Synthetic Oil [merged]

[DrunkenMime249]

All synthetic oil threads are merged here.i'm trying to buy a 1g dsm turbo awd (as i'm sure most of you know by now from my recent ramblings in other threads). Most of the ones i've been looking at are bone stock for the most part except repairs and i have a feeling all are running on regular oil.

my question is when i finally buy one should i run regular, full sythetic, or somwhere in between (i am planning on running full synthetic).

also, if the car is running regular and i want to switch to full synthetic, i've heard it can be damaging to switch all at once. or is that just a fable? it makes sense and i was planning on slowly uprading the oil quality everytime i changed it until it was running full synthetic. is that the wrong thing to do?

 

[timm98gst]

always castrol syntec for me

 

[Jehu]

What about mobil one makes it "too thin"? The weight of the oil, 5W30, specifies the "thickness" of the oil.

 

[Defiant]

What about mobil one makes it "too thin"? The weight of the oil, 5W30, specifies the "thickness" of the oil.

A common misconception. Viscosity -resistance to internal shear- is not related to film strength, which is what will allow lubrication failure.

 

[funniegus]

Is it really neccessary to flush youre engine if you are going from dinosaur oil to synthetic oil? I really dont understand why, and if so which flush do you guys recomend with a motor with 150,000 miles on it. Some help would be appreciated.

 

[Defiant]

Toilets are flushed. If someone took a crap in your engine, flush it. Otherwise, it's not worth your time.

Synthetics and mineral oils are compatible (many synthetics are made on a mineral base stock). The small amount not drained won't matter, and will be gone with your next oil change.

Please run your synthetic at least 5,000 miles per sump.

 

[funniegus]

Thanks for the the info Defiant.

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

Ive got ~63k miles on it now, and before I knew better, my mechanic put in 20w50 non-synth (mineral) oil. Im due for an oil change now, so Im considering doing it right this time and putting in 10w30 Mobil 1. I don't have any leaks at all, so I think its safe to do it, but just wanted to get some other opinions on this. I dont think Ill do a full flush, just a change.

 

[overdoseheroin]

if i were you id run a good synthetic blend liek castrol syntec synthetic blend for 3k and then change the oil and run full synthetic. i did that with my old motor, it was suggested by a well known Porsche mechanic. the reason is to make sure all the deposits from the mineral oil are flushed out before the full synthetic blend is added. i also heard that from alot of other people. wether it really matters or not i do not know, i dont see any harm in just throwing full synthetic in it tho.

 

[Lunch_Box]

You will be fine to put in the synthetic.

 

[mitsuclipsegsx]

yes its ok,i had 68k when i put mobil 1 syn in

 

['96_Talon_TSi]

I started using Mobil-1 synthetic as soon as i bought my car. Had 75K on the clock, and the only leak i got was at the front passenger side corner between the head and the valve cover. New gasket was all i needed.

You should be fine.

 

[94awdcoupe]

I had 58k on my 98 GSX when i bought it and drove it home and mobil 1 10W30 in it. You will be fine. The motor is in a friends car now and has 92k miles on it and its still running like a champ with 170 compression across with only 4% leakdown. The oil was also changed every 1500 miles, give or take a few.

 

[Defiant]

Synthetic will work fine.

You just don't need it. Modern oils are terrific. If you're driving at one of the poles, or across the Sahara, there might be some benefit.

But not in the real world.

 

[98turbo]

Yeah, but synthetic is earth friendly...in a way...

 

[mysticfire6602]

my dads 95 jimmy had about 130k miles on it when he switched to synthetic oil and he blew a rod...

 

[Crawl]

i just switched to synthetic at 114, My check oil light comes on quite often going to switch back

 

[speedy13]

Synthetic will work fine.

You just don't need it. Modern oils are terrific. If you're driving at one of the poles, or across the Sahara, there might be some benefit.

But not in the real world.

you meant conventional oils ritght?I like valvoline 10-40 my self,but i just got my first turbo car,so i 'll jump on his thread too.

 

[Defiant]

Yeah, but synthetic is earth friendly...in a way...

I'd like an explanation of this one. In what possible way? Most synthetics start with a petroleum base, and work off that. The take much more energy to produce than distilled crude.
I've yet to hear of an "earth friendly" product that was, if the entire equation is done.

 

[ClevSilverEclip]

Switched to full synthetic with over 100K showing on the odo on my 1G N/T 2L DOHC.

Had small, slow leaks that were rather hard to pinpoint after the switch. New valve cover gasket fixed it right up.

-A
/

 

[spyderturbo007]

Yeah, but synthetic is earth friendly...in a way...

This quote was taken from Ed Newman (Marketing Manager for AMSOIL, Inc.).

"When it comes to recycling, synthetics are pretty much the same as petroleum. You can't dump used synthetic motor oil in the ground any more than you can petroleum. About a year ago I read an article that indicated synthetics are less polluting than petroleum by a small degree, but it was marginal. Both classes of used motor oil must be taken to re-cycle centers for re-processing."

So, obviously the guy isn't lying, being that AMSOIL was the first to introduce a synthetic oil.

 

[91boost]

You can change to synthetic anytime you want. Knock yourself out.

 

[paranoidTSi]

I switched to Synthetic at 92K (according to the odometer) but the motor was swapped before I got it to a 6-bolt motor, so it was probably higher than that when I switched. I had absolutely no problems with it.

 

[evolvingGS-t]

The only time that I didn't use sythetic was during my break in period. Other then that, it's all day everyday.

 

[91boost]

The only time that I didn't use sythetic was during my break in period.

And you could have used it then too.

 

[heavyD]

Synthetic will work fine.

You just don't need it. Modern oils are terrific. If you're driving at one of the poles, or across the Sahara, there might be some benefit.

But not in the real world.

I used to diagree with Defiant but now I tend to agree with him on this one. Last year I bought my 92 Talon with 96K miles and it ran great for the first few months on regular oil. I switched to synthetic and have had a bunch leakage issues. I have since switched back to regular oil (on the Talon).

I look at it this way. On a new/rebuilt engine with new fastners and gaskets synthetic will work fine but it really isn't friendly to older engines. If your car is higher mileage and is running great on conventional oil, why switch to synthetic? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.