Synthetic Oil

[eillob]

I was at the All ford swap meet and drag race this weekend. It was great bikini's were out and the smell of rubber was in the air. While I was there this guy was there trying to sell me on Synthetic Oil. Said its got all the good thing conventional oil has to offer and none of the bad. Ok then he goes on saying that at 3,000 miles instead of changing the oil all you have to do is change the oil filter. Ok well he lost me after that because there is no way in hell Im doing that. So my question is, is anyone out there using synthetic? And if so what do you think. Does is make a big difference in performance or can you even tell the difference.

[HONDABOND]

I used Redline oil in my honda from the getgo... And yes, it makes a big frigin difference!
I now have an S10 I use it in there as well, but I threw in a bunch of Lucas oil stabalizer because its got a hell of a lot of miles (Almost 300,000) I dont exactly "Hotrod" it, but it still runs so thats got to count for something.
As far as the filter change only, I would have told the guy to shove his dirty filters were he puts his wifes dildo... Were do people come up with this crap?

[coloradotaco]

I've been using Mobil 1 10-30 since day one on my '95 GT. It has 138k on it now and doesn't use any oil. I change the oil every 3-5k miles. I stay away from the basic Fram filters. I go for the tough guard or Purolator since they have a check valve in them to help prevent oil starvation at start up.
I think the synthetic holds up better between changes then conventional oil. I don't think there is a performance gain over clean conventional oil.
I've heard that you don't want to switch to synthetic oil in older engines as it may cause leaks. I don't know if its a fact though.

[HiFlow5 0]

Synthetic's won't break down like conventional oil does, this is the reason why the manufactures say it doesn't need to be changed as often. The thing is, synthetic or convention, they will all get dirty they same way, in the same amount of time. And it's the foreign particles that gets into the oil that will cause damage to the motor.

I've been using 10W40 convention oil since I put my new motor in my car, about 25k miles ago. I do regular oil changes at 2500 to 3000 miles. Just the other week I had the top half of the motor apart, the lifter valley and supporting areas where very clean with that light golden color. I think synthetic oils are a gimmick and are a total waste of money.

[HiFlow5 0]

Originally Posted by coloradotaco

I've been using Mobil 1 10-30 since day one on my '95 GT. It has 138k on it now and doesn't use any oil. I change the oil every 3-5k miles. I stay away from the basic Fram filters. I go for the tough guard or Purolator since they have a check valve in them to help prevent oil starvation at start up.
I think the synthetic holds up better between changes then conventional oil. I don't think there is a performance gain over clean conventional oil.
I've heard that you don't want to switch to synthetic oil in older engines as it may cause leaks. I don't know if its a fact though.

Good mention about the Fram filters, definitely stay away from them!

Also the reason people say not to run synthetic oil in cars with higher mileage or cars that have been running convention oil for a long time is because, since synthetic is man made, all the molecules of the oil are the same. Whereas the molecules of conventional oil will vary in size just because of it's molecular structure. Now if you have an older motor, you may have developed a very minuet leak in a gasket which is not noticeable, and the molecules of the conventional oil will actually fill in where the gasket is weak and will not pass though. Synthetic oil, since it's molecules are the same size can actually penetrate though small, weak spots that conventional oils won't, and possibly causing a small oil leak. Now that I have totally confused everyone, I'm done.

[91_4ourbanger]

shit dude, i just put in a fram filter. anyone ever used motorcraft oil?

i heard that synthetics can cause leaks on higher mileage engines, so i just stick to conventional 10w30

[351wStang]

You didnt loose everyone HiFlow. Good explenation. But, Im stumped on what weight I should run in my car. Thats the 393 when I'm done with it. I heard a rumor that if you run a non-detergent oil on start up it will help rings seat quicker. My only concern is that oil is going through all the oil valleys, not just on cyl walls, will it cause a blockage somewhere say in a crank journal if it doesnt have the cleaning agents in it?

[SkylineUSA]

Frams suck.

Moble 1 Synth is not a Synthetic at all, or at least a little over a year ago it was not.

I use Amsoil, and change my oil evey 15,000miles, but my filter get changed out every 3k, and topped off with more Amsoil.

[coloradotaco]

Their website http://www.mobil1.com/index.jsp
says tthat Mobil 2 is the leading synthetic oil for 30 years.
It also talks about the difference between the carbon atoms that form chains versus the syntheticaly formed molecules and how some contaminents can not be removed from petroleum.
I'm not married to Mobil as I have used Castrol and Valvoline on occasion and it seems to work as well as Mobil in everyday use.
I don't think I've ever seen Amsoil in Colorado retail stores.

