Synthetic oil used after Natural oil

[sidneyhop]

I just bought my new 98 with 85,000 miles and wanted to start it on synthetic but not sure if that would be the best thing for it. Ive read that its not necessarily a good thing to start using synthetic oil after an engine has been broken in and driven many miles using natural oil. Does anyone have any knowledge about this?

 

[dmac0923]

i believe that was more true in older engines, i buy all my cars used and most people these days bring their cars to jiffy lube and they use the cheapest oil around.

i only use Mobil 1 synthetic in my cars, and i dont have any problems.

the urban legend with synthetic motor oil is that if your motor has any oil leaks synthetic oil will make it worse.

i dont buy it. or that could just be i dont have any leaks lol

 

[carlover]

I switched mine over to synthetic oil when i bought it. Had around 120k miles on it, it now has 170k and still going strong. Go for it and dont worry about it.

 

[Joe Dirt]

How about a switch at 190k? I'm considering it...

 

[chriswells78]

I switched my Mountaineer at 96k and didn't have a problem.

 

[sidneyhop]

ok guys...thanks for the input. Ill be making the switch this weekend. Also put in a motorcraft filter as opposed to the frams that Ive always used (as recommended in previous posts

 

[Nocturnall]

I switched at 102k with no problems. The only time I've heard of someone having a problem the guy had 400k on an 80's f150 and it developed some leaks.

 

[Bruces expo]

well i wonder why it had leak's lol, all of those mile's and only had leak's that's great !!

 

[Glen4X4]

Yeah, when I had my 92 sport it was either 130 or 140k somethin and I switched to synthetic. I too heard that it would cause leaks but most the synthetics are suppose to have an additive thats suppose to help prevent a leak.

 

[carlover]

dont use Fram filters, they are crap and thats putting it nicely. Take an old one and cut it open and youll see what i mean.

 

[Glen4X4]

dont use Fram filters, they are crap and thats putting it nicely. Take an old one and cut it open and youll see what i mean.

Agreed, they can limit your oil flow to your motor. Had that happen in the past.

 

[OldRedB2_84]

i just switched to royal purple at 127000 miles, today actually, im sure it will be fine but we'll see.

 

[Pollarican]

I wouldn't reccomend a switch over 150K miles. I switched to Mobil-1 synth in a 1991 Celica I had and it was leaking a quart a week. The car only had 130k on it and I never noticed any major leaks with Dino oil.

 

[Pensa]

I had an 87 Honda that I switched to Castrol Syntec when it had 190,000+ miles and it worked great, better than regular oil. I am using Castrol Syntec in my 95 X and having no problems. I don't think you should have any problems, in fact I think your engine will be happier on it.

 

[cjeckert]

i did some work in a research lab for my mech engineering degree last year on motor oil and basically there is no comparison between dyno and synthetic oil its light and day synthetic is much much better. The drawback in synthetic however and the one which it got the bad rap for in older engines was with seals, ie it was "dry" and caused seals to shrink. However with all new synthetic oils they (manufacturers) have add additives to help maintain the seals, also they sell "special" oil with extra additives for older engines. However i feel if it leaks oil on synthetic you really need to fix the seal as its indicative to more systemic issues in the engine. On a final note i found mobile one synthetic to be one of the highest performers consistently whilst royal purple was the ultimate highest albeit with slightly less consistency; this was a combination of thermal degradation and drag tests with verification of proper lubrication. Also in person experience i have found K&N oil filters to be the best available in regards to its use in my porsche 924S.

 

[A Wise Guy]

^^^^^^^ Wow.^^^^^^^
and if you don't understand that now wait for it to come out in the text version without any punctuation. Thanks for the info.
I did a switch to Mobil 1 on a '92 Dodge 3.0 at 20,000 miles and the dealer was not happy with me because under warranty they had to fix all the leaks that thing had sprung. Thank God it wasn't a boat.

 

[gijoecam]

The urban legend is based in historical reality, but it's simply not the case. *Some* of the early synthetic oils did not have the additives necessary to swell the rubber seals to keep them tight. Now that very few modern motors utilize rubber seals to start with, combined with modern synthetic oils containing the proper additives, it's made leakage issues due to synthetics a thing of the past.

Switch whenever you want. Don't worry about it.

 

[maximus44]

I switched to Pennzoil Platinum synthetic at 175,000 miles. No leaks and it made the engine run smoother. (that's what it felt like anyways)

 

[Fifty150]

Go ahead. Go synthetic. Enjoy the benefits. You won't hurt your car. If you went to the dealership, they would fill your motor up with Motorcraft semi-synthetic. Use that if you want. Wal-Mart has a great price on Ford oil. I know that the manual calls for 5W30. But Ford now uses 5W20. I heard from a tech at the dealership who said that they use semi-synthetic over full synthetic because it's cheaper, but that the full synthetic was better. I typically use Royal Purple in my F150.

- 5150

 

[00XLS]

Mobil now makes a higher mileage sythetic, available at walmart same price.