Synthetic or Dino motor oil?

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Over the years I have used both synthetic and dino oils with good results. In recent years, I've kind of stayed with the synthetics, but I'm kind of wondering if it really is worth twice the cost.

Vehicles with conventional motor oil have run me lots of miles with no problems.
131k, 144k, 168k, 176k so it hasn't done badly for me.

With full synthetic, I have run them 90k, 152k, 26k, 49k and 47k. Again with no problems.

With a vehicle that is driven around 20k a year under pretty average conditions, will the synthetic be worth the extra cost?

Just in one of my tightwad modes, I guess.:)

Charles
 
Not to sound like a wise guy, but what about running the blend. I have used the castrol synthetic blend in a number of my cars, and I think I get the best of both worlds.

Just a thought
"J"
 
If you plan on driving the car hard (racing) or rebuilding the engine sometime in the future then the synthetic will give you a good return on your investment. If you're going to be turning around and selling the car while it's still got a lot of miles left in the engine then it's up to you. If it's a more performance oriented car then proof that the synthetic oil is all that's been in the car is worth it's weight in gold, for something like a hyundai or a kia it's not going to mean diddly. If you want to offset the cost of oil you should put out the money for a really high grade synthetid like royal purple, they've run that stuff in race engines without air filters for 15,000 miles with no problems at all, sometimes you get what you pay for. Also remember that some cars (corvettes and the like) require synthetic oil changes to keep the warranty going, warranties are good things to have around so in that case you'd want to keep putting the fake (good) stuff in.
 
if you're going to run syn then wait longer between changes . 7500 . Get a good filter like Napa Gold ( made by wiks ) or k&n , amsoil .

BMW recommends Mobil 1 at every 15K , but then again they're paying for the maintenance!

To me the most important thing is getting a good filter with the longer durations..
 
Personally, I've never experimented with synthetics because I have no problem with regular motor oil. Manufacturers design engines to run on std motor oil.

Consumer reports published an extensive engine wear test a few years ago and concluded that there is no benefit to changing motor oil at intervals less than 5000 miles. I hear plenty of recommendations to change oil at 3500 miles, but these typically come from oil companies or quick lube outlets... you know, the people who profit from selling more oil.

I live in Wisconsin and my daily driver sits outside 24/7, year round. I have always driven American iron and never had any engine problems running std motor oil, changing oil and filter at 5000 mile intervals. I have run cars to 175K, 135K, and most recently 116K. I have sold these cars, but they were all running strong when sold.

I suppose if you run the synthetics twice as long (i.e. 10000 miles), then it would be worth paying twice the price. And, you wouldn't have to change oil as often. In my case, I prefer to change the oil just before the frigid winter and before the summer gets too hot. The 5000 mile increments allow me to more frequently adjust oil weight to suit the weather conditions. :beer_smil
 
If you've got a rather customized vehicle anyway (me once I get some money) you can always put a 2 filter kit in, you get 2 filter relocation kits and re-route the lines so that you've got 2 filters next to each other. I forgot to mention filters, they're more important (if possible) than the oil, if your filter is clogged up then everything is floating around in the oil pan and shavings get caught places they shouldn't be. Magnetic drain plugs are useful for new engines that haven't been broken in, they keep any errant metal shavings out of your cylinder bores.
 
My cousin uses Amsoil in his trucks and only has to change his oil every 25,000 miles, with a filter change every 12500.....Even the Amsoil website recommends that long of an interval...I was skeptical, but he's got 225+k miles on his truck now and I swear it runs better than mine with 77k! He also uses Amsoil oil in all of his construction trucks and equipment, he believes in it that much. If you weigh the cost of doing regular oil changes and so much smaller intervals it actually ends up being cheaper to use the amsoil than dino oil.
 
