River Valley Auto
300 Northland Dr NE, ROCKFORD, MI 49341 616.866.4578

Engine and Exhaust

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Motor Oil—The Synthetic Advantage (Synthetic oil vs Conventional)

You’ve probably already heard that regular oil changes are extremely important for the health of your vehicle’s engine. That’s sound advice.  But what you might not know is when...
Published on: Mar 02, 2025

The Maintenance Mindset: Full-Service Oil Change At River Valley Auto

{{ image('MzIx') }} people generally accept that many things in life require regular maintenance: their teeth, clothes, yards and so on, but people in MI often don't apply the idea of maintenance to...
Published on: Dec 15, 2024

The “Man-Made” Engine Oil (Synthetic Oil Change)

If you own a newer vehicle, your vehicle’s manufacturer may require that it use synthetic oil instead of conventional oil.  Synthetic oils are more stable, don’t break down as easily,...
Published on: Aug 25, 2024

Oil Filter

As your engine runs, dirt gets into the oil.  Oil sludge can also start to build up.  Fortunately, motor oil contains detergents that clean the engine and gather up contaminates.  The o...
Published on: Feb 13, 2024

River Valley Auto Advice on Synthetic Oil

Heard of synthetic motor oil but would like to learn more information?  Well, synthetic motor oil is a substitute for conventional oil.  Synthetic doesn’t gel or gum-up like conventio...
Published on: Jul 26, 2023

Change Your Oil, MI Drivers!

As engine technology advances, recommended oil change intervals have gotten longer.  High quality oil in a well-engineered engine has led to extended intervals.  Here’s the problem:&n...
Published on: Apr 28, 2023

Simple Answers from River Valley Auto: Synthetic Oil

Question What is synthetic oil, and should I use it? Answer Regular oil, also called conventional oil, comes from dead dinosaurs.  Conventional oil molecules are long hydrocarbon chains of var...
Published on: Feb 23, 2020

ROCKFORD: Have You Considered Synthetic Oil?

I recently saw an ad for synthetic oil.  I really hadn’t heard about it before, so I asked by service advisor for some background.  Basically, the inside of your engine gets hot becaus...
Published on: Dec 17, 2019