Upgraded to synthetic and..

[Sid Daley]

Then I read this at the Oil Bible, now I'm a little
concerned..

Oil Bible

Snip --
A couple of words of warning:
If you've been driving around with mineral oil in your engine for years, don't switch to synthetic oil without preparation. Synthetic oils have been known to dislodge the baked-on deposits from mineral oils and leave them floating around your engine - not good. I learned this lesson the hard way! It's wise to use a flushing oil first.
If you do decide to change, only go up the scale. If you've been running around on synthetic, don't change down to a mineral-based oil - your engine might not be able to cope with the degradation in lubrication. Consequently, if you've been using mineral oil, try a semi or a full synthetic oil. By degradation, I'm speaking of the wear tolerances that an engine develops based on the oil that it's using. Thicker mineral oils mean thicker layers of oil coating the moving parts (by microns though). Switching to a thinner synthetic oil can cause piston rings to leak and in some very rare cases, piston slap or crank vibration.
Gaskets and seals! With the makeup of sythetic oils being different from mineral oils, mineral-oil-soaked gaskets and seals have been known to leak when exposed to synthetic oils. Perhaps not that common an occurance, but worth bearing in mind nevertheless.
EndSnip--

 

[PUR PONY]

what type of synthetic did you switch too?

AMSOIL sells an engine flush that you add to your own dirty oil.... add a new filter and run the car for a while (20-30mins).... this additive loosens the sludge and stuff like that which the new oil filter gets......

then drain and fill with AMSOIL synthetic and install a new amsoil filter.

I have never had a problem switching from one oil type to another and then back.... and this has been on all cars with 100K+

 

[Sallad420]

Interesting, thanks.

I was thinking of going to all Synthetics...

 

[aldive]

I have switched many cars/trucks to syntheover the years without doing anything except drain the old add the new, Never had a leak.

 

[sunbum]

I switched to Synthetic Oil about a year ago and its running smoother, or so it seems to anyhow. I use QuakerState oil. Did a full power flush before installing, no problems.

 

[jasonb]

mine leaked after the switch.

 

[Sid Daley]

My truck has 130,000 Km and I switched over
to Castrol Syntec, I am a little concerned with
what's being said with the seals as well. It's
re-assuring to hear that you've switched back
and forth lots and never had any issues. I'm sure
for the majority of users it's a problem free change.

I didn't do the flush, I'm hoping that I'm OK..

Sid

Originally posted by PUR PONY
what type of synthetic did you switch too?

AMSOIL sells an engine flush that you add to your own dirty oil.... add a new filter and run the car for a while (20-30mins).... this additive loosens the sludge and stuff like that which the new oil filter gets......

then drain and fill with AMSOIL synthetic and install a new amsoil filter.

I have never had a problem switching from one oil type to another and then back.... and this has been on all cars with 100K+

 

[Sid Daley]

Thanks Al, it's re-assuring to hear that you haven't
had any issues..

Sid

Originally posted by aldive
I have switched many cars/trucks to syntheover the years without doing anything except drain the old add the new, Never had a leak.

 

[Sid Daley]

What ended up leaking, and how long after the
change did you develop the leak. How many K's
were on your engine?

Sid

Originally posted by jasonb
mine leaked after the switch.

 

[Lifted95X]

Believe it or not, but I had a slight leak with dino, switched to a slightly heavier weight Amsoil, and my leak vanished.

 

[Mike_H]

I have gone back and forth with all my cars, never had any probs

 

[jasonb]

Originally posted by Sid Daley
What ended up leaking, and how long after the
change did you develop the leak. How many K's
were on your engine?

Sid

60k at the switch to full synth. front seal leaks now. i noticed it about 2k after the change. i assume its because of the switch.. but not positive. its not enough to drip and hasn't ever stained the driveway. i check the level often and it's never low... so i haven't worried about it.

 

[Shurup]

While using mineral oil there was a leak in my truck (had to add about 1 liter of oil about every 2500 miles. I switched to semi-synthetic and there is no leak 3000 miles already. In my next oil change I will switch to synthetic (shouldn't be any leaks I guess).

 

[Rhett]

The rear main seal on my truck leaked with regular oil, and it still leaks with synthetic. But it never leaves spots on the ground! It's just enough to make it wet under there. I run AMSOIL 10W-30 and when I switched my truck over (at 75000 miles) I did use their flush product with no problems.

 

[Sid Daley]

Thanks Jason, sounds like you're the only one
that got a leak..

Sid

Originally posted by jasonb
60k at the switch to full synth. front seal leaks now. i noticed it about 2k after the change. i assume its because of the switch.. but not positive. its not enough to drip and hasn't ever stained the driveway. i check the level often and it's never low... so i haven't worried about it.

 

[blackcrowe]

Originally posted by Sid Daley
What ended up leaking, and how long after the
change did you develop the leak. How many K's
were on your engine?

Sid

I switched to syn (mobil 1) at about 130K. I think it leaked a little at first, but since then no problems. I did not flush it before i switched, but i've changed it so many times since then, that watever was floating around in the motor has long gone. I always use Purilator "Pure 1" oil filter. If there is any better out there, somebody let me know.

 

[Sid Daley]

Originally posted by blackcrowe
I switched to syn (mobil 1) at about 130K. I think it leaked a little at first, but since then no problems. I did not flush it before i switched, but i've changed it so many times since then, that watever was floating around in the motor has long gone. I always use Purilator "Pure 1" oil filter. If there is any better out there, somebody let me know.

 

[Sid Daley]

I went for the Purolator filter as well, didn't
realize the Fram was such junk..

Sid

Originally posted by blackcrowe
I switched to syn (mobil 1) at about 130K. I think it leaked a little at first, but since then no problems. I did not flush it before i switched, but i've changed it so many times since then, that watever was floating around in the motor has long gone. I always use Purilator "Pure 1" oil filter. If there is any better out there, somebody let me know.

 

[Kadarom Douhrek]

Switched to Mobil1 10W-30 at 100,000.
After switching it first used about 1qt. every 3,000 miles.
Then after about the third oil change it started slowing down.
Now at 120,000 I never add oil between 6,000 mile changes.

And the OEM Motorcraft filters are great.

 

[mdriggan]

Originally posted by blackcrowe
I switched to syn (mobil 1) at about 130K. I think it leaked a little at first, but since then no problems. I did not flush it before i switched, but i've changed it so many times since then, that watever was floating around in the motor has long gone. I always use Purilator "Pure 1" oil filter. If there is any better out there, somebody let me know.

Are the Havoline filters any good?