hi kitty g- haven't heard from you in a while, worried that you had blown a gasket or your clutch was slipping, maybe you need to upshift into overdrive. sorry for my metaphors, me bad. always appreciate your mechanical sagery. this oil debate has been ongoing since at least 64. have always used 10-30 name brand with no trouble. critical item is to change oil by 5k miles. on filters have mostly used the original maker, Purolator with no problem. have used wal mart super tech which I suspect is made by Purolator. problem is wal mart has discontinued some of their auto products for older tanks e.g. they no longer have listings for 01 Saturn and 92 Volvo. only frequent negative I hear on filters is on frams. don't think clogging oil filters has been a problem since late 60s when oil pumps and filters added a bypass valve which sensed excessive pressure caused by a clogging filter and passed the oil through to avoid starvation. my 2d cup of coffee club composed mostly of geezers and barracudas with old cars meets a few days a week at 9A at local dunkin(starbuck drinkers/ elitists not allowed).frequent topic is cars. one old gal (looks like annie greensprings in paisley print long dressesfrom Woodstock) who knows more about cars than some of the old fuds like me.drives an old sunfaded red 245 wagon. agrees with me on the oil and filter issue. think its an 88 with about 290k. says engine and auto trans have never been apart. have never used synthetic oil. don't know of a car manufacturer who approves of longer oil changes with synthetic as some advocate- voids warranty. still frequently hear that the synthetic cleans so well it causes seals to leak. what has your experience been? thanks tons oldduke