heavyD
20+ Year Contributor
- 1,004
- 6
- Feb 9, 2003
-
Calgary,
I may be a newbie to DSM talk but am a seasoned ex-Honda tuner. I find some of the comments about synthetic oil in threads laughable. I have read stuff like "synthetic oil causes leaks", "you need special gaskets for synthetic oil", "synthetic oil eats gaskets".
I work in the oil & gas industry in Canada and can tell you the facts on synthetic oil. Synthetic oil doesn't cause oil leaks, bad sealing gaskets do. If you have this problem sythetic oil will find leaks more than regular oil. Why? Synthetic oil is man made and manufactured to spec. Every oil molecule is identical in size. This gives synthetic superior flow characteristics and is why a 10W30 synthetic oil seems thinner than a conventional 10W30 oil.
Conventional oil is created by natural means by biodegradation of living things/organisms over hundreds of years. The oil molecules are not uniform in size (some large & some small). When you have small imperfections in gasket seals, some of the large oil molecules present will lodge themselves in the crevices causing a seal and preventing the smaller ones to pass through. When you change to synthetic oil, the new oil will eventually displace the molecules of the previously used conventional oil and will flow through the imperfections and you now have leaks. This is not a common problem on new engines but on older engines with dried and cracked gaskets it will be.
Bottom line is that synthetic oil is a superior lubricant but you must ensure that you have no leaks prior to using it. If you have an older engine and would like to use synthetic oil to prolong your engine life, you may have to look into replacing the major gaskets on your engine or stick with conventional oil which really isn't that bad since many now have additives to condition you seals.
I hope this helps clear the myths.
I work in the oil & gas industry in Canada and can tell you the facts on synthetic oil. Synthetic oil doesn't cause oil leaks, bad sealing gaskets do. If you have this problem sythetic oil will find leaks more than regular oil. Why? Synthetic oil is man made and manufactured to spec. Every oil molecule is identical in size. This gives synthetic superior flow characteristics and is why a 10W30 synthetic oil seems thinner than a conventional 10W30 oil.
Conventional oil is created by natural means by biodegradation of living things/organisms over hundreds of years. The oil molecules are not uniform in size (some large & some small). When you have small imperfections in gasket seals, some of the large oil molecules present will lodge themselves in the crevices causing a seal and preventing the smaller ones to pass through. When you change to synthetic oil, the new oil will eventually displace the molecules of the previously used conventional oil and will flow through the imperfections and you now have leaks. This is not a common problem on new engines but on older engines with dried and cracked gaskets it will be.
Bottom line is that synthetic oil is a superior lubricant but you must ensure that you have no leaks prior to using it. If you have an older engine and would like to use synthetic oil to prolong your engine life, you may have to look into replacing the major gaskets on your engine or stick with conventional oil which really isn't that bad since many now have additives to condition you seals.
I hope this helps clear the myths.
