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Synthetic or Regular Oil ???

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hitmanharleyk

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What do you use and why ?


I just bought my first synthetic to try in my truck ('08 Dodge Ram). I've always used "regular" oil changing it every 5000 miles, the book recommends every 6000. This truck is my mobile office and I've driven it 36,500 in the last year. I'll be putting the Valvoline Full Synthetic in tomorrow.
 
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Paladin

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I'm a synthetic guy. I use Amsoil, Mobil 1 and Royal Purple. Just depends on which I can get for cheaper. Synthetics are snake oil to some, but I'm sold on them. The cold-starting advantage to synthetics alone is reason enough if your in a cold climate. REAL synthetics stay pourable into the -40 degree temp range. A big benefit if you have to start a diesel in Anchorage in January!

PS: If you want to run synthetics, get on bobistheoilguy.com and do your own research as to which oils you'll want to use. All synthetics are not "synthetic"...
 
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Bo Heck

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I use synthetic blend for my jeep because its the same price as good dino oil. I use dino in my motorcycle. If I could afford it, I'd run fully synthetic in everything. Just for peace of mind.
 
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Merkava_4

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I use Maxlife synthetic blend 10W-30 in my Buick with the 3800 Series II. A 5 quart bottle at Wal-Mart is now up to $16.50 :eek2:


D I S C L A I M E R

I buy motor oil and automotive chemicals at Wal-Mart and nothing else! As far as I'm concerned, they're just a motor oil store.
 
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sasquach

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I use sythetic in my Cadillac cause it sits alot . In my Explore I use nothing but regular Pennzoil in my Buick I run what ever is cheapest.
 
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trackwelder

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Synthetic mobil 1 15,000 mile oil and wix filters in my chevy trucks. At 3500 hundread miles or so I change the filter and add makeup oil. I change the oil twice a year. I also use mystik jt-6 grease on the chassis.
 
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r6_cannibal

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Amsoil in the engine of all vehicles and Royal Purple in the transmission especially if it's a slosh-box(automatic).

The bike gets it because it sits for a while sometimes in the winter. The cars get it for the viscosity in the cold at startup. I have noticed impooved mileage on the commuter after switching to synthetics as well but I think that's a moot point as it probably costs more to put synthetic oils in the car than is offset by the gas savings.
 
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Merkava_4

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Synthetic oils are noisier than the same weight oil in conventional. If you run a 5W-30 conventional and then switch to a 5W-30 synthetic, you're gonna have a noisier engine. The cure is to run a 5W-40 in that application. Why are synthetic oils noisier? It's somewhat of a mystery, but synthetic oils seem to "act like" a thin conventional.

By the way, avoid Mobil 1 5W-30 and 10W-30 at all costs; they are the noisiest oils on the planet.
 
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kythri

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Mobil 1 in both my Explorer and my Crown Vic.

Merkava: I'm running 5W-30 Truck & SUV in my Explorer, no issues, no additional noise.
 
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Vicegrip

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Synthetic. One look in a dino oil motor with same miles as a one that runs synthetic will convince you too i bet.
 
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Paladin

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Merk- I don't notice any more noise with synthetics. In fact, just the opposite. With my truck, there is much less valve-train noise on synthetic as opposed to standard 15w-40.
 
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davestlouis

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SM-rated 5w30 and 10w30 are likely semi-synthetic anyway, even if not advertised as such, just to be able to meet the requirements of that rating. I use Kendall GT1, costs about $2.75/qt locally, semi-synth, hell of a lot cheaper than $7 for Mobil1. 5k interval, give or take. I'm not convinced that in real world use, it really matters. In my experience, I either wreck/total my cars, or they just fall apart, long before the engine wears out.
 
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trackwelder

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I started using mobil 1 5w30 in my 2001 silverado because of the cold start knocking in the 6.0 motor, It has made a difference.
 
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ImportTuner

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Kona Cruisers said:
royal purple... nuf said
Click to expand...

