snythetic oils?

This is something I have wondered about ? just in good ole Tavern conversation one night I was talking to a guy who races Modifieds and owns a Auto Shop. I asked about running synthetic oil in my truck that is like new but has 170,000 miles on it . and he told me synthetic oil is his choice but for it to make a difference the vehicle would have had to ran synthetic oil since it was basically brand new. he said if your engine hasn't been ran on synthetic oil since it was new it isn't doing whatever it is that synthetic oil does as opposed to a non-sythetic. of course we know no matter what oil you use without it your vehicle will have a rather short life :) anyone know if there is any truth to that? like i said it was a conversation after quit a few Anheiser-Busch products had been consumed.... lol

Reply to
~Perkins Racing~
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ahem ahem

Reply to
Troy

I'll second that notion. Kinda like saying if yer' a smoker you're already gunna get cancer so why bother quitting............

Doc

Reply to
"Doc"

While I understand where he is coming from, I'd not say that his statement considers the whole picture. One of the main functions of synth over dino oil is its additives (detergents) to do their job longer, that is, not wear out as quickly. At least this is my understanding. So synth oil can help clean deposits from the engine. Of course I'd guess that it's not a miracle cure and if there are heavy deposits, such as you might have on a high mileage vehicle, it might do as well as if the vehicle had been run with synth oil and kept clean the whole time. Also I'd guess that a high mileage vehicle is going to suffer from wear and tear regardless of what oil is used, so it might not be worth spending the extra money on synth. Again, that could be his opinion and he might be right or wrong. In either case it's a comfort level. Do the research and deicide if you would feel better leaving well enough alone or changing. At that point, feel good in knowing you made the right decision :)

Reply to
Todd Copeland

Pure bull! If anything, using synthetic from the beginning might prevent the engine from breaking in at a low mileage hence, it might take longer to break the engine in. I vote for switching over after

5,000 to 10,000 miles at the earliest.
Reply to
Rich B

didn't mean to get my ass jumped here ! I was just asking a question. Thanks for the responses that helped me understand a little better. Thank You !

Reply to
~Perkins Racing~

I don't think that people were jumping on you. I, for one, was jumping on the person that told you this "bull", because if they believe it, they've got problems. Oil is there to do a job and it wll do that job without any regard for the amount of mileage on the vehicle.

Reply to
Rich B

Sorry about that. It's just been one of them days. lol we have all had em' this guy does know his stuff but from reading the responses he did kinda have a point . but considering at the point of our conversation i don't think either one of us could have walked a straight line if ya know what I mean.

Reply to
~Perkins Racing~

Reply to
sidewinder

Reply to
George

There are a number of vehicles that come from th factory with synthetic oil in the engine but even those engines require a break-in period. Since a break-in can be done very quickly in a modern engine, they're probably already broken in when you buy them. I think that the major attraction of the synthetics is their extended drain interval because any motor oil, Dino or Synthetic, only contains about a teaspoon of additives. Oil only has three functions: cool, clean and lubricate. By doing these, it minimizes wear.

If you want to do your engine a favor, avoid oils or additives that contain solids like Moly, PTFE (teflon), and graphite; they can plate out and clog oil passages. At one time, the big three sent out warnings about about using additives containing any of these.

Reply to
Rich B

There are too many different ways to finish a cylinder wall coupled with the various different materials that piston rings can be made out of to make a blanket statement that synthetic oil is okay to use as the initial oil fill.

If the car comes OEM with synthetic, it can be assumed that it is okay to use it right away, if the car didn't come OEM with synthetic, problems can occur if synthetic is installed too early, but little can go wrong if conventional oil is used up to around 7000 miles and then switched over to synthetic.

If more information is sought, head to the Babcox Publications web site and read the back issues on the subject in [their] "Engine Builder" magazine.

As for pricing of synthetic, real oil costs (appx) $4 a quart, the crap made from what's left over after they squeeze the gasoline out of a barrel of crude costs about a buck a quart. 8^) (I'll gladly install whatever the customer wants though)

Reply to
Neil Nelson

Why then, do the new Corvettes ship from the factory with Mobil 1 in the crankcase??

