OIL.....again

Would you believe it if you read it either? For one thing, just look at the pour points, flash points etc. Synthetics completely stomp the dino stuff. What, are you now going to tell us that pour points and viscosity stability don't mean much, or that the tests are all lies? Those who live in climates where the temps get very cold benefit from synthetic, as do those who operate in very hot areas.

Reply to
SgtSilicon
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Oil life monitors don't "just count miles". It's a bit more sophisticated then that.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Right on Ian, but would you really rely on waiting (up to) 10K miles to change? I know I don't.

Reply to
SgtSilicon

With synthetic I would. I change dino oil at 7500. Of course, that is my driving habits.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

No, I wouldn't, but I suppose that's a different discussion.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

As I understand it some do monitor oil quality. Some are simple mileage tickers but others are supposed to actually view the clarity of the oil - if I'm not mistaken. I've never really looked into this beyond what is claimed in some GM owner's manuals so I don't know how effective they really are but they do operate on something besides simple mileage.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

I wouldn't argue with the data but I would question the necessity of those improved qualities. If dino oil was failing owners then I'd find it easier to warm to synthetics. But... dino has been doing a great job for decades and it has only gotten better over the past 10 years. Extreme cold might well be a good environment for synthetics, as well as extreme hot, but for most of us in the continental US, dino has done a very good job.

I would - in fact, I was going to switch all of our cars to synthetic. I discovered that the same problems that existed when synthetics came out, still exist today. It makes sense... for older engines (let's say mileage over ~30,000mi), synthetics will wash deposits out of the engine and cause problems as minor as leaks, or as catastrophic as component failure resultant from grit washed into bearing surfaces. Too many incidents of failures when motors were switched over to make me comfortable.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

I was incorrect, then. Do they monitor driving habits as well? Turn on the light sooner if you drive hard, that sort of thing? I am curious about how they work.

Reply to
Adam Corolla

That's good to know. I had assumed they just counted miles when the one in my dad's Cadillac came on shortly after having the oil and filter changed, and it turned out the guy who changed the oil forgot to reset the oil change indicator. That was a number of years back, so it might have been an early version of an OCI that did just check the miles before they got more sophisticated.

Reply to
Adam Corolla

I see the big plus of synth. oils in my air cooled motors, IE bike, lawn tractor, etc. . Oil looks cleaner at 3k on synth. than dino does. Book says 5k change, I'd never go that far with dino as it looks black as hell at 3k where as the synth. gets dark at 5k. Lawn tractor oil, (no filter) looks good after a summer's worth of mowing vs dino needing a mid summer change with black oil showing.

Just did a lower manifold gasket change on my '02 Malibu, it's been on a 5k sched. and at 100k zero sludge and only slight brown tint on the inards. It's been on a diet of Wally world oil and Purolater Pure One filters.

Did the manifold gaskets on my '99 Yukon at 80k and motor looked the same except it gets Mobil 1 oil. M 1 is in the Yuk as it gets run harder with tow duty.

If it runs hot or gets run hard pour in the synth. oil, normal use use regular oils. Use top rated filters. That's my 2 ........

Reply to
Repairman

For the past 12 years or so, oil change monitors have worked by tracking ALL of the following; oil temperature sensor input, tachometer input from the ignition control module, vehicle speed sensor input and clock time to calculate the percentage of oil life left.

Reply to
Sharon K. Cooke

That's on GM cars I assume (being that this is the GM ng.) THANKS for the info, it is interesting to know how those things work. Now I can understand how they can estimate the condition of the oil fairly accurately and still have the need to be reset when the oil is changed.

Reply to
Adam Corolla

Reply to
<HLS

Pour points, flash points dont mean shit with respect to the superiority of an oil. Nice numbers, no intrinsic value.

Synthetics completely stomp the

Bullshit stomps chickenshit...

I have lived in climates that would challenge all systems. In one of my cars, I used dino oils, in the other synthetic. I did it because those oils were specified. Neither car ever gave premature wear problems. In fact the dino serviced car was near 200,000 miles when I sold it.

The synthetic serviced car 'seeped' from day one. I never had any real problems with it either, but sold it when it had about 30,000 miles on it. The EU inspection demanded that the slight leak be monitored and checked with every service.

Both oils were adequate. Pour point, flash point, meant NOTHING. Still doesn't ... You can ruminate with numbers but the real proof of the pudding is--does the car start, run, last, and give good gas mileate... I have seen NO advantage - even at subzero temperatures - of synthetics at this point..

You buy what you want, but your claims of across the board superiority are bullisht.

Reply to
<HLS

Your hillbilly test fleet of two vehicles means more to you than proven science. At least it's plain to see where you're coming from. People like you just make me shake my head in disbelief.

Reply to
SgtSilicon

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