Re: Synthetic Oil Problems???

After going thru a recent de-sludging, I was told by a mechanic that I may have initiated the problem when switching to synth. The engine had 60,000 miles when I got the car. I went straight to 20-50 synth castrol. He contends that when doing this, you must run the new synth oil up to operating temp, then immediately drain it, then fill with more synth and go. He says the synth fights with the remnants of the carbon-based oil. I have had three other mechanics refute this theory, however.

Reply to
drumpaul
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I don't know if all synthetic oils work the same as far as cleaning but I know that their quality vary. Amsoil, Mobil 1 are among the best. From what I heard, Castro and Quaker State are apparently at or near the bottom of the quality scale. But that's beside the point. When I switched to synthetic oil, I was told that it is recommended to do an "engine flush" prior to fill the engine with synthetic oil. The reason I was given is that the detergent in the oil will clean the sludge accumulated. OR, you can use a quart/liter of synthetic in your engine, run it a few hundred miles and then drain. If you don't drain, the sludge could clog your filter. So, your mechanic may not be wrong at all! This being said, I switched to synthetic shortly after buying my used 93 Camry last year. It had 234,000 kms when I did the "flush". The car runs like a charm.

JP

drumpaul wrote:

Reply to
JP

Why did you go to such a heavy oil? 20-50? I thought most synth were like 5-20 these days. In this message you said it was Castrol, another message said it was Lucas oil. You didnt add any of the nasty Lucas oil stabilizer did you?

Reply to
ROBMURR

Sounds like a bit scoop of Bandini to me too.

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  -Philip
Reply to
Philip

Mobil1 comes in a WIDE range of viscosities.

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Click on Mobil1 Products tab,

click on Mobil1 SuperSyn.

Notice the range of viscosities. Click on any of them.

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  -Philip
Reply to
Philip

Hey, I resemble that remark. Lucas isn't nasty, it's nice.

Reply to
Daniel M. Dreifus

You may want to take a look here before you dump that Lucas stuff into anything.

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Reply to
ROBMURR

I tried that Lucas stabilizer (thickener) in a Datsun 5 speed that had noisy gears (lots of chatter when hot, idling in Neutral). The mix was 50-50 90w GL4 lube and Lucas. Didn't make any significant improvement in the noise. When I drained it out a week later, (hot condition), the oil ran out very aerated .... just like in the photos at the above link.

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  -Philip
Reply to
Philip

Yeah, I thought it would make a good chain lube for my bicycles but it wasn't even good for that..It sure looks like that good old stuff from the 1960's called STP...My god they still make that crap!

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Sticking with Dino Pennzoil and Purolator or OEM filters for me.

Reply to
ROBMURR

Guess what. I'm not the great defender of Lucas products. Never had any aeration though, and they work well for me. Always figured Bob the oil guy had a contrived test and just spun the gears too fast. Fluids look perfectly normal after hard use, though I've never added it to a standard transmission. I did try adding STP once to the 5 speed in the Toyota truck. Made the synchros too slick - wouldn't shift properly, drained it all back out. Used Valvoline gear oil with some red syrupy additive I got from a laundry truck mechanic, has been in there ever since working well. I think STP also had some problems with the FTC over misrepresentation. For the mountain bike chain and derailler recently switched to TriFlow, which also seems to work well on the Camry power antenna.

Reply to
Daniel M. Dreifus

noisy

90w

noise.

I had a '76 Passat 1500 which had the VW Golf engine. This engine had noisy rod-bearings and a marked reduction in oil-pressure when hot at idle.

I had tried to fix it by replacing the rod-bearings,..but the crankshaft journals were too worn, It was only later that I realised the clearance was something like 4.5 thou ( 1.5 thou was max rebuild clearance from memory)

As a last ditch attempt to quiet the motor, I added about 4 cans of STP to the sump. This actually meant the total oil was something like 40% STP. It did little for the hot oil-pressure and only reduced bearing noise by a smidgeon..... I guess there are limits for what oil-thickeners can do. At cold idle, the oil-pressure was normal though.!!

Jason

Reply to
Jason James

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