It really sounds like one of the best ways for me to reduce my oil cost would be to run it longer.
I have always changed oil and filter at the 3 to 4 thousand mile mark whether it is synthetic or regular motor oil. The petroleum companies must love people like me. The idea of going 5000 to 7500 miles between changes affects me about like watching someone using the brush at the DIY car wash. Can't imagine me doing it, but maybe I should change my thinking. (About the oil changes, not the brush:))
While I have always changed oil at shorter intervals, I just started using synthetic oil in my '95 & '96 Turbo Talons. I continued the synthetic in the GTP because of the supercharger. I used synthetic in the Transport because it seemed easier to just have one type of oil to keep track of.
I might use conventional oil in the Montana, (It has had Valvoline in it for 22k), but I'll probably continue with the synthetic in the GTP. The extended oil & filter change intervals will have to be given some thought. I will probably discuss it with my mechanic who is excellent and tells it like it is.

Hey, interesting discussion.

Charles
 
Synthetics can go longer between oil changes, the way it works is you skip one oil change and just change the filter and add one quart to top it off. I've used dyno in all my vehicles with zero problems. Keep in mine high miliage engines may get leaks when switching to synthetice because of the added cleaners (or stronger cleaners). Built up crude/sludge maybe removed and leaks my occur due to this.
 
Amsoil is great stuff from what I've heard, but pricey. I use Mobil1 (turbo'd car). If youve ran dino oil and have high miles on the car, I'd stick with dino.
I'm eagerly awaiting arrival of my built motor, and will use dino to break her in, and the switch to Mobil1 at 1800 miles.
 
I was kinda skeptical of the synthetic oils, but after reading lots of info on CRSX, I decided next oil change my car is getting Mobil 1. My deciding factor was I don't put a lot of miles on my car, and my car has longer drain intervals. So I decided if i'm going to keep my oil in there for a year or every 5k miles, I might as well use the better of the two. If you still insist on changing your oil every 3-4k miles and do it 3-4 times a year, then I think dino oil suits you well, as long as you don't have a super performance car or you don't put unnecessary strain on it(towing, extreme weather, etc.)
 
I currently use Mobil1 SuperSyn 5w-30 on my 100k miled teg. The more people I talk to tell me to go to the Mobil1 Super Syn 7500 series. It has 18% more cleaners in it to get rid of built up gunk over time. Just noting...
 
Today I stopped by the shop that does my mechanical work and asked about their thoughts on this subject. There are 4 mechanics in the shop and I aked each one his opinion while away from the other three.
Some findings.
1. All agreed that synthetic was better. Cold weather start-up lubrication was cited by all 4.
2. All commented that whether it was worth the extra cost could be open to some debate.
3. All commented on seeing vehicles with in excess of 200k on conventional motor oil.
4. All 4 did not feel that extended change intervals were a good idea unless you were putting lots of highway miles on rather than the normal use that most of us give our vehicle.
5. All 4 felt that 3k to 5k intervals would be their recommendation.
6. All 4 use synthetic in their own vehicles and change at 5k or less.

I thought the last item was of particular interest. Maybe I will continue to use synthetic as in the recent past.

Charles
 
Although I am an exception to the rule (I drive 97% highway, 25,000+ miles/year), I run synthetic with a minimum oil change interval of 10,000 miles.

I ran a 1995 neon hard for 140,000 miles on full synthetic (Amsoil 0W30, 30,000 change interval/filter change-top of every 10K) and it ran like a top the day I traded it in on my cavalier in December 2001.

My Cavalier made the synthetic switch at 1,900 miles first to Amsoil, then to Red Line (the Amsoil dealer quit on me). After a while I decided to switch to Mobile 1. I'm currently running 0W20 Mobile 1 with changes @ 15,000 mi. The cavalier is closing on 83,000 miles and seems to be pulling harder than it ever has, especially at high rpms (DOHC engine, 6,200 redline) compared to when it was new.

Even the factory manual says dino oil is good for 7,500 under my driving conditions, so I see no problem running 'regular' Mobil 1 synthetic 15,000.

BTW, I wrote Mobil a while back and asked then about extended drain intervals. They told me their oil has been proven to 25,000 miles, "but" they said they (prefer to) warranty their oil to the max mileage listed in the owner's manual for changes. The really funny part is, less than a month later, they "introduced" their 7.5K and 15K oils.

