I've heard full-synth motor is only for very new cars. Is this true? If it's not true can I just go to full-synth at my next oil change? I have been using a synth-blend for the past year or so.

 

thanks

I've heard full-synth motor is only for very new cars. Is this true? If it's not true can I just go to full-synth at my next oil change? I have been using a synth-blend for the past year or so.

 

thanks

You sure can.

The "cannot use it in old cars" is an urban legend. I have put it in several cars with nearly 200k. I run it in my 91 with 124k and got 2 mpg better after doing so.

nah really i wouldnt recommend it

 

if there are minute leaks, old seals, worn anything....

full synthetic will find it, and it will start oozing

 

semi synth blend should be just fine

 

at 130k why would you WANT to go full synth?

 

Jamie

Why? Very good potential for: extended drain intervals, better power/economy, less noise, easier cold starts, cleaner exhaust, lower oil consumption.

 

Why not? Because it might expose worn seals.

I've heard full-synth motor is only for very new cars. Is this true? If it's not true can I just go to full-synth at my next oil change? I have been using a synth-blend for the past year or so.

 

thanks

 

FWIW, I recently switched from "ordinary" oil to Castrol "high mileage" (Quaker&Pennzoil make it too) oil in my '97 2.5L OB with 145,000 miles and am delighted with the results. Can take it to higher RPMs than I have been able to in a long time and it accelerates much better. Going thru very little oil between changes, maybe 1/2 qt instead of 1 1/2 qt. Slippery stuff.

I use Castrol High Mileage as well, it's much quieter on cold starts. Engine has 146K on it.

At that mileage, all your seals are gonna blow soon anyway (no one can tell me it's not gonna start leaking) so I don't see a problem with it.

*shrug*

 

guess it's your $ .. but IMHO you are wasting it - suppose it wont hurt anything... not sure it will do any good either on a 130k motor

thanks guys, I may go with the "high mileage" then. I've seen the high mileage, but wasn't sure if it was an advertising gimmick or what. I will also use it in my '96 Toyota Tercel with 150,00mi. I guess you can tell I buy my cars to keep.

I've run full-synth in my chev truck (420 000km) and various logging epuipment with no ill effects. I run AMSOIL 0W 30 synthetic in my impreza with great results. (car starts well at minus FORTY) I also have castrol synthetic gear oil in tranny + rear diff and am not happy with it. Just like the stock oil it turns solid at minus twenty.

*shrug*

 

guess it's your $ .. but IMHO you are wasting it - suppose it wont hurt anything... not sure it will do any good either on a 130k motor

It pays for itself in mpg gains, extended oil change intervals, & cold start ups.

It pays for itself in mpg gains, extended oil change intervals, & cold start ups.

Depends, not everybody reports increased mpg. To do truly extended drains, you you need to do lots of driving, since oil needs to be changed every 6-7 months anyhow (unless you have have bypass filtration). Quality dino oil can take 5-6 k miles with no problems and even 7-10 k miles with pure highway driving. In some cases, synthetic oil is cost effective, in most cases is not.

 

After saying that, if synthetic oil can prevent a castrophic engine failure or sludge, then it is cost effective. Turbo engines or engines with high oil temp (either by design or by severe service) would belong to that category.

i use castrol dura blend, i put it a 86 fwd a/t spfi sedan , also a 88 turbo a/t full time 4wd wagon , and the 86 gets 1 mpg more ,and it runs better , the turbo's mpg is about the same but it also runs better , i change them every 6,000mi ,by the way eveyone is talking all oil is the same , well think what you want to think , in my opinion they are not

If you have a nice dry engine with no leaks, I would keep going with non-synthetic or the high mileage stuff.

 

But do yourself a favor and buy a Fumoto valve @ http://www.fumotovalve.com/

This may make both sides happy...or mad:

 

Valvoline has a synthetic high mileage oil (maxlife). Here's a link:

 

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=101

Now that's a good idea! I think I'll go with that Valvoline. Thanks for all your input peeps.

This may make both sides happy...or mad:

 

Valvoline has a synthetic high mileage oil (maxlife). Here's a link:

 

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=101

Is that a full synthetic? I have read a lot of info stating that blended is a waste of $$.