+1 on Royal Purple .. great stuff ..

Merkava ..
I use Maxlife synthetic blend 10W-30 in my Buick with the 3800 Series II. A 5 quart bottle at Wal-Mart is now up to $16.50
D I S C L A I M E R
I buy motor oil and automotive chemicals at Wal-Mart and nothing else! As far as I'm concerned, they're just a motor oil store.

Maxlife synthetic blend is designed for vehicles with 75,000 miles or more; has an additive to make the seals swell a little so that minor leaks are fixed ..
 
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SteveU

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Amsoil synthetic in everything. 5w-30 in cars & snow blower, 10w-40 in truck, motorcycle, & riding mower, ISO 100 synthetic compressor oil in compressor. Only thing not running synthetic is the lift & that will probably get changed over when it's time to drain the fluid. I use synthetics because I've read they give better extreme temperature protection & hopefully will make everything last a bit longer.
 
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Fedwrench

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Conventional and whichever brand is on sale. I'm still working my way through the cases of Castrol and Purolator oil filters I got last summer at a Pep Boys grand opening sale for only 99 cents a quart.:beer:
 
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danc333

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I have used Castrol Syntec in all my vehicles since I have been driving. 300,000 plus miles on a 4cly Toyota 4x4 truck, is proof enough for me. I curently have 65,000 miles on my Dakota and 54,000 miles on my wives Caravan. I was using Fram oil filters up until I bought the Dakota and Caravan in 05, then I switched to K&N.
 
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autoace

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If you change your oil every 3000 miles, synthetic is a waste. The problem with synthetic oil, is some people think they can drive on it forever. Regardless of oil type, combustion byproducts still build up in the crank case, contaminating oil over time. Most filters are efficient for about 5000 miles(at least peak efficiency)

More frequent oil changes with convetional oil, is better than pushing the mileage envelope with synthetic.

I have tore down hundreds of engines, I saw no wear benefit in cars that only had synthetic in them, their whole life. In older pushrod engines, I think synthetic can be more harmful than good.

There have been many tests with taxi cab engines, where a controlled study was done. Some using different synthetic oils, other using conventional oil. The oil was changed on all engines in 5000 mile intervals. After the engines were taken apart at 100K, there was no discernible difference, when engine wear was measured.

I go by the manufacturers recommendations, if the car calls for it, use it...If it doesn't your just making yourself feel better by using it.
 
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kythri

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Merkava_4 said:
Switch over to 10W-30 Maxlife and you'll notice a much quieter engine.
Click to expand...

Dunno, man...

It's a '99 XLT that I bought in 2003, and it ran dino oil up until 2005 or 2006, when I cut over to Mobil 1.

No increase in noise when that happened. The engine is pretty quiet, as it is. Don't really want to put any garbage in it as it's working great how it sits now. :)
 
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Merkava_4

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ImportTuner said:
No, just mentioning that MaxLife oil is for high mileage cars (75,000 or more) and the original posters vehicle is only 36,500 miles .. :)
Click to expand...

oh....ok....In that case, I'll mention that the seal conditioners in the Maxlife will maintain seal pliability and keep the seals soft and supple; therefore maintaining overall seal health throughout their life span. :)
 
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jerk_chicken

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I used Rotella 5w-40 Synthetic that only truck suppliers and wally world carried. The prices were quite good. It was the only thing I ran in my engines for years and when I pulled them apart, they were really clean. It was also the only thing that would keep my tappets quiet. Syntec worked ok, but not as well as this. M1 didn't do much.
 
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Sparkland

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Namebrands are not real meaningful any longer. Just make certain whatever oil you use, it has the proper specifications required by your vehicle.

Pennzoil Platinum is great as well as others.

I use Mobile 1, but it has been in short supply lately.

Amsoil is a high sheer oil which may not be the best for some applications.

Please do not use the orange filters--they are inadequate.

Brad
 
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Mike83

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I can find synthetic oil at Menards for the same price as conventional after rebate. I figure it can't be any worse, so for the same price why not?