Doc

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Reply to
"Doc"

Mobil would disagree with you...

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:Myth:You should break in your engine with conventional oil, then switch toMobil 1.

You can start using Mobil 1 with SuperSynT in new vehicles at any time, even in brand-new vehicles. In fact, Mobil 1 with SuperSynT is original equipment (it is installed at the factory) in:

Chevrolet Corvette All Porsche vehicles Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles Dodge Viper Ford Mustang Cobra R All Aston Martin cars

One of the myths that persists about Mobil 1 is that new engines require a break-in period with conventional oil. Current engine manufacturing technology does not require this break-in period. As indicated by the decisions of the engineers who design these high-performance cars, Mobil 1 with SuperSynT can be used in an engine from the day you drive the car off the showroom floor.

Reply to
Todd Copeland

Doc, you ask a very good question. In one of our earlier discussions this year, I believe that we found out that the new engines break in so fast that they require no break-in period by the owner. When I bought my '02 Impala, I was told that I should just drive "reasonably" for about 50 miles (I guess that was the break-in). I have heard (and it makes sense to me) that if the oil does too good of a job lubricating the rings and cylinder walls, it akes considerably longer for them to "wear in" to each other. I would guess that cars like the Corvette have their engines run enough before you get them that it makes no difference what type of oil is used. Me, I prefer a good synthetic but I will also use a good Dino oil (and I have switched bck and forth between them).

Reply to
Rich B

This part: "As indicated by the decisions of the engineers who design these high-performance cars, " is what you want to consider in the context as it is being used.

Last time I checked, there were many more than the above 6 listed vehicles and/or brands, and if you believe for on nanosecond that the same techniques are used in machining the engine in a Corvette as are used in a Cavalier, I've got a bridge that I'm willing to sell ya cheap.

Sorry, no sale.

Reply to
Neil Nelson

And based on that one part of the statement, you know more than the guys who design oils for a living. Give me a freakin break.

Reply to
Troy

What he was saying is that in those 6 vehicles there is A LOT more care taken with engine building. I'd bet the engines are run-in for a period of time, then the oil drained and Mobil-1 put in. I can almost gaurantee that the machining processes are a lot more refined on the 'vette engine than on the cavalier engine.

Reply to
Mike Levy

I doubt it. All car makers go the cheapest way possible, while still maintaining acceptable levels of quality. If that were not so, then the Cavalier engine would have a much higher level of warranty claims for oil consumption than the vette engine. Considering also that the cylinder honing process is automated, I would be surprised if both the vette engine and the cheap v6 or 4 cylinder ended up with the same machining process as to cylinder walls.

I believe you can run synthetic oil from day one but it would take maybe a few hundred or a thousand miles more to fully seat the piston rings. No harm done, except for a little more oil consumption for the first few thousand miles.

However, unless the car came with synthetic oil as the factory fill, I would still run dino oil for maybe the first 5 or 8k miles, and then switch to synthetic if I wanted to use it. For what its worth, I usually sell my vehicles after 6 years or 150,000 miles and all of the vehicles that had dino oil still ran well, with little or no increased oil consumption and all still had good compression. Thus, unless you live in very cold climates, or you do a lot of towing in hot weather or otherwise place high demands on the engine, or plan on keeping the vehicle forever, I see no economic benefit in using a synthetic. Just my opinion and your mileage may vary!!!

PS. The key to long engine life is not dino or synthetic oil, rather it is frequent oil changes (and filters). I have had good luck with oil changes at 5 to 6k intervals, but I do all highway driving and the engine gets fully warmed up. For short trip driving and/or in cold weather, oil changes at the 3k level are better.

Reply to
sf/gf

Correctiion to my last post:

Last sentence in the first paragraph should have said that I would be surprised if the Vette engine and the Caviler engine did NOT end up with the same machining process as to cylinder walls.

Reply to
sf/gf

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