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[quote=”SDMAN1981″ post=46675]If you were to use fully synthetic oil for the first time and it started leaking, would it stop if you again replaced it with regular conventional oil or is it irreversible?[/quote]
Yes. It will sometimes take awhile, or more than 1 change if it’s a significant issue though. I’ve yet to see it myself, but I’ve not worked on any truly older engines where anyone’s decided to switch that late on.
I just switch to what I use, AMSOIL when I can, Mobil 1 full syn in a pinch and just stick with it, as I’ve not gotten any vehicle with that kind of significant mileage/age where I thought it would be necessary to stick to conventional.
im starting to think that a little more smoke and some leaking is better than the dry starts my truck currently goes through after sitting a week or more. My saturn used to rattle on start up after sitting, last oil change i put in synthetic instead and even after 10 days of not getting run no rattle from the valve train.
I was given advice very similar to yours regarding a higher mileage mustang I once owned.I was told if I switched over to synthetic I may see leaks where before there were none. Was it bad advice? I dont know but I didnt make that switch just to be safe. Great videos Eric!
Hi Eric,
Thanks for posting up the new video with clarifications. It seems that the main take-away from the video is simply the importance of regular oil changes. With that being said, I’ve been changing my oil in accordance with Honda’s Maintenance Minder (2011 Civic, R18) which ends up putting my oil changes at around 7k – 7.5k miles. In your opinion, would this be a bit of a stretch for conventional oil? How about a synthetic blend? I’m currently running Pennzoil Platinum with a Honda filter for each oil change.
Thanks,
RobertI know the importance of changing your oil regularly. I’ve got an 05 grand caravan with roughly 170k miles on it. It hasn’t used a drop of oil nor makes any engine noise. I used conventional on the first change and then a syn blend on the second (A relative gave me the syn blend. It was free so I used it). Now I went less than 3k miles between the change because I don’t drive it a lot. We got the van in September and I changed it in December. If your car sits more than you drive it should you change it every 3-4 months instead of every 3k-4k miles?
Hey Eric,
IDK why it’s so hard for some people to get what you are trying to say. In the interest of learning the RE: video you made was informative. However, it made perfect sense what you said in the original video. You said exactly that synthetic was great but that it might show up already existing problems in an engine. You in no way gave the impression that synthetic would hurt an engine nor did you give any notion that conventional was better than synthetic. Your points did not get lost on me. I think some people just want to argue for arguments sake. Don’t let them wear you down man LOL. I know your not an expert and I appreciate all the facts you do have. Thanks!
One big reason engines last longer is the removal of lead from gasoline which would gunk it up real fast!
One reason engines last longer is the removal of lead from gasoline. It would gunk an engine up real fast.
[quote=”jeffrey” post=46018]Hard to make a call on this one. I’ve heard this topic debated to death. I highly regard Eric’s opinion but I’ve read too many differing ones from engineers with phds after their names. The Mobile 1 website runs through a list of ‘myths’ about synthetic oil…but then again, they’re selling oil. Its a lot like the whether Seafoam really works or not debate.
So I’m just going with my unacredited instincts. Engines can rack up 300k now days when, once upon a time they were ready for a rebuild at 90k. Besides superior engineering and metal alloys I think that has a lot to do with new oils. So I run the synthetics. Also, and it may be psychosomatic, my beaters just feel pluckier when I run them. …that ‘happy car’ feel when you just change your oil.
What would make an interesting video are oil filters and those magnets they put on them. Those are topics that really get people pissy and cutting old frams in half…lol[/quote]
One big reason engines last longer is the removal of lead from gasoline which would gunk it up real fast!
Interesting about the lead. Just saw a study where violent crime went down with the removal of lead from paints and gasolines.
I think this topic is great,there is alot of good synthetic oil out there thats fo sure. But it so exspensive for my budget. I just use good oil thats on sale. And always every 3,000 miles to change it.
For those of you who want to know the background on how the definition of “fully synthetic” was changed to allow Group III blends to be labeled as “Fully Synthetic” (only applies to U.S. marketing AFAIK):
It was an arbitration brought by Exxon Mobil against Castrol before the National Advertising Review Council (part of the National Advertising Division of the BBB) in 1999. The case # is 3526. If you are a BBB member and have a subscription to the NARC ( NARC website ), you can download the pdf. Otherwise, you can find the entire report of the arbitration case and findings here:
i watched both videos and i agree with ETCG! i for one use full synthetic in my 2003 ever since i bought it with 60k now it has 120k with no problems from the oil and i change my oil every 8k. my 1990 accord with 250k gets regular oil and it does have a leak but synthetic will increase the leak and you will be adding more oil making synthetic cost a lot more over time which makes no point. both oils with do the job as long as you maintain your oil changes. regular oil isn’t as forgiving as synthetic when it come to not changing oil. conventional oil molecules break does about 3-5 times faster then synthetic and regular oil absorbs moisture and synthetic doesn’t.
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