How old is too old to switch to synthetic?

[NOTAJP]

Originally posted by oswap
Hartman and aldive check out NOTAJP's post. What he said is right, it doesn't CAUSE leaks.. it's just much better at finding them.

Posted at the same time.

 

[Kadarom Douhrek]

Swithed to Mobil1 synthetic at 100,000 miles with it looseing about 1 quart of regular 10w30 every 3,000 miles.
After switching the leaks picked up slightly, a quart every 2,000 or so, for about 8,000 miles.
Now at 131,000 it's down to a little under a quart every 6,000 miles on 5w30 and still seems to be slowing.

Of course I wouldn't bet on something this good happening ever again but it's still a possibility.

 

[PUR PONY]

I am an Amsoil dealer and just switched my 1992 ranger over to Amsoil synthetic. My truck has 165,000 miles on it and no leaks to date. Also running amsoil in the untouched 165,000 mile auto tranny!

 

[aldive]

Gee whiz... it looks like it never to late to switch, Surprise, surprise.

 

[blue_97_v8]

i started putting syn in my 94 at 81k miles and now at 85k there's not a drop on the garage floor

 

[MonsterTrac]

Aldive - I have a question about your above post. You said adding the amsoil synthetic would raise RPM's. so you could then lower them back to normal level and gain mileage. This seems to me that adding Amsoil and not adjusting adle speed, would worsen your fuel mileage. Also, was that list properties of partial synthetic or full synthetic Amsoil. Not trying to bash the product at all, Im just trying to make sense of how it would affect my engine.

 

[aldive]

Its for full synthetic.

 

[Lifted95X]

Of course I was probably an exception, but, I had a small leak with dino oil, after I ran the flush, and put in Amsoil, no more leak. I didnt really get it because I too thought that with the nature of synthetic that it may leak more, but that a risk I was willing to take at the time. Just my 1 cent.

 

[Doug]

I started running mobil one around 100k miles on my truck. While I had an oil leak running regular oil the leak didnt get any worse with synthetic. this past oil change i put in a bottle of lucas oil stabilizer in with mobil 1 so it'll be interesting to see how much i've lost come the next oil change. I usually would loose about a quart and hopefully the lucas will slow it down.

 

[97awdx]

Lucas stuff is junk !! I have seen more newer and older engins fail because of that sticky, gooie stuff.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

I moved to 100% Mobil 1 synthetic at 140,000 miles. Been running it for about 2k miles now.... No problems.

 

[wpurple]

I use 100% synthetics in my Sport and Mounty but I wonder why I do because:
I work for a wireless company who has a fleet of many hundreds of vehicles. We change the oil maybe every 7500 to 14000 with dino, beat the crap out of them off road to cell sites, towing generators, idling for hours, and used 7X24.
We ditch them at 150K back to the leasing company and never had any problems. (even for a Chevy {Silverado 2500HD})

so, what is the point of Synthetic? I think, at least for me, it makes me sleep better at night.

 

[Maniak]

Our X at 303k miles leaks 1 quart every 2k miles. It doesn't matter if its Mobile 1 10w-30 or Car-Quest 20w-50 dino. It always leaks the same.

One thing I did notice. The 20w-50 oil has lower oil pressure once the truck is warmed up and I'm cruisng down the freeway at 3000 rpms. With the synthetic the pressure is slightly higher. I also get some valve tapping at 3000 rpms with the 20w-50 after I've been at that engine speed for 10+miles.. (yes thats the rpms I'm at when I'm towing.. 65mph in Drive with lockup)

~Mark

 

[TheJMan]

UPDATE:

I am now on my 3rd synthetic oil change interval. I first used 5W-30 Quaker State, which was ok, but I dumped it after 3K miles, then switched to Valvoline Synpower 10W-30, which really quieted down the engine, but it used a quart after 2500 miles. Now I am using 5W-30 Mobil 1 and after 1400 miles, it hasn't used a drop of oil.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

so, what is the point of Synthetic? I think, at least for me, it makes me sleep better at night.

I'm going to have to agree with that. My dad and I have used normal oil, usually Pennzoil but sometimes Castrol or Quaker State, in all our cars since before I can remember. We change every 3,000 miles religiously and have yet to have a problem with any of our cars. None of the 6 we've had in my life have burned a drop of oil and all have been driven over 130,000 miles. In the case of my '88 Taurus wagon, it went 185,000 miles (the last 20,000 with me driving it hard because I was a dumb high school kid) and still didn't die. We got rid of it only because the body had rusted out. All this with normal oil and FRAM filters. I don't buy the synthetic benefits unless the engine requires it. Though it is tough to argue with Adlive's mileage claims. I just don't have the time/money to put full synthetic in everything. That would be over $100 in oil at least.

 

[Telford Weister]

If you check out the Ford dealer garages, they have a sign behind the counter that says Ford recommends 5W-30 synthetic for ALL vehicles, regardless of age or mileage. I personally have run Castrol 5W-50 synthetic in both of my vehicles, and it has literally saved the engines in both of them at different times. The most important thing to remember with synthetics is to change the filter fairly regularly. The oil change interval is not quite as critical, as the oil doesn't really "wear out", mostly just gets dirty. On Alaska's North Slope oil fields, nearly all vehicles run Mobil 1 0W-30 in both the engine and automatic transmissions year around (yes, I said motor oil in the auto trannys; its the only thing that works well there).

 

[jcrtulsa]

As far as a full synthetic in the engine, you could get oil leaks. I say could because it may not happen but more than likely you could find oil leaks. Who knows for sure. If it has been well taken care of and you replace seals when finding a leak, then you will be just fine switching. I would consider a blend motor oil so you will have the benefits of both and half the cost.

Thanks for the syth/blend comment! I just put it in my '94 with 113k for the first time and then read about oil leaks with full synths. I guess the dino oil in my blend will keep the holes pulgged, huh?

 

[Hokie]

1. GAS MILEAGE SAVINGS: AmsOil will save you about 2 miles a gallon (national average based on 14 MPG without AmsOil.) in fuel costs. As soon as you put it in the engine picks up a couple hundred RPM because of reduced friction. Idle it back and there's your fuel savings.

Dad has a '98 Mounty with a 302, Mac Intake, TB spacer, Gibson exhaust, and Red Line syn oil (very similar to Amsoil)

The max he can get on the highway is 19.xx mpg

The max he got with his bone stock '99 XLT 5.0 was 19.xx mpg

save your money for something useful... gas mileage mod's on a normal driven Explorer are just a waste of money

My KKM/cat back exhaust did nothing to help my mileage either ~ I toyed with the idea of synthetic, but gave up on it, i'm already paying enough for petroleum products as it is

 

[aldive]

save your money for something useful... gas mileage mod's on a normal driven Explorer are just a waste of money

Maybe for you, but not for everyonel; I get 30 MPG on the highway in my normal driven truck and synthetic fluids have a lot to do with it.