[eillob]

Damn I just put in a fram extra guard filter. Whats wrong with them, I was always tought if you change your oil regular enough you were pretty safe.

[351wStang]

Fram, the other four letter "F" word.
They dont have a check valve.

[SkylineUSA]

Originally Posted by coloradotaco

Their website http://www.mobil1.com/index.jsp
says tthat Mobil 2 is the leading synthetic oil for 30 years.
It also talks about the difference between the carbon atoms that form chains versus the syntheticaly formed molecules and how some contaminents can not be removed from petroleum.
I'm not married to Mobil as I have used Castrol and Valvoline on occasion and it seems to work as well as Mobil in everyday use.
I don't think I've ever seen Amsoil in Colorado retail stores.

You wil never find Amsoil in a store, you have to find a distributer. Mobil lost a court case a few years ago, because the other companies(Castrol, Valv, Pens) were claiming their highly refind oils were synthetic, but in actual reality their oils were not. It cost more to make a proper synth, will since the other companies were getting a way with packaging crap oil as synth, Mobil started to do the same.

If you want real Syth oil, you have 3 that I know of, Royal P, Redline, and Amsoil.

[chadwoodworth]

Wow, I'm amazed that more auto users aren't aware of the great benefits of using a true synthetic oil like Amsoil, Royal P or Redline.
For example:

• Instead of having to change your oil every 2500 to 3000 miles most true synthetic oil companies warranty extended oil drains.
• Therefore reducing the amount of oil wasted in the environment.
• As well as saving time on needing to change your oil as often.
• Even though synthetics are more expensive than conventional oils in the long run you save more time and $$.

I've been using Amsoil in my little 4banger Geo Prizm for the last few years. I love it. I've enjoyed better HP, increased MPG and the ease of only doing a complete oil change once a year. Recently since the gas prices have skyrocketed I've practiced better driving habits as well and my last tank of gas I got 41mpg. My usual best before changing my bad habits was usually around 30mpg.

I'm not to keen on the idea of using a synthetic and needing to change the filter every 3000 miles. That is garbage. The only reason I would see that being at all necessary is if a conventional oil filter is being used.
If using a synthetic oil use a synthetic oil filter.
Changing the filter is only necessary about 2 times a year that way.

"You wil never find Amsoil in a store"
Actually it is possible to find Amsoil in stores just look in the yellow pages for your local dealer and ask them what stores carry Amsoil.

[SkylineUSA]

Originally Posted by chadwoodworth

Wow, I'm amazed that more auto users aren't aware of the great benefits of using a true synthetic oil like Amsoil, Royal P or Redline.
For example:

• Instead of having to change your oil every 2500 to 3000 miles most true synthetic oil companies warranty extended oil drains.
• Therefore reducing the amount of oil wasted in the environment.
• As well as saving time on needing to change your oil as often.
• Even though synthetics are more expensive than conventional oils in the long run you save more time and $$.

I've been using Amsoil in my little 4banger Geo Prizm for the last few years. I love it. I've enjoyed better HP, increased MPG and the ease of only doing a complete oil change once a year. Recently since the gas prices have skyrocketed I've practiced better driving habits as well and my last tank of gas I got 41mpg. My usual best before changing my bad habits was usually around 30mpg.

I'm not to keen on the idea of using a synthetic and needing to change the filter every 3000 miles. That is garbage. The only reason I would see that being at all necessary is if a conventional oil filter is being used.
If using a synthetic oil use a synthetic oil filter.
Changing the filter is only necessary about 2 times a year that way.

"You wil never find Amsoil in a store"
Actually it is possible to find Amsoil in stores just look in the yellow pages for your local dealer and ask them what stores carry Amsoil.

As far as the filter change it really should be based on how many dry starts you have on the engine around 150-175 would be my limit. I look at things a little different than most

As for Amsoil being in stores, its been a while since I was in the states.

[HONDABOND]

Go buy yourself a couple filters, make sure you get a Fram and a K&N, I recomend buying two K&N's so you have one to use when you are done.
Cut them open and have a look, you will shit your pants and never put another fram POS on your motor again. 90% cardboard inside that bitch, I have actualy heard of the cardboard breaking up, cloging oil pasages and blowing up honda motors because they have a realy high oil pressure.

But still man, synthetic is the way to go.