Synthetic Question

[blovell]

Hey all. I'm driving an 02 XLT 4x4 with 116,000 miles on it. I'm toying with the idea of switching to synthetic or a high mileage synthetic blend. I've read a lot on the forum that this can sometimes open up leaks that were blocked by conventional oil. Currently, my Explorer doesn't leak at all so I'm not wanting to create any trouble for myself, but I'm also wanting to do what I can to keep it running well. Does anyone know from experience if I'd be alright with going synthetic or with a blend at this point? I know it's different from vehicle to vehicle, but I'd value any experience you've had.

 

[pontiac69]

What i can tell you is my experience. I switched to Mobil 1 full synthetic at around 35k. My explorer now has 134,000 and still runs like new. I also went from changing the oil every 3k to every 5k. I usually can pick up the oil at walmart for 22 bucks for 5 qts. I love the oil.....

 

[Fox Fader]

You can change to anything you want whenever you want.
Do you need synthetic? NO!
Can you do 5k changes on conventional? YES!

What I'm saying is, don't stress over this oil thing, use what you wanna use. If you have been doing regular changes, you have nothing to sweat.

 

[alexk]

would it be a bad thing to use synthetic once and then go back to regular? My next oil change Im doing a tire rotation too and that package includes synthetic oil. But after that I probably wont keep up with the synthetic. Is that bad?

 

[Fox Fader]

would it be a bad thing to use synthetic once and then go back to regular? My next oil change Im doing a tire rotation too and that package includes synthetic oil. But after that I probably wont keep up with the synthetic. Is that bad?

No, it's not bad.
I've been back and forth on motorcycles, cars, it makes no difference. All that you may have heard are just myths.

 

[alexk]

Thanks.

 

[Fox Fader]

When I sold my wife's Nissan Quest a couple years ago, it had 160k on it and ran like it did when she bought it new with no leaks or oil loss.
This is how I maintained it.
SuperTech oil, changes 4-5k
SuperTech oil filter, changed every OTHER oil change.
Serious.

 

[jhard]

This is how I maintained it.
SuperTech oil, changes 4-5k
SuperTech oil filter, changed every OTHER oil change.
Serious.

That's suprising, because from what I heard the Filter will get fouled up a lot sooner then the oil would.

 

[Fox Fader]

That's suprising, because from what I heard the Filter will get fouled up a lot sooner then the oil would.

If you start clean and keep it clean, you can get away with this.

If I buy another brand new vehicle will I do this again? Yes.

If I new this X I have now had regular changes I do it here. I'm sure it did, but I'll change the filter on every change.

I sold my 180k mile Grand Cherokee to my sister, she brought it to me for an oil change at almost 6k... oil still looked clean. Same with the Nissan, the oil always looked clean even when I didn't change the filter. This is why some owner's manuals state oil amounts at change with or without filter change.

 

[jrford]

V6 or V8.
With over 100k of oil changes on my jeep (12yrs/160k) I use Max Life by Valvoline which is a semi-syn, no leaks or drips.

Just get the right weight. For my Ex V8 i use Motorcraft 5-20w, motorcraft filter, change it every 4,000mi, and rotate those tires while i'm at it. Full Syn, if i had a corvette or mustang and drove it to red line all the time. . .but i drive an Ex that averages 2,000rpm's . . .imho it dosn't really matter except for the weight.

 

[blovell]

thanks for all the feedback. i'll probably switch to a synthetic blend with my next oil change. appreciate the advice!

 

[Fox Fader]

Not to bust anyone's bubble, but syn-blends are considered one of the biggest consumer ripoffs.

 

[blovell]

Why?

 

[celly]

Why?

Because it's just conventional dino oil with a splash of synth. Blends are pure marketing hype. If you want the benefits of synth, go full synth. Otherwise stick with conventional.

 

[NOPSTNS]

If I remember right, I believe the only companies that sell full synthetic are amsoil and mobil. There is also a class rating for synthetic. I think it is GL-4.

 

[muzzymaniac]

I believe Mobil dropped out of the GL4 group a while back. I'll see if I can find where I saw it.

 

[blovell]

So looking at synthetics . . . what do you guys recommend as far as the mileage between oil changes? Also . . . is there any real benefit between a regular synthetic and one specified as "high mileage"?

 

[aldive]

So looking at synthetics . . . what do you guys recommend as far as the mileage between oil changes? Also . . . is there any real benefit between a regular synthetic and one specified as "high mileage"?

The OCI should be based on UOA. I have gone over 30k miles on a change.

 

[blovell]

just to give a little more info . . . i usually do a lot of short drives (15 miles or less) with the exception of a few longer trips.

 

[mjp3262]

2 oil changes ago I put Mobil1 and a Fram filter in my 4.6L V8 and let it go for 5K with no problems. This time around, I'm using a Motorcraft filter w/Mobil1 and gonna let it run till my odometer reads 90K. Oil was replaced at approx. 72K miles so that'll be 8K between changes. After that, I'm gonna do an oil and filter change every 10K.