But do yourself a favor and buy a Fumoto valve @ http://www.fumotovalve.com/

I have seen these but I would be scared of knocking it off where I drive.

Not sure if it is worth the risk.

Just ordered 2 of those valves (1 for me one as christmas gift ) I used discount code YM4 and got 10% off at http://www.fumotovalve.com

 

I have Mobile1 Synth in now, so it will be a while before I get to try the valve out. :cool:

 

BTW. I made the Synth switch at 140K miles and haven't noticed any leaks... I go through about 1qt per 3K and change at about 9k miles (I also get a Good filter, to hold up to the extended interval)

 

PS, I just changed my oil and a friend's... my friend has the same engine and driving habits, but dino oil. and after 4K his oil looked WAY worse than mine after 11K.

I run Gastrol GTX synthblend it seems to have quited the engine up nicely and it is just an all around good blend. I have 235.5K and I don't notice anything "oozing" as far as I can tell.

 

I saw a valve like that at wal-mart not too long ago. I too was concerned about hitting something while driving and knocking it off. They should do some real world testing on it. I guess it would be fine if you had a skidplate or something along that line to protect it.

Used Valvoline DuraBlend partial synthetic oil 10W40 for quite some time in my Legacy. Kept losing oil without leaking it. As much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, I had to see, and had a friend drive the car away from me with a heavy foot. Sure enough, 1-2 shift, puff of blue smoke came out the tailpipe.

 

Switched to Valvoline full dino 10W40. Car does not use one drop of oil, took it on 1600-mile weekend trip and drove the crap out of it without using a drop. Cam seals that were leaking with the DuraBlend now no longer leak. I don't even check my oil anymore. Car has 137k miles.

 

You all say what you want about synth in high-mileage engines, I know where I stand.

i was trying to be nice to my subaru and run mobil 1 in it..

it didnt like it and decided to consume 2 quarts in 3000 miles when it dosent use a drop of the castrol 10-40 its used to... this is on a 170k motor which runs beautiful

Subylvr, I would tend agree that a switch over to synth at high mileage would expose leaks. Maybe using synth from the early years would prevent those leaks developing at all. MAYBE!

 

On consumption: Castrol's high-end "Formula RS" which is supposed to be the last word in high performance lubrication, has some odd specs. According to Castrol's own spec sheets, the best for turbo engines 10W60 burns off around 200 degrees centigrade. The much cheaper 0W-40 burns off around 230 degrees. What's that about?

 

My guess is, it's on purpose. Castrol "program" in a slight oil consumption, so that high stressed engines - where 10W60 is recommended - keep getting a top off. This makes a big difference for the oil's long term performance.

 

Any comments on that?

 

 

It's like the SLX "Longlife" that Audi/VW insist their cars run on. They shout about their extended drain intervals of 30k miles, but rarely even whisper about the quart every 1-2k mile consumption!

There's nothing wrong with switching over to synthetic at that mileage. Better now than never. Some people report leaks after doing so, but many do not. IMHO, there's no causality demonstrated. Several of my friends have switched their cars--of varying ages and mileages--over to synthetic oil and have not experienced any additional leaking or seepage.

 

I switched to full synth (Mobil 1 or Castrol SynTec) in my VW Golf at about 50,000 mi and have been using it for over 180,000 miles. The engine does not leak or burn oil and still runs like new. When I live in a northern clime there was a marked improvement in starting on very cold winter mornings.

There's nothing wrong with switching over to synthetic at that mileage. Better now than never. Some people report leaks after doing so, but many do not. IMHO, there's no causality demonstrated. Several of my friends have switched their cars--of varying ages and mileages--over to synthetic oil and have not experienced any additional leaking or seepage.

 

I switched to full synth (Mobil 1 or Castrol SynTec) in my VW Golf at about 50,000 mi and have been using it for over 180,000 miles. The engine does not leak or burn oil and still runs like new. When I live in a northern clime there was a marked improvement in starting on very cold winter mornings.

theres a difference betweet switching to synthetic at 50k and 130k..