couple of newby questions!

[musicdude]

Proud owner of a 2009 Grand touring mazda5(wifes car) Anyway, I noticed in the owners manual it says oil change at 7500 miles but the dealership is saying 5000. What do you think? also was thinking about going with the mobil 1 synthetic stuff and is there anywhere around town that carries the adapter for the oil filter?
Thanks,
Chris

[Colombia28]

Welcome to the club. If the owners manual says 7500 then that is was Mazda thinks is the necessary. However it never hurts to change early. Personally with my Speed i change every 3000. Its all what you want so long as its within the safe millage imo. I would do 5000 as a max. Better safe than sorry.

[MazdaTom]

I changed my old 1991 626 with cheap oil per the owners manual -7500 miles. I traded the car with 197,000 miles on it and it didn't use too much oil (it did use some, but for such a high mileage motor, it's not surprising).

Best bet is to get an oil analysis done through a place like Blackstone Laboratories they will be able to tell you what kind of mileage intervals you should be using and what a good weight and blend you should be using- plus tell you just about anything going on with your engine, including if your air filter is dirty.

[remarquian]

My '07 5 owner's manual sez change it at six months / 7.5K miles except if you

• Repeated short-distance driving
• Driving in dusty conditions
• Driving with extended use of brakes
• Driving in areas where salt or other corrosive materials are being used
• Driving on rough or muddy roads
• Extended periods of idling or low-speed operation
• Driving for long periods in cold temperatures or extremely humid climates

Then four months / 5K miles.

How do you like your 5 so far?

[AIM WO4]

What he said...

I get mine done about every 3 - 5 K depending on the conditions. I do a lot of short drives most of the time.

3K is very low mileage unless it takes you 5+ months to get there or own a turbo'd car.

You don't need synthetic. That would be advisable to use IF yours is our first Speed version.

The adapter is the same as the one for the 3. You won't need it unless you plan to do your own time-consuming changes. You may want to modify the skip pad first. I think it's a universal piece they use with the diesel engine.

My '07 5 owner's manual sez change it at six months / 7.5K miles except if you

• Repeated short-distance driving
• Driving in dusty conditions
• Driving with extended use of brakes
• Driving in areas where salt or other corrosive materials are being used
• Driving on rough or muddy roads
• Extended periods of idling or low-speed operation
• Driving for long periods in cold temperatures or extremely humid climates

Then four months / 5K miles.

How do you like your 5 so far?

[MazdaTom]

5 owners have to take their cars in to get the oil changed? Why? What is so hard about the set up on the 5 that makes it DIY difficult?

[Ranger]

Welcome to the club! Can't answer your first question, but Mobil 1 synthetic is pretty good stuff. It's not as good as brands like Royal Purple or Amsoil, but it's a whole lot cheaper and would work fine for a daily driver. I would definitely run a full synthetic oil...these days, there's no real reason not to. Oh yeah, I'm curious about your screen name...what instruments do you play?

[MazdaTom]

but Mobil 1 synthetic is pretty good stuff. It's not as good as brands like Royal Purple or Amsoil,

that's cuz Mobil 1 is not a full synthetic, despite what it says on the bottle, like Amsoil or Royal Purple or Red Line.

but it's a whole lot cheaper and would work fine for a daily driver.

See above reply. But I agree, it works fine for a daily driver. The amount of synthetic oil present in the Mobil 1 does help.

[AIM WO4]

It's not difficult.... just time consuming for such a minor job. Not worth the effort in my opinion. Just my opinion though. I've changed the oil on all of my previous cars... but maybe I was more dedicated to the turbos (and other performace-type) in my garage.

5 owners have to take their cars in to get the oil changed? Why? What is so hard about the set up on the 5 that makes it DIY difficult?

[AIM WO4]

What color?

Proud owner of a 2009 Grand touring mazda5(wifes car) Anyway, I noticed in the owners manual it says oil change at 7500 miles but the dealership is saying 5000. What do you think? also was thinking about going with the mobil 1 synthetic stuff and is there anywhere around town that carries the adapter for the oil filter?
Thanks,
Chris

[musicdude]

Its Silver and the wives car. She totally loves it and I think if the dealer keeps sending me 19.99 coupons for oil changes I'll keep letting them do the oil. McDonald is okay but I wish they were a little faster!

[dommo_g]

5 owners have to take their cars in to get the oil changed? Why? What is so hard about the set up on the 5 that makes it DIY difficult?

Not hard, but like the 3, you have to take off the lower engine cover, 7 bolts, 2 push clips, and 2 tabs that love to break off if you take the cover off at the wrong angle. Plus the cartridge filter that, if you drain it using the drain plug before removing the housing cover, takes longer than a spin-on filter. There's 2 O-rings to change for the filter housing. Not hard, just a little more time consuming. $19.99 is a bargain for someone not wanting to change their own oil. Mazda dealerships will use a genuine Mazda filter, and by now, they should all be participating in the Mazda oil program, which uses Castrol oil, not the cheap off brand most dealerships use.

[dommo_g]

Just my opinion, but I would use the 5000 mile interval. Not many people can say they don't drive in the conditions listed for the shorter interval. I stopped using Mobil1 several years ago when I found out they claimed it was full syn, but really isn't. Plus the price on it jumped like $3 per quart. I used RP for a while, but that got too asspensive, so I only use it for the turbo cars. If you can stand to shop at Wal Mart, I think they still sell 5 quart jugs of Mobil1 for $22 if you still want to use that. I've read over at Bob Is The Oil Guy that Pennzoil Platinum is a nice syn to use.

I did a how-to a long time ago....haven't checked it in a while to see if there's anything new that can be added or changed, but it should give you an idea....
http://coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164

[rmeeker13]

Change every 3k, hell if it didn't cost so damn much for synthetic i'd do it every 1500mi.
I perfer Valvoline...any kind!