I use Fram filters - do those ****? What should I use? I have 150,000 miles.
 
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Chris Adams

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ImportTuner said:
+1 on Royal Purple .. great stuff ..

Merkava ..
I use Maxlife synthetic blend 10W-30 in my Buick with the 3800 Series II. A 5 quart bottle at Wal-Mart is now up to $16.50
D I S C L A I M E R
I buy motor oil and automotive chemicals at Wal-Mart and nothing else! As far as I'm concerned, they're just a motor oil store.

Maxlife synthetic blend is designed for vehicles with 75,000 miles or more; has an additive to make the seals swell a little so that minor leaks are fixed ..
Click to expand...

Yup, and if you go to anything but seal expanding oil, the car will develop leaks.
You can research this any time. Lots of warnings on the net.
Some of the cars in our extended family's fleet have over 500k on them. No oil leaks.
The extended life oil is a seriously flawed gimmick.

Oil seal expanders have their uses, in an engine with a seal leak that you don't want to fix.

Don't use it in any vehicle that doesn't ALREADY have a seal leak, because you can’t go back to normal oil.
 
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Chris Adams

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autoace said:
If you change your oil every 3000 miles, synthetic is a waste. The problem with synthetic oil, is some people think they can drive on it forever. Regardless of oil type, combustion byproducts still build up in the crank case, contaminating oil over time. Most filters are efficient for about 5000 miles(at least peak efficiency)

More frequent oil changes with convetional oil, is better than pushing the mileage envelope with synthetic.

I have tore down hundreds of engines, I saw no wear benefit in cars that only had synthetic in them, their whole life. In older pushrod engines, I think synthetic can be more harmful than good.

There have been many tests with taxi cab engines, where a controlled study was done. Some using different synthetic oils, other using conventional oil. The oil was changed on all engines in 5000 mile intervals. After the engines were taken apart at 100K, there was no discernible difference, when engine wear was measured.

I go by the manufacturers recommendations, if the car calls for it, use it...If it doesn't your just making yourself feel better by using it.
Click to expand...

You make a lot of good points, but it depends on your usage and area.

Here we use semi-synthetic or synthetic because hereabouts your ambient temperature hits 150. That's the actual air temp your car ***** in above the pavement. The shade temp is say 115 or 118.
Since you need 5-20 oil both because of the need to lube your cams on startup and the need for better fuel mileage from less oil drag.
The synthetic oils hold up much better at these weights under these conditions.

Also, if you experience failures, say blow a radiator hose or lose a fan switch, the synthetic will handle the heat increase much better, giving you at least a fighting chance of saving a 3-7 thousand dollar motor.
I haven’t bought a new car in many years that DIDN'T require synthetic, at least a blend, to maintain warranty.
 
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Chris Adams

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On noise from synthetic oil. OLD information.
In the old days when synthetic was new, say before most the posters here were born, even until only 25 years ago, drain back was a major problem with synthetic oils.
That means that the oil ‘drains back’ into the pan more completely than ‘Dino’ oil, thus leaving the top end of the engine dry on startup. This makes noise, valve train clatter on cold start especially if the car has sat awhile.
Newer additive have almost eliminated that, though cheap synthetic will still drain back if you only start the car weekly.



By the way, Dino oil, is not, and never was related to dinosaurs, that was false information from the 40’s or so. Oil is not ‘fossil fuel’ but it’s still in text books like lots of other stupid guesses from the past.
 
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T56 Impala

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Audi's and BMW's:

Synthetic, change once a year, every 12,000 miles or whenever the car tells me to take it to the shop. Why, because that is what the dealer tells me to do. They are under warranty so why should I care?

Everything else:

Synthetic, change about every 5000 miles though I did let the Durango go for a year when it was driven less than 5000 miles. Why? Because I feel better about letting synthetic go for a while. I change oil when I get around to it. It is far from my top priority. (Hell, I went 110,000 miles once without changing oil!)
 
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