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Ok Gearheads….Ive read the discussion on previous threads concerning this topic, but wasn’t really able to get anything out of it. It mostly was comparing brands of different oils and discussing preferences between those brands.
My questions is simple…my truck with 42,000 miles has run conventional oil over its entire lifetime to my knowledge. I have started a job that requires me to travel daily and I am considering switching to full synthetic as I have heard it offers benefits to motors who see lots of mileage/extreme conditions. Could anyone shed some light on whether switching to synthetic is hard on the engine, seals, etc?
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From everything I have read, there is no real benefit from using expensive synthetics unless you use them from the moment you buy your car. Everyone has their own opinion about oil changes, but personally, nothing beats changing you oil and filter every 3000 miles, no matter what oil you use.
@ 42k, so long as this is a relatively new truck still will only benefit the truck. Synthetic will last longer, for as already stated, longer intervals between changes, far longer in many cases, and give better protection at lower temps.
Not hard on seals, syn just tends to get past aged ones where as convential would not leak, or at least not leak as much. The only other down-side is break-down, Synthetic tends to be great, then when it breaks down (if you tend to push changes) it goes from 0 to craptastic extremely quickly, where as conventional protection steadily drops off.
Personally the only benefit to running synthetic oil is that you can extend your oil change intervals. This is the only thing I can think of to offset the extra cost of synthetic. For me it’s one of those things that makes you feel better on the inside. Keep in mind that the majority of synthetics that are out there are blends that consist in large part of conventional oil so you’re really only paying for ‘part’ synthetic oil anyway.
In short, at the mileage you’re at it shouldn’t be a problem. Higher mileage engines usually suffer from oil leaks and increased oil consumption when switching to synthetic, I don’t think that will be the case for you. If it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling to switch then go ahead and switch.
I like the full synthetic. In the middle of winter in Minnesota, my car turns over like it’s summer. Since I can get Mobil 1 real cheap at Walmart, I change it myself and the total cost for my oil change is around $35. I put alot of miles on a Lumina with synthetic. Currently it’s at 278,000. It also makes me feel warm and fuzzy. :kiss:
Squddle beat me to it. I’m one state over from him in WI and the big place where full synthetic shines is in cold weather flowability. You get a faster cranking speed than a conventional oil because it doesn’t thicken up as easily, which also helps it flow to its needed areas quicker immediately after startup, where quite a lot of engine wear occurs. It is also more resistant to high heat, so if you tow in the summer its got you covered there.
Some people who wrenched on cars a good number of years back will probably tell you that it will wreck your seals. There is some truth to that back in the 70’s when the first synthetics were hitting the market. The materials used to make the seals back then weren’t compatible with the oil additives and would fail prematurely. Because the parts stores only had the seals made of the same stuff as the factory seals, they too didn’t last. But the cars of today and the seal materials in use are night and day, and completely compatible with modern synthetic fluids. As Eric and others have pointed out, if you do have leaks they will be more noticeable. Make sure you adhere to the oil change schedule no matter what oil you use. Bad things happen when that isn’t done. I do believe Eric has a vid showing just how bad it can get.
Since you’re running a truck, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change your powertrain fluids to synthetic too. Your diffs and transfer case would thank you for it. Some newer vehicles are filled with it from the factory so check to see if that is the case first. It can free up a couple extra horsepower and a slight bit of fuel economy, although its not going to get you into the 10’s on the quarter mile or the mileage of a Prius by any means.
I believe switching to full-syn oil at 42K is OK, as long as this vehicle is only a few years old. 100% synthetic oil will do a clean-up job in 1000 miles. It’ll find any small holes currently blocked by stuff in conventional oil.
The Benefits: It’ll turn over at 30 below like it’s zero. It’ll help cool engine at 100 when air temperature is 100 degrees. Friction will be reduced by 20% to make engine last longer.
My Test: I bought 2 nearly identical vehicles in 2004. In one I used conventional oil and in the other I used fully synthetic for 6 years. We have cold winters in Vermont. Both slept outside. Synthetic Chevy always started quicker and certainly easier on the battery. At 80K miles, the dipstick in the syn Chevy was still clean as a whistle, always. What I could see on the top of the engine was bright and sparkling. The conventional oil Chevy, not so good. The dipstick was starting to brown/blacken and the top of the engine valvetrain looked dull with brownish/blackish areas. Is this true science?
Here’s the thing about sticking to manufacturer’s recommendation on oil change interval that I don’t understand. If it is given in the manual for conventional oil, why should one still change synthetic oil at the conventional oil interval? That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve been using synthetic since about 7.5k, which has about 150k miles on it now with around 10-13k between changes. The recommended conventional oil interval is 7.5k. No issues so far. New cars with recommended synthetic oil fill have even longer drain schedules. BMWs around 16K. If you want to know for sure, you can use oil analysis service that will tell you the correct oil change interval with your specifics.
The leaking seals issue is with cars that were made with incompatible rubber seals decades ago.
That’s another thing: oil change intervals should depend on quality of oil. My oil life
monitor is calibrated, no doubt, under the assumption that I faithfully use at least partially synthetic oil as recommended in the owner’s manual. As miles add up, the computer calculates how many more miles/percentage remaining before the next oil change is required. What if I use conventional oil instead? The computer has no way of knowing the quality of oil I put in the engine. I could in fact follow the oil life monitor for the next oil change while using cheap, conventional oil. If I did this, I would eventually damage the engine while following the company recommended oil change intervals: the oil life monitor. I don’t think it is smart for companies to rely on oil life monitors that only consider outside temperature, how fast you drive, how fast you accelerate, and how much you idle the engine. There has to be some kind of a litmus test, maybe for acid present.I currently use any Syn brand as long as it has the donuts shape on the back like Eric has mentioned on one of his video.
Been using syn since I have purchased my car 7 years ago now it has 191km = 118miles no leaks yet.
I do change my oil every 10k = 6Miles. Sometime I go a little over.
I switched from Conventional to Synthetic when my car was at 175K KM’s and haven’t had any issues. Synthetic can stand up to climate changes much better than conventional and the additives in synthetic take a lot longer to break down. Synthetic blends are a waste of money. If you’re going to switch, then switch to full synthetic or leave it with conventional oil, which isn’t even bad to begin with, full synthetic just provides much better lubrication for a longer duration that works better in various climates.
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