Hello, Will Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W-30 oil for higher mileage vehicles over 75K miles (my van has 76K miles) provide me with better fuel economy? I currently drive with a light foot, and on my 1994 Ford E150 with 4.9 Liter 6 cylinder engine, I get 11.5 MPG City, and 15.5 MPG highway using regular oil. How much better gas mileage would I get if I used Mobil 1? The same, 1 MPG better, 2 MPG better? - Bill

Michael, Ford recommends 10W-30 for my van. I noticed that Mobil no longer makes the specialized Mobil 1 With Super Syn 10W-30 for higher mileage vehicles anymore. Now, Mobil only has one 10W-30 Mobil 1 Super Syn choice. They call it Multi-vehicle (which means its for brand new vehicles as well as high mileage vehicles). On the Mobil 1 label on the container, it says all brand new Dodge Vipers come pre-filled from the factory with this oil. It also says it has additives to protect the engine seals of high mileage engines. So that is why Mobil calls it a Multi-vehicle oil. Another thing I've learned is that all the new vehicles (like the new Ford Vans and the new Honda's) are supposed to use 5W-20 viscosity. I read an article which says this is only a way for the manufactures to have higher rated fuel economy at the expense of higher long term engine wear. The article recommends owners of such vehicles to use 5W-30 oil for better long term engine protection. I had the insides of my engine steam cleaned at the Ford dealer for $99 a while ago, but the engine oil still gets dark after 3,000 miles. I wanted to ask you 2 questions: 1) When the oil gets dark in color (after about 3,000 miles of use in my van), does it still protect the engine as well as when the oil was light tan color? 2) If the oil is dark, will it contribute to sludge and will some of this dirty oil eventually cause blockages in the engine oil passages leading to a permanent problem of having lower oil pressure? - Bill

Sternbach,