Synthetic Oil
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,078
It's great, but if you switch, you have to ENTIRELY switch to it and ONLY use synthetic from that point on.
It's about twice the cost of regular oil, so you have to decide if its worth it to you, in the long run.
I use regular old oil, but I go thicker in summer and thinner in winter (I think, maybe the other way round, my mechanic handles that)...and generally I put a bottle of some sort of reputable additive into the oil too (slick 50, STP, etc) at every oil change.
It's about twice the cost of regular oil, so you have to decide if its worth it to you, in the long run.
I use regular old oil, but I go thicker in summer and thinner in winter (I think, maybe the other way round, my mechanic handles that)...and generally I put a bottle of some sort of reputable additive into the oil too (slick 50, STP, etc) at every oil change.
Really the most important thing is to change whichever oil you're using regularly.
I think you might justify the added expense of syn in a new car, or sport minded drivers, but most daily drivers will do well with quality dino and regular changes.
With the 97Camry(140km)I got last summer, I've been using an oil system flush before changes and it's made a big difference. Right now with 4500km on this change the oil looks damm near new in colour. I use 5w 30 syn blend. Change it at 5000km.
Gene
I think you might justify the added expense of syn in a new car, or sport minded drivers, but most daily drivers will do well with quality dino and regular changes.
With the 97Camry(140km)I got last summer, I've been using an oil system flush before changes and it's made a big difference. Right now with 4500km on this change the oil looks damm near new in colour. I use 5w 30 syn blend. Change it at 5000km.
Gene
Synthetic oil is nice because it does not break down and respond to temperature changes as radically as conventional oil. I have found starting is much easier on cold winter morniings and the oil does not turn into a water-like black liquid after a few thousand km's like conventional oil can. Also, you can go about twice as long between changes.
Guest
Posts: n/a
main advantage to synthetic is cold weather pour points ...........and longer available change intervals
take two cans of 10w30 oil one synthetic one dino and pour em out at -35 you'll see the difference [img]smile.gif[/img]
my mom's tdi has synthetic from the factory (5w40 CG-4), and she uses mobil devlac 5w40 exclusivly............ factory oil change intervals is 15,000 km .......... she has 280,000 trouble free km on it now
my dad runs amsoil 15w40 synthetic in his 84 toyota diesel truck, changes it twice a year
........ has 450,000km ........runs like a top and burns no oil
me I still run dino .........I use esso xd3 or shell rotella (15w40 summer/10w30 winter) ......... only reason I do is I need 11 liters per oil change, and it has to be CG-4 compliant being a deisel (meaning $8.00/liter synthetic)and my filters cost 15 bucks (they're freakin huge) so oil changes would get rather expensive (I should run it ,but I'm a cheap bastard)
I change my oil every 12,000km just like my owners manual says ...... I'm at 175,000 km, burn no oil, runs like a top and it's still clean at oil change time
IMO if your not gonna run the extended oil change intervals it's not worth the extra cost except in the winter in extreme cold if you can't plug in
oh and that line about using only synthetic and not going back is crap nowdays
your engine is built of steel , it's not like some crack addict that's gonna go into withdrawls if you take it off the good stuff
that came from when synthetics first came out and they were not compatable with dino oil..........
if you check with the manufacturerers all synthetics are now 100% compatable with dino oil, meaning you can go back and forth and even make up you own blended mix now if you really wanted to
take two cans of 10w30 oil one synthetic one dino and pour em out at -35 you'll see the difference [img]smile.gif[/img]
my mom's tdi has synthetic from the factory (5w40 CG-4), and she uses mobil devlac 5w40 exclusivly............ factory oil change intervals is 15,000 km .......... she has 280,000 trouble free km on it now
my dad runs amsoil 15w40 synthetic in his 84 toyota diesel truck, changes it twice a year
........ has 450,000km ........runs like a top and burns no oilme I still run dino .........I use esso xd3 or shell rotella (15w40 summer/10w30 winter) ......... only reason I do is I need 11 liters per oil change, and it has to be CG-4 compliant being a deisel (meaning $8.00/liter synthetic)and my filters cost 15 bucks (they're freakin huge) so oil changes would get rather expensive (I should run it ,but I'm a cheap bastard)
I change my oil every 12,000km just like my owners manual says ...... I'm at 175,000 km, burn no oil, runs like a top and it's still clean at oil change time
IMO if your not gonna run the extended oil change intervals it's not worth the extra cost except in the winter in extreme cold if you can't plug in
oh and that line about using only synthetic and not going back is crap nowdays
your engine is built of steel , it's not like some crack addict that's gonna go into withdrawls if you take it off the good stuff
that came from when synthetics first came out and they were not compatable with dino oil..........
if you check with the manufacturerers all synthetics are now 100% compatable with dino oil, meaning you can go back and forth and even make up you own blended mix now if you really wanted to
Guest
Posts: n/a
my uncle runs amsoil in his machines for a lot longer than my dad does, but he does take a sample and have it tested regularly, when it shoes high levels of contaminants he changes it ......... I think he runs hos oil on average about 30,000km ..........he says every motor will be different as they all have different levels of blowby ect ......
