to 3000 miles with Mobile Clean 5000 (10W30) and Fram filter.
the grey Fram Tough Guard is an AWESOME product. It takes the really silly Fram XG to beat it.
Bosch oil filters. I used them to desludge 2 engines, and it CONSTANTLY keeps pulling more and more out. Only problem, they are black, so leak detection can be difficult if its in a tight spot.
I don't think Fram filters are all that bad. I've used them before with no problems. I have been scared away from them, though. There are much better filters out there for a couple more bucks. I have not read any horror stories on the 'tex about a Fram actually causing an engine to die, but maybe I have not looked hard enough.
I used royal purple 5w-30, and a ****ty fram oil filter since I couldnt get a hold of any others. Anyway, Ive been driving my car everyday and its been running pretty much like it did before the oil change. All of the sudden yesterday when I started it, it sounded a little odd to me. I let it warm up and went on my way. Well as soon as I got on the road i noticed it, the turbo wasnt spooling until about 3200rpm (max boost). It used to hit max at about 2600
Now, whenever I do a cold start the engine rattles like a diesel for about 30 seconds... and then you hear the difference... \"whoosh!\", and then the engine settles right down and idles normally.
The good news is that the Dodge dealer I got it from changed the oil & filter; the bad news is that they used basic Valvoline and a Fram filter.
Indeed, lack a drain back valve in many applications, poor quality, low pleat count, horrible filtration numbers, general poor build quality.
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