going to the dragway may 1st ?'s

[ZackKVtec]

Alright, im going to the dragway May 1st and i just had a couple quick questions...
I read somewhere that running your car on sythetic oil would make your car run better(neglibably faster)... i was wondering if you actually have to break your engine in to sythetic oil, because i heard that was a myth. I was also wondering if you do have to break it in to sythetic, why is that?

thats all, thanks alot guys

[chevydrummer76]

once you put synthetic in your engine you can't go back to regular oil

[kfoote]

Originally Posted by chevydrummer76

once you put synthetic in your engine you can't go back to regular oil

Hmmm, never heard that one before, where did you hear that? If that's the case, I hope everyone who has bought a car I've ever owned used synthetic.

The way oil technology currently is, all major brand non-synthetic oils are compatible with all major brand synthetics. The increase in power comes from the reduction of intermnal friction because of the fewer impurities in the oil. Generally it is reccommended to break in a new engine (or any other place where oil is used) with non-synthetic oil and then switch to synthetic after, but there is no break in required for changing to synthetic.

[drag1320neon]

there is no "break in" procedure. if you break in a motor, you want to used nd30 oil anyway, but only for 200 miles, then swap it out. as far as never going back to reg, "neva hurd of it"

[2000LS1Z28]

I've heard that on an older engine synthetic oil can be bad. I've heard that it is so thin, compared with conventional oil, that it can actually seep through the seals/gaskets. Anyone know if this is true?

[Igovert500]

I've heard that synthetic has ingredients that expand the seals to prevent leaks...if you switch back to regular the seals shrink a bit therefore leading to oil leaks...part of me wants to believe this...on the other hand I strongly believe it is more BS on the part of oil companies to con us into buying 5 dollar qts over $1 qts. Synthetic is said to reduce friction because of the fewer impurities in the oil just as kfoote said. And that is where people say you gain minimal hp just by allowing your engine to work easier and closer to optimal running conditions. But overall, just remember that the oil companies didn't get rich by helping out the public...so take everything you hear from them with a whole container of salt.

[chevydrummer76]

yah I don't know if its true I've just heard its not good to go back to regular oil after using synthetic

[1viadrft]

I heard you can not go back when you use Syn... but then I heard it was a complete LIE! Then I heard it IS actually better for HIGHER mileage cars....????????????????????????????????????
I'm confused...

[kfoote]

Originally Posted by 2000LS1Z28

I've heard that on an older engine synthetic oil can be bad. I've heard that it is so thin, compared with conventional oil, that it can actually seep through the seals/gaskets. Anyone know if this is true?

This can be an issue. Basically, the molecules of synthetic oil are smaller and have more detergents than non-synthetics. What it actually does is clean out the gaskets, and if they have been crscked/warped or otherwise comtaminated, it will clean the contamination and can result in leaking. Every time I have seen or heard of this happening, the seals/gaskets in question were bad enough that they really needed to be changed anyways. The lowest miliage I have heard of this happening is about 130k.

I have never heard of any problems of swithching from synthetic back to non-synthetic.

[68chevelle]

there is no break in needed for synthetic. like kfoote and drag1230neon said, it is better to break in the engine on non-synthetic oil, and then after the break in process you drain the oil and change the filter and you can run synthetic. as for switching back to regular oil there is no problem. synthetic oil and non-synthetic oil are made form the same thing. the only reason one is called synthetic is because of the process in whitch it is refined and cleaned. synthetic oil is cleaned and refined in a chemical process as where non-synthetic oils are refined and cleaned through a fermentation process, i believe that it is much like making beer, i could be wrong though. thats what makes one synthetic and the other regular oil. one is refined through chemical processes and one is refined through biochemical process. so yes you can go back to regular oil after using synthetic.

[68chevelle]

oh yeah, there are slight hp gains running synthetic over regular. many magazines have done many tests on this very subject and in a V8 making around 500hp it only gets them between like 5-12 hp. so its not much of a gain.

[flylwsi]

you'd be better off going to the tech forum in "cars in general" for an answer to this question...

[danno_SS]

my $0.02,
You can go back and forth between the two. The reason for breaking in using non-synthetic is for purely cost reasons, why spend the extra dough on something you are going to throw away in 300-400 mi.

[kfoote]

Also, using a non-synthetic oil on break in will break the engine in more quickly due to it's higher friction than the synthetics. The same properties that make the oil better in the long run are what make it not as good for initial break in.

[-The Stig-]

I was always told that you couldn't go back to Regular oil after making the switch because of the chemical differences between the two lubricants.


It's like water and oil... they just don't mix and wont properly lubricate.


I was told this by several knowledgable people, one of which is a recent UTI grad...

Take it for what it's worth.