So guys i have a 2009 es 5 speed, and i am the second owner of the car i bought her (also known as the pissed of blender) with 22k on the clock, well fast forward two months and 8 thousand miles later the service light light came on. Took her to get the oil change and it was some sludgy nasty ****. So should i be going by what the service interval thing in the car says or should i just stick to the very religious 3k mile change?
Now onto to fuel, in my old little toyota matrix it ran tons better on 91 octane, but in the lancer i cant feel any difference. So is the compression of the 4b11 n/a to low to appreciate the added octane points?

one last general question, am i doing the car any favors by running chevron/texaco versus the grocery store brand?

The car has been great, it may not be crazy fast but it is certainly better than a corolla and i love driving this thing up and down california.

 

Run a full synthetic fluid, use a high performance synthetic filter, and use Shell 91 Gas for about 3 cycles and then use regular 87. that will be enough to clean out your engine. Its not really about the octane, there is just far less crap in Shell fuel.


you should be fine.

 

Eeeew. Sounds like the last owner might not have been so great about maintenance.

I usually go about 1K over what the dealership/oil change place lists on their stickers for a change and that's fine. Once you've got the gunk out, you should be okay provided you're not somewhere super dusty or something.

I don't know how the grocery store brand is, but here gas varies wildly by the station. The only time I've had any issue with my car shuddering and going derp (it almost felt like the engine was lugging, but that couldn't have been the case because I have the CVT!) was after I filled up at the Shell in town whose idiot owner keeps letting his tanks go all the way empty before he pays his dang bill and fills it up again. Avoid shady stations--look for good turnover and few "pump out of order" signs--and it should be fine.

 

Sludgey? As in really black dirty oil? If so I would definitely look at getting an engine flush done, even take the valve cover off and try to clean out the best you can.