Synthetic oil the best for your vehicle or what?

[benwa]

I have a 1993 S10 Blazer with 101,000 miles on it. Should I switch to synthetic oil? I just don't want to make the change unless I really should. Because once you start you can't change back. Is this correct? Thanks for any replies!!!!

[lou S.]

Its really never too early to switch, so do it. You can change back and forth. As you switch from one oil to another you may notice a small change in consumption, but nothing drastic. Go with a synthetic or a synthetic blend. Stay with ones that have been on the market place for years. Synthetic offers many more benefits over a conventional especially if you live where the climate varies. I could go on and on---just my opinion( I am a lab mgr. for an oil company in Mil., WI)

[benwa]

Originally Posted by lou S.

Its really never too early to switch, so do it. You can change back and forth. As you switch from one oil to another you may notice a small change in consumption, but nothing drastic. Go with a synthetic or a synthetic blend. Stay with ones that have been on the market place for years. Synthetic offers many more benefits over a conventional especially if you live where the climate varies. I could go on and on---just my opinion( I am a lab mgr. for an oil company in Mil., WI)

Thanks for the info! I live just north of you in Manitowoc.

[recurve]

I recently read the "Motor Oil Bible" which is a free PDF download from:
http://www.trustmymechanic.com/motor-oil-bible.pdf

This is a big multi-page document with lots of info. An oversimplification would be to say the author recommended AMSOIL, NEO, and Redline.

After reading it, I purchased AMSOIL 5W-30 oil with 25,000 mile drain intervals. I switched over my '95 Blazer with 158,000 miles on it two weeks ago. No leaking so far that I can tell. Seems a little quieter and little smoother but that could just be wishful thinking. My wife did a little math and says we got a 4% increase in gas mileage. I've ordered more oil and will switch over our '97 Blazer to synthetic soon.

Lou is right, from what I've read you could try synthetic and switch back if you don't like it. In the early 1970's there was interactions but now things are fine (or so I've read).

Be sure to do an engine flush before you switch. You purchase a special flush liquid to put in your current engine oil and run your engine for 20 minutes or as directed. Some of these flush kits have scary ingredients, the AMSOIL one seemed safer and is what I used in our '95. You will also want to purchase a cheap oil filter to do the engine flush to be sure it filters out any gunk that comes through. Then get a good filter to compliment your synthetic oil when you do the switch. The AMSOIL brand oil filter is rated to be changed every 12,500 miles or 6 months.

Take care,
-- recurve

[lou S.]

You're right about some of the flushing kits having "scary" ingredients. You can say the exact same thing about some of the after market engine oil additives that are on the market that supposedly can do remarkable things to your engine. As long as you aren't burning oil or leaking like a seive---lol--synthetic engine oils are the way o go.

[s10blazerman4x4]

i just put in that castrol gtx start up in mine 91 w 160 thousand miles 2 minutes later ur good to go runs like a stallion it feels and drives like it was running for 15 minutes it was well worth the 3 bucks a quart but then again i got 6 for 11 w the rebate

[nflo555]

Originally Posted by recurve

I recently read the "Motor Oil Bible" which is a free PDF download from:
http://www.trustmymechanic.com/motor-oil-bible.pdf

This is a big multi-page document with lots of info. An oversimplification would be to say the author recommended AMSOIL, NEO, and Redline.

After reading it, I purchased AMSOIL 5W-30 oil with 25,000 mile drain intervals. I switched over my '95 Blazer with 158,000 miles on it two weeks ago. No leaking so far that I can tell. Seems a little quieter and little smoother but that could just be wishful thinking. My wife did a little math and says we got a 4% increase in gas mileage. I've ordered more oil and will switch over our '97 Blazer to synthetic soon.

Lou is right, from what I've read you could try synthetic and switch back if you don't like it. In the early 1970's there was interactions but now things are fine (or so I've read).

Be sure to do an engine flush before you switch. You purchase a special flush liquid to put in your current engine oil and run your engine for 20 minutes or as directed. Some of these flush kits have scary ingredients, the AMSOIL one seemed safer and is what I used in our '95. You will also want to purchase a cheap oil filter to do the engine flush to be sure it filters out any gunk that comes through. Then get a good filter to compliment your synthetic oil when you do the switch. The AMSOIL brand oil filter is rated to be changed every 12,500 miles or 6 months.