Kind of makes you wonder if they had been hiding on the band wagon of "3 months or 3,000 miles" just for sales profit, then decided to join the "extended drain interval," "Premium Synthetic Crew" once they realized the popularity :whistling :ermm:

This is just my opinion and I have absolutely nothing to back it up, but I think the 15,000 mile "Premium" oil is nothing more than the SuperSyn Mobil 1 repackaged and the 7,500 mile and 'standard' synthetic oils are the "reformulated" ones - their additive packages have been reduced to lower their costs. Otherwise you'd have thought they would have bragged the hell out of them more than just saying "Good for 15,000 miles." Look how big they bragged about being the oil of choice for the military, and the factory fill/required oil for Porsche, Viper, AMG etc....
 
Well, I was in my buddies shop a couple of years back and he pulled out this old D series Honda engine with a ton of miles on it. When he pulled it apart the engine looked as if you could eat off of the internals they looked brand spanking new. The owner ran synthetic from day one. So now I try and run full synthetic all the time after seeing that.
 
Changing oil is not one of my favorite tasks, so I try not to do it as often. On the GP, I use synthetic oil and change every sixth months. I've run Mobil 1, Royal Purple, Amsoil and German Syntec. My best wear numbers came from the German Syntec 0W-30. Right now, it has Mobil 1 10W-30 in it. I have a bunch of Pep Boys Buy 3 Get 3 Mobil 1 coupons, so I'll be using that stuff from now on.

The wife's Envoy is a lease, so that oil gets changed per the onboard computer (as per the manual) with Mobil 1 5W-30. It's at 8,000 miles since the last change and the light still hasn't come on. I also use Lube Control in the oil for both cars every 1,000 miles or so to keep the oxidation level down. I'm going to do an oil analysis on the Envoy oil to see how well the Mobil 1/Lube Control held up. It's the new SL formulation, so I'm curious to the effects.

Regular dino oil is probably good enough. But, why settle for good enough? Also, does anyone else find it funny that people are willing to pass around the useless "Don't buy gas on xx date" emails to protest the oil companies, but they won't do something as simple as extending oil change intervals past the antiquated 3,000 mile standard? How much less oil would be used if we all simply follwed the owner's manual instead of the oil companies?
 
Scott P said:
Regular dino oil is probably good enough. But, why settle for good enough? Also, does anyone else find it funny that people are willing to pass around the useless "Don't buy gas on xx date" emails to protest the oil companies, but they won't do something as simple as extending oil change intervals past the antiquated 3,000 mile standard? How much less oil would be used if we all simply follwed the owner's manual instead of the oil companies?
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I agree whole-heartedly, except I would use the extended intervals as set by the synthetics' recommendations as a guideline instead of the vehicles owner's manual: 7,500, 15,000, 25,000, 30,000 - indefinate w/oil analysis (as MANY diesel OTR trucks do)
 
I am pro synthetic and use it in every engine even the two strokes. My choice is Mobil 1 due to cost and it's available everywhere.

Having said that, today's regular oils are better than ever, some even rival the synths. Motorcraft blended oils are a superior value as Havoline is in a dino oil.

I prefer the superior cleaning ability of Mobil 1 and the cold start protection. Just my choice, it's not right for everyone. I do all my own oil changes so there's no labor charge involved which keeps the costs realistic.
 
GSRstilez said:
I currently use Mobil1 SuperSyn 5w-30 on my 100k miled teg. The more people I talk to tell me to go to the Mobil1 Super Syn 7500 series. It has 18% more cleaners in it to get rid of built up gunk over time. Just noting...
Click to expand...

They are incorrect, it's the EP oils that have a more robust additive package. The 7500 is a blend.
 
I still firmly believe that the Mobile 1 15,000 mile ED oil is the exact same oil as before and the 5,000/7,500 mile oils have had their additive packages played with so they could make them lower cost "alternatives." It seems awfully odd that Mobile 1, which is supposed to be the best, was only good for 3,000 miles (or according to them, the maximum mileage in your owner's manual) then suddenly they develope extended drain invterval oils.

BTW, I DID write to Mobil 1 asking them why their drain intervals were so low, when AMSOIL is rated for 25,000 +/- and RED LINE OIL is rated at 18,500. Their reply was "Our oils have been tested to 25,000 miles, although we can only recommend the maximum mileage listed in your owner's manual."

On another interesting note, this was BEFORE they announced their 5K, 7,5K and 15K oils.

Things that make you go Hmmm....
 
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