Should I switch to synthetic oil?

[[ion] C2]

Topic.

173,700 miles, supercharged this week. I hear synthetic's supposed to be loads better than conventional and prevent wear, but mixed responses on higher mileage engines. Anything bad with switching?

[BlackJack]

higher mileage engines.....you'll most likely start developing oil leaks and such, mainly because the synthetic has more detergents and stuff that eats the varnish left by old standard oil. Some of that varnish or deposits are actually clogging leaks.

Not saying dont do it, just saying to be prepared for possible results.

Quality of oil though, I love synth. Just best to switch to it after a fresh rebuild or if you have lower mileage.

Oh yeah, and if you're changing your own oil, make sure you change the oil and filter twice after warm-up, or else get a good flush first. Standard oil and synth dont do well together, makes like a gummy looking dark black shit when mixed, so you have to do a good flush when you switch.

[antichrysler]

Only real issue I can see is if your engine has a leak or is developing a leak synthetic is going to make it a million times worse.

[[ion] C2]

Alright, I'll wait til I drop in the forged pistons/rods and replace all the gaskets and seals, then. :) Thanks.

[SIUlero]

Standard oil and synth dont do well together, makes like a gummy looking dark black shit when mixed, so you have to do a good flush when you switch.

I thought that's what semi-synth is...synthetic mixed with conventional. It's not black and gummy. Maybe I need to read up more on it.

[BlackJack]

you mean synthetic blend. It is mixed.....but it's also engineered correctly so that the materials will work with each other. You just slap standard and synth together and watch what happens.

[MixtapeMessiah]

use royal purple when u do all that shit, bad thing is u cant use anything else once u start to use it so be careful

[Cliff8928]

I've never had any issues converting a higher-mileage engine to synthetic.

[Seaaan]

Same here my car has 120,000 miles, 40,000 of it being rough driving [me], and the other 80k unknown & it runs fine with synthetic oil so far. Maybe try using a semi-syn before trying out a fully synthetic oil just to see how that works would be best...

[Marrko]

question: if my oil is leaking, once in 2 months i have to add 1 liter off oil... could anyone give some tips on how to prevent the leaking?

[antichrysler]

I think there's a product called stop-leak that you can use on your engine. Also if you're in a warmer area you can switch to heavier oil (10w30 instead of 5w30) etc. Or you could just rip apart the engine, find the leak, and fix it that way. Odds are it's a gasket.

[billytheman1188]

dont use royal purple, it costs more. use mobil one synthetic, thats what i have and its only 20 bucks for 5 qts. mobil one is great too! love it :-)

[BlackJack]

I'm also running Mobil 1 ..... good choice Billy.

[billytheman1188]

I'm also running Mobil 1 ..... good choice Billy.

Yeap, i went with royal purple when i switched over, and then i changed to mobil one, didnt notice a difference. mobil one is used by nascar.....royal purple isnt;)

[BlackJack]

I meant good choice based on your needs and cost. nascar may use mobile one, but I know alot of fast drag racers that use royal purple.

[billytheman1188]

I meant good choice based on your needs and cost. nascar may use mobile one, but I know alot of fast drag racers that use royal purple.

yea but how much of a difference do you really think there is??? i paid about 30 bucks for royal purple, and i doubt there is much of a difference..... either way, i have synthetic, and its good for my car. thats all i need to know;)

[Vinalero]

There are some nice cleaning product yo can poor in the engine before an oil change to remove all the deposit. You put it directly in the oil refill and let the car run for 5-8 mins then you do your oil change to synth. Shouldn't have any problems. (or maybe some leaks like said before)

[boostnsrt]

i dont know if this really makes a difference but when i went to motorcycle mechanics institute they said in class that if you have more than 50k miles on a car using non synthetic, that you should not use synthetic or synthetic blend becuase it is actually slicker (if thats a word) than regular oil and it will start making its way past rings, valve seats, gaskets, and all kinds of other shit. it causes the motor to smoke more becuase its actually burning the oil in the combustion chamber rather than normally. that was motorcycle mechanics, but a combustion engine is a combustion engine no matter what its in.

[NoSweat83]

Mobile one for me too.

[Gr1m]

i just saw a commercial the other day, they have oil designed for high miled engines, might want to look into that aswell

[Cliff8928]

High mileage oil usually just has additives in it to make seals swell up to stop leaks or oil consumption.

A few years ago when there was no high mileage oil people didn't just stop driving their cars at 75,000.

[BlackJack]

A few years ago when there was no high mileage oil people didn't just stop driving their cars at 75,000.

yeah, those were the knuckle-heads that drive 40mph down the highway choking everyone out with the black cloud behind their cars......

Pull into the full-service station and ask them to "check the gas and fill it up with oil".

[TheEdgeofSanity]

well, i have 94,000 on mine and all i run is Mobil 1. works fine for me =]