Do I need to change oil at 500 mi. or wait for 3000 mi. Thinking of going with synthetic, is it worth it?? Gi

 

if you are going to...do it at 500

i do it as a rule of thumb since i build alot of high HP motors in the past.
removes metal from break in

 

the jk has a monitor for the oil condition. it will tell you when it needs to be changed.
unless you want to do it just to switch to synthetic, but that seems like a waste.
driving style has an effect on oil change interval.

 

incorrect
the longer you wait to swap to synthetic the less initial bonding it will do with the metals in the engine.

sooner the better

 

Speaking of oil change....I change mine evry 3000 miles.....for some reason my "change oil" message is coming on and it has only been 1850 miles. I have not changed the way I drive so I have no idea why.

 

what's incorrect? why would it bond less just because you waited till 3000 mi? i don't understand.

 

Me either.

Synthetic helps prevent metal breakdown to a much greater degree than regular oil, to add sythetic right out of the gate will prevent parts from breaking in together.

For what it's worth, I changed mine at 500 and used regular oil to continue the break in procedure. At 2500 I changed again and used synthetic and now change at the regular intervals noted in the manual--6000 miles, 12000 miles, etc.

 

You are correct sir, I wouldnt switch over to Synthetic until at least the 2 or third oil change. I usually swith around the 9000 mile mark to allow full break in from the dino oil.

 

Oil changes almost seem to be a mystical ritual

I swapped out the factory build oil with the 5w20 mobil1 synthetic in case there were any real tiny particles of metal sloshing around after reading about oil changes here.

The 2008 manual states you can use synthetic oil as long as it's the same rating as the dino oil.

I'm not sure what the bonding issue is about but there's a number of cars that roll right out of the factory with synthetic oil..

 

I don't think the synthetic is really gonna affect your break in. There are lots of higher end cars, especially the german stuff that comes from the factory filled with synthetic. I switched at 500miles and havn't had any problems. Doesn't use any oil at all. Your mainly worried about breaking the piston rings in. As long as you work the engine like your owners manual tells you too for the initial break in, you should be fine.