I have an 01 sebring with the 2.7. My next oil change is in about 1000 miles at 121,000. Right now I'm using valvoline conventional high mileage and want to know if I should switch to synthetic or change brands. If synthetic what brand and regular or high mileage? Any recommendations are welcome. Please and thanks.

 

Tyler, everyone has an opinion on oil...
I have the same year Sebring with the same engine, albeit with less than 1/2 the mileage of your car.
I run synthetic (PAO based) oil in mine for a number of different reasons, but one of the main reasons is because this type of oil resists sludging.
You can't just go by the word "synthetic" on the bottle because there are different types. And you can't just go by brand names, because they all pretty much have the different groups of "synthetic" oil in their lineup.
Mobil 1 EP (make sure it has the EP), Redline, Amsoil (signature series), Motul are some of the common brands.

Will your car blow up if you don't use a synthetic? Probably not. (but, it is well documented that our engine is susceptible to sludge). Are the benefits to using synthetic? I believe there are.

Without getting into lengthy detail (& possibly argument with someone) I'll stop here.

 

No, please go on. I would like to learn from your knowledge and know what YOU would put in my car if YOU were in MY situation. I did the valve cover gaskets and the valves and everything I could see were CHERRY CLEAN! I Work at Oreilly auto parts so the price of oil doesnt matter. What brand and sub-model(high mileage, signature, premium, racing) would you use if you were me and why. I do mainly city driving(its a 3 minute drive to work and my car doesnt even have a chance to warm up) but I do like to cruise the back roads and hills. I do have a heavy foot and like to hear that 2.7 wide open. My crank seal is leaky but I plan to fix that soon. Right now Im running the Valvoline High Mileage because of their 225,000 Engine guarantee but I wouldnt mind switching, Just tell me what and why. You got me looking at the Mobil 1 EP(since you listed it first) and it sounds like I might start using that. Unfortunately Oreillys doesnt have it so Ill be going to walmart. But any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!

 

I have the same year Sebring with the same engine, albeit with less than 1/2 the mileage of your car.

 

Okay now I'm confused. I replaced my crankseal, I changed both of the belts to Gates Micro AT, and I switched to 5 quarts of Mobil 1 Extended Performance but still using Wix filters. I oil it on a test drive and floored it to see if it will squeal from first to second and second to third and its smooth and quiet but now it smells like something is burning when I get in the high RPMs. It is the new belts breaking in, new oil, new crankseal or is something wrong there?

 

As impossible as it is to diagnose "weird noises" over the internet, it's ten time more impossible to diagnose smells. You could be smelling a little oil that got spilled on the exhaust manifold, you could still have a leak, or it could be the car next to you that is producing a stink. It might be your shoe that is burning with your right foot that far into the throttle.
These cars were not built for the dragstrip. Take it easy and it'll last a lot longer.