Synthetic oil used after Natural oil

[sidneyhop]

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

That brings up a good question. What is it that they add to the higher mileage oils and oil filters that helps in high mileage engines? How does it help them?

I always assumed it was just another gimmick, is it in fact legit?

 

[Nocturnall]

cjeckert was amsoil anywhere in your tests? It's supposed to be the best when it comes to synth and they have a filter that is supposed to be good for a year. I wonder how it would measure up against royal purple and the others.

The higher milage oils I noticed one thing is usually it's 10 - 30w instead of 5 - 30w or even 10 - 40w.

 

[cjeckert]

Amsoil was in the test tho for some reason i don't think it was tested as rigorously or perhaps it was tested before i started to work on the tests. Ill see if i can find where it placed on the results but if i remember right it was really good resisting thermal breakdown.

For the most part i don't believe in higher millage oils they just add seal conditioners and a slight mix of "heavier" ie larger oil molecules to "plug" up oil leaks.

 

[Fifty150]

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

My F150 is the daily driver & I use Royal Purple + K&N Filter because the urban legend is that this combination results in the best MPG. My Mountaineer, with 200,000+ miles, sees about 7 miles a day - to the gym & back, and goes on road trips, tows a boat, goes off road, goes 4 wheeling, etc. The Mountaineer gets Mobil 1 15,000 + Mobil 1 Filter. I still change the oil & filter yearly no matter what the mileage is.

 

[Nocturnall]

Fifty150 you should look into amsoil. The filters and oil cost about the same and are of much higher quality.

 

[Fifty150]

Fifty150 you should look into amsoil. The filters and oil cost about the same and are of much higher quality.

Opinions vary. People who sell Amway claim to have the best shampoos & toothpaste. People who sell Herbalife claim to have the best vitamins. It's only the best if you believe their marketing. Multi-Level Marketing is more about marketing than product quality. Why is it that people involved in these types of operations, and those who believe in psychics, become so angry and defensive when you voice your personal opinions against what they believe in?

As for Amsoil having "much higher quality"; I'm just a tad bit skeptical. How is "much higher quality" defined? Is it about as close as a can of corn with the store brand & a can of corn with a leading manufacturer's label? Or Coke & Pepsi?

As far as oils go, I tend to believe that synthetic is a better product than dinosaur juice, but that I shouldn't read too much into any manufacturer's marketing gimmicks. But according to Dr. Bill Wattenburg, you can use just about any oil you want as long as you check it and change it. He's also got a few interesting things to say about gas and ethanol and fuel costs also.

I'm sure that Amsoil is a great oil. No better or worse than RedLine, Lucas, Mobil 1, Royal Purple, et cetera. But for my money, I will not be supporting a "pyramid scheme".

 

[cjeckert]

The interesting thing is when u run all those oils (syn) through a mass spectrometer they are all pretty much the same. (they did let me a loly undergrad get close to the mass spec tho lol.) Altho they behave very differently on many of the tests so small changes can lead to big differences.

 

[Nocturnall]

I go on what members of the board recommend over any marketing and the general consensus is Amsoil over the others. The air filter and oil.

 

[rocket22]

good amway reference...

and if anyone doesnt think that is a complete scam, do your homework.

 

[j-rad]

Watch out for plugged oil filter after going synthetic

Switching to syn can have a flushing effect on old deposits in the engine. Pull the oil filter after about 1000 miles after the switch to make sure it is not plugged up and then replace it with a new one. If it is plugged, you will have to do it again in another 1000 miles until it's all out.

 

[Glen4X4]

Switching to syn can have a flushing effect on old deposits in the engine. Pull the oil filter after about 1000 miles after the switch to make sure it is not plugged up and then replace it with a new one. If it is plugged, you will have to do it again in another 1000 miles until it's all out.

Good Idea.

 

[Nocturnall]

rocket22 are you saying amsoil is a scam? If so what are you basing this on?

 

[96eb96]

I'm not saying amsoil is snakeoil but unless you are doing indy 500 type driving their fluids are not really called for. If they were so great don't you think Ford and others would put them in at the factory? They wouldn't have to charge extra cause theoretically the warranty claims would fall to near zero. This obviously isn't the case.

My personal opinion is to use semi-synthetic oils with a 3-5K mile drain interval. Fords own motorcraft oil, which is used in the factory and dealerships to reduce warranty work is a semi synthetic. No Ford engine ever had a sludge problem from that oil.

I say 3K miles if you are severe and 5K if you do mostly highway driving. My favorite oil is Maxlife(which happens to semi synthetic), many many mechanics swear by it. It is like $12 bucks at wally + $3 for a Motorcraft filter. Motorcraft is also at wally, very similar. You would pay almost $60 bucks at a local Valvoline to get Maxlife. Sorry, but I don't believe in exotic synthetic fluids and extended drain intervals. Unless possibly you are racing or towing at your rated limit in the desert.

 

[mikeh44]

just one note amsoil does not reccomend there oil for use with e 85

 

[gijoecam]

Switching to syn can have a flushing effect on old deposits in the engine. Pull the oil filter after about 1000 miles after the switch to make sure it is not plugged up and then replace it with a new one. If it is plugged, you will have to do it again in another 1000 miles until it's all out.

I don't get it: What's to flush? After 100,000 miles on dino-oil, this was all I saw in my engine:

A lot of people seem to think they have gobs and gobs of some sort of tar-like substance in their engine... Use a decent quality oil (dino or synthetic) and filter and change them regularly, and there's no reason an engine shouldn't last 200,000 miles anymore.

 

[Glen4X4]

my one ex has 189k and I plan on puttin Synthetic in it.

 

[lycan91]

ive heard if you do switch with rigs that are higher mileage to use a syn-blend for a cycle then go to full syn? is this tru does it make that much difference?

 

[aldive]

ive heard if you do switch with rigs that are higher mileage to use a syn-blend for a cycle then go to full syn? is this tru does it make that much difference?

No, its not true.

 

[j-rad]

IF oil's been changed regularly

I don't get it: What's to flush? After 100,000 miles on dino-oil, this was all I saw in my engine:

A lot of people seem to think they have gobs and gobs of some sort of tar-like substance in their engine... Use a decent quality oil (dino or synthetic) and filter and change them regularly, and there's no reason an engine shouldn't last 200,000 miles anymore.

Yahoo for you. True for what you say. But not everyone's oil is changed regularly as this engine's. One person's clean high mileage engine doesn't mean everyone else's is the same. A lot of people buy only used cars for $$ reasons and there are obviously some vehicles out there that have been neglected. BTW you don't say why you dropped your pan.
If you don't think sludge is a potential problem for used cars, talk to any engine rebuilder.

 

[gijoecam]

BTW you don't say why you dropped your pan.
If you don't think sludge is a potential problem for used cars, talk to any engine rebuilder.

Didn't think it mattered... The pan had rusted through from the outside-in, if you must know. I was replacing it with a new one.

Even in a neglected engine, sludge is rarely an issue. It's more apt to have worn bearings and bushings than have a 'sludge problem.' It simply doesn't happen like most people seem to think it does.