Advantage of synthetic

[Cincinnati Guy]

Before I do anymore on my valve seals I wanted to consider or discuss using synthetic. Anyone here do it? Do you use any oil at all? What oil are you using? Is it better or worse or no change for performance and or wear and tear?

 

[91f2504x4]

I have heard a lot of people say that after changing to synthetic that they starting using more oil. Although I have only ran it in a couple vehicles and noticed no such thing. I used to run royal purple in everything in a 2000 mustang GT I had. It was low miles anyway but it seemed to idle smoother and quiter with the royal purple especially in the cold, not that it was all that rough in the first place. My wife had a corrola that she bought new before we got married, she never changed the oil until one day after we started dating she mentioned needing to get it changed and I told her that I would take care of it,and I asked her how long it had been, she said well I bought it new so it should be good right? At this point it had over 60,000 miles. I bought Mobil 1 full synthetic and ran that in it til she plastered a deer and totalled it and it seemed to run smoother than it did before. So I have had good experiences with synthetic oil but some will say they have had problems with it.

 

[ne buckeye]

I switched over to rotella synthetic oil,about a month ago. I had john deere 15-40 , it is a good oil, but my batteries must be getting weak,it turned over hard this winter, while not plugged in, so i decided to try the synthetic for its cold weather flow properties. Now it turns over like a gas motor, idles smoother, sounds better, lower temps. It has to be better for the bearings, it flows great even when I started it at -10 ,not plugged in. I will probly go back to the john deere oil this spring, But for the winter I'll stay with the synthetic

 

[Papabear]

I run Amsoil in everything I own and the I also use there engine flush once a year and the main things i notice right wawy aftert I convert a vehicle to amsoil is that the engine seems to run noticeably quieter, fuel economy increases enough to notice as much as 10% after converting all lubricants to amsoil, also a little bit more giddy-up in the go pedal. Also for gaspots I would strongly recommend the E3 spark plugs (huge difference)

 

[sootman73]

i dont run synthetic because of the cost. (my pockets aren't that deep) but i do throw two quarts of lucas additive in with it everytime. makes starting cold way smoother! easier to start because it can spin faster.

papabear why do you say E3 plugs make a huge difference? my friend works at champion spark plug at their research and development in toledo. says that the plugs with multiple electrodes dont make a differnce because spark still only goes to one point. just the behavior of electricity...

 

[tractorman86]

RLDSL is the man to ask about synthetics been working with it for years

 

[seawalkersee]

Its actually funny to see this thread. The guy I got my IDI from was an engineer from Ford who worked in the oils and filters dpt. He said they went to one of the german companies and he watched/was with them while they conducted an oil stress test.

The test was shown on a graph style setup and the temp and viscosity were both measured. He described it as going on a solid line like----------------------- that. When the oil started to fail, it would go / up on the graph and they would add another qt of regular oil. He said the test could continue for 3/4 of the duration of the original test.

Now...with that being said, the results backed themselves time and time again. Then, they tested synthetic. Im not sure how long they tried it, but it never broke down. He said they tried all kinds of different things and the syn. stuff just would not quit.

So, not being able to break it down with conventional methods, they swithched to semisynthetic. Same results. So, use semisynthetic and see what you can save....Then, pull it outta the engine and throw it in the tank and see if it helps cold starts there too.

SWS

 

[hesutton]

No synthetic here. Just 15W-40 Rotella dino juice. I also add 2 quarts of Lucas when changing the oil and I run a PSD filter. Just change it every 3000 miles. I'll Blackstone the next change and see where I'm at.

Heath

 

[sootman73]

No synthetic here. Just 15W-40 Rotella dino juice. I also add 2 quarts of Lucas when changing the oil and I run a PSD filter. Just change it every 3000 miles. I'll Blackstone the next change and see where I'm at.

Heath

exact same thing i do! bout how many quarts can you fit this way? i think i usually fit twelve sometimes eleven but usually closer to twelve.

 

[RLDSL]

There is a reason that new high end European engines specify synthetic lubricants. They catch on a little quicker than we do here. It was pretty funny the new VW diesels only had two oils that met the factory spec available in the us, an Amsoil and one other ( I think it was either Pentosin, Lubro moly or Motul), and many of the dealers were either too stupid or too cheap to stock either and were stocking Castrol syntec instead which didn't meet the spec
If you can keep the things cleaner and keep the maintnence costs down it's pretty much a no brainer. For Europe where emissions standards are very strict, the choice of synthetics is basically no choice, they have to do everything they can to keep emissions down as low as possible, reducing friction and reducing the amount of oil vapour burning off into the atmosphere makes a huge difference.

All that said, these things are great for a fresh or mechanically sound engine, for an older engine that inhales oil already around the rings guides or has seals that are trying to re stripe the interstate system, switching to synthetic is a bit of a waste unless your idea of entertainment is sitting on the pot flushing ten dollar bills

I ran Delo in mine while it was worn out, but after rebuild, it got a nice belly full of Amsoil 15w40 diesel and Marine and a bypass filter. It only uses a qt about every 2000 miles or so when towing heavy and that oil has been in there for quite some time now.

 

[LA350]

The reason the aviation community used synthetics is because it will not break down as dino lubes will in high stress, high rev, high temp usage. Synthetics are just that synthetic, chemically composed/engineered for a purpose. Mineral based oils are made up of many different things and one part may not be as stable as the other. This is the reason it breaks down faster. This is why synthetics are great for high temp, hard use applications where the component needs that extra protection that the higher priced syntheic fluids offer.

The longer oil change interval allowed by synthetics is great if one utilizes oil analysis to monitor the condition of the oil as it ages. Although synthetic oils do not break down as mineral based oils do they still suffer the same physical property contamination. These being, sulfation, nitration, fuel dilution, oxidation, oil/coolant contamination, as well as low TBN, and Viscosity problems. If these are ignored then the high priced synthetics oils will save you nothing.

Manufacturers set the oil change intervals low because they Joe may not be able to afford oil analysis. Mineral based oils can well exceed the hard time based lube orders set forth by manufacturers but to CYA they cut the time limits way down to protect aginast liability. If they advertised that XYZ brand oil can go 10k miles between oil change and someone blows an engine then they set themselves up for a law suit. Now even though with regular oil analysis this oil may easily go this long.

So the crux of this post is, if you use oil analysis one can regularly extend one's oil changes beyond the advertised hard lube orders placed by manufactorers. Is synthetic better than mineral? That depends on the situation really but if it gives the owner that warm and fuzzy feeling then go for it. If the situation demands that a synthetic be used then by all means use it.

 

[69dieselfreak]

if you burn oil or blow it by like i do then syn. is not worth it until i get my chatch can built then get a base line then ill probably buy it and see what happens

 

[Diezel_Cowboy]

 

[forcefed]

I just use 10w40 rotella. I've never used synthetic in anything. I do not see the point in added cost of the oil when I have never had a problem with normal oil. Heck in my s-10 I run the cheap oil from tractor supply company and i have over 200,000 miles on this truck. I change the oil every 5,000 miles and the oil is as clean as the day I put it in and truck still holds 45 psi oil pressure. I'm not very easy on this truck either before anybody says I baby this truck. In my opinion the synthetic is not worth the cost.