Take care,
-- recurve

What did you think of the Amsoil synthetic oil? Worth the money?

Have you changed it out yet? If so, how many miles did you get out of the oil before you changed it?

I'm thinking of using their 2000 series oil wit their new nanofiber oil filter. The filter has a 25k or 1 year drain interval.

Thanks,

[BlazerBoyLT98]

I run Mobil 1 5w30, May switch to 0w30 when it gets real cold, but I will will never go back to conventional oil again. Mobil 1 has dramatically cleaned out my engine. Gas mileage is also up

[recurve]

Hi nflo555,

I recently changed out the oil in both our '95 and '97 Blazers after their first year of going all synthetic. So far we've been happy, no leaks, etc. I must say, the oil looked really dark and parts of it was rather thick. This can't be good. From what I've read though, just because oil is dark does not necessarily mean anything bad... but what about the thick stuff... I think that might be what is called "sludge." We used the Oil filter that AMSOIL recommended to be changed every six months. We did follow their directions to the letter. This nanofiber one you are talking about is news to me, must be something new. Maybe it is smarter to do a full drain and refill after 6 months of use on an old engine rather than waiting a full year.

[nflo555]

Recurve,

How many miles do you have your blazer?

Are you the original owner?

Have you always changed the oil every 3000 prior to using synthetics?

thanks,
NF

[recurve]

The '95 has 165k miles. The '97 only has 60k miles. The '95 was purchased 2nd hand, the '97 was 3rd hand. I never met the original owners, so I have no idea how they took care of these trucks.

[Cailen]

Was just reading this month's modified mag, and I'm definitely going to a synthetic with my next oil change. It was preaching the values of royal purple, so I'm wondering if anyone here uses the stuff? Pretty much all the Trans Am lovers I know use royal purple, lol.

[Blutarski]

Originally Posted by nflo555

What did you think of the Amsoil synthetic oil? Worth the money?

Have you changed it out yet? If so, how many miles did you get out of the oil before you changed it?

I'm thinking of using their 2000 series oil wit their new nanofiber oil filter. The filter has a 25k or 1 year drain interval.

Thanks,

I would say it's worth the money. I switched my 98 Blazer over at 60,000 and at 132,000 I still have no issues. I use the 5-30 2000 series(it gets VERY cold here) and I love it. I drain oil at 25,000 and filters at 12,000. I have also switched my air and fuel filters over and changed my motorcycle, tractor, chainsaw and my wife's Jetta over, all smoke less, burn less fuel and run cooler. The only thing that would keep me from switching to it would be if I had an existing oil leak, but so far so good. But I have a feeling I'm preaching to the choir here anyway.

[PBking82]

Originally Posted by Cailen

Was just reading this month's modified mag, and I'm definitely going to a synthetic with my next oil change. It was preaching the values of royal purple, so I'm wondering if anyone here uses the stuff? Pretty much all the Trans Am lovers I know use royal purple, lol.

Sure Royal Purple is great stuff, but I haven't been convinced that it's worth the top-dollar price that you pay for it. When I changed my diff fluid I used royal-purple just because you really do get what pay for with this kind of thing. I really couldn't see spending the money on the oil though because I mean comeon it's a little pricey to be changing it all the time. I use Mobil 1, and am considering switching to Casterol StartUp. Peace-

[BlazerBoyLT98]

Originally Posted by PBking82

Sure Royal Purple is great stuff, but I haven't been convinced that it's worth the top-dollar price that you pay for it. When I changed my diff fluid I used royal-purple just because you really do get what pay for with this kind of thing. I really couldn't see spending the money on the oil though because I mean comeon it's a little pricey to be changing it all the time. I use Mobil 1, and am considering switching to Casterol StartUp. Peace-

Royal Purple is not a true synthetic oil. Mobil 1 is the best bang for your buck. I really like the 15K oil change one even thought I change it like every 6K.