Which Oil to Use?

[suspendedhatch]

It's not the oil that wears out. Oil can be recycled. It's the additives in the oil that need to be replenished. But the most critical reason you need to change your oil regularly is to remove contaminants. Your oil system builds up a resevoir of metal shavings, moisture, gunk, and other neat stuff. Cycling this through oil passages, your valve train, between the cam lobes and the rocker arms, your crank case, and on the sides of your combustions chambers to be constantly wiped off by the piston rings is going to wear your engine. Is it going to blow up? No. Are there any indications immediately perceivable to the owner? No. But whoever owns your car after you is going to get low and uneven compression and trouble passing smog because of excessive blowby. This is what a mechanics diagnosis will turn up when they start to wonder why their power and gas mileage isn't what it should be.

By not changing your oil you are artificially multiplying the odometer.

Find an oil analysis company, order a kit, and send them a sample. They'll tell you the exact condition of your oil and thus your engine. They can give you a recommended oil change interval. And it's not expensive at all. Cost is less than $40. Most people running modern engines in average conditions running a decent quality synthetic oil and a good filter find that their oil change interval is right around 5000-8000 miles.

[JanGeo]

Ha ha ha no it doesn't happen this way with the Synlube because the gunk is formed from the Dino oil breaking down - the filter is a 5 micron full flow and it gets changed next year and the blowby has been reduced by the Synlube forming a better piston ring seal than conventional oil. Friction is reduced by the coating of the metal surfaces with coloidal particles of Moly, PTFE and Graphite as well as the moisture content is reduced from teh reduced blowby as the little that does get there is absorbed by the graphite until it is heated enough during engine operation to release as steam to vent back into the intake through the PCV valve. If water buildup was a problem the oil level would increase. The oil can't easily be analyzed since the Synlube contains particles of solid lubricants and Iron compounds to neutralize acids which would give false wear and contamination readings.

No one ever gets my cars after I get through with them except the junk yard . . . I run them until they are scrap.

[bkrell]

Originally Posted by suspendedhatch

Never use synthetic blend. When you heat it up, the synthetic oil floats on top of the organic. Unfortunately the oil pickup is at the bottom of the pan, so only the organic gets circulated. It's a waste of money.

Organic molecules vary in size. With synthetic they're all one uniform size.

Other than that, oil is oil. It all comes down to the additives each individual company puts in it. Same goes for gasoline. Except with gas you have the cheap stations that mix whatever surplus gas the other companies give them.

Not true. Synth blends don't seperate out. You are correct, though, that synth has a more uniform molecular design. But it's not like oil and water. It's oil and oil. They don't repel each other.

[bkrell]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

....and the blowby has been reduced by the Synlube forming a better piston ring seal than conventional oil.

The blowby is reduced b/c you're running a 50 weight oil....

[MorningGaser]

Originally Posted by suspendedhatch

Never use synthetic blend. When you heat it up, the synthetic oil floats on top of the organic. Unfortunately the oil pickup is at the bottom of the pan, so only the organic gets circulated. It's a waste of money.

This is COMPLETE BS! Where on earth did you get that information? I would suggest you spend some time at www.BobIsTheOilGuy.com and educate yourself ;-)

[MiddleMike]

Auto Zone had a deal today of 5qt of 0W20 Mobile 1 Fully Synthetic + Mobile 1 filter, $26 + tax out the door.

And thus my foray into 0W synthetics begins!

[ShadowWorks]

Not all synthetics oils are true synthetic oils, one type is made from crude oil and is hydro cracked, the other is Ester based, or vegetable based and is much more expensive but performs better at the extreme end.

There was a big legal court case in the 70's regarding the use of the term Synthetic oil, the bad guys won.

[bkrell]

Here we go again.....

[SL8Brick]

post deleted - reason: "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say anything at all"

[DRW]

What? What did I miss? Was it some sort of worldwide conspiracy theory involving Amelia Aerhart, JFK and aliens?