Synthetic Oil vs "Dino" Oil

[Karl]

Shayne,

I know of 2 individuals the use Slick 50 and Both Cars failed within 4 months.

I'm not how that's significant without knowing details of the failures. They could both have driven off cliffs :

 

[Lowell]

A link to another Synthetic oil vs dino Oil discussion is :  here

 

[29er]

Exactly.

 

[Shayne]

Karl   one car started with 50  when the odometer was 32000 and at 47000  the cam bearing went kaput.   The other car started with 15 K on it and at 51 K the Timing gear crapped out and the valves went  whoopy and even one of the valves blasted the spark plug clean out of the head.  These were both Chev 2500s PUs that were owned by ILL state Dot.  They happened within 4 months of one another and some others units where having other troubles, So that ended the states use of the product.  I was driving the later unit when it happened.

 

[Karl]

Shayne,
That does sound strange. While the debate rages on about the usefulness of products like Slick 50, it's really just motor oil with a small amount of Teflon added - shouldn't cause failures like that, but I'm not doubting what you say. On the other side of the coin, Fram and (I believe Autolite) still market oil filters pre-charged with PTFE (Teflon) and I haven't heard about any failures directly related to them. Makes one wonder... I do remember a product marketed by Andy Granatelli years ago that was touted as a cure-all for oil burners. It was nothing more than a high viscosity oil. I think it was called Motor Honey, but could be wrong. 

 

[Shayne]

Remember Motor Honey very well  Even used it in some of our old vehicles.  It work to our knowledge. We use nothing but AutoLite and Motorcraft Oil Filters on our units  They are the same.  When I was in the Auto and RVs management , we only used Ford Motor Oil, which came direct to us from Valvoline.  All I know about that is that in came via Valvoline Trucks.  Pretty good indication of where it was manufactured or was it?  Lord only knows.  Bout the time you think you have something figured out, it changes, and throws everything out of kilter, including our way of thinking.  Guess the best is to just do and use what you are comfortable with, that's what I do and have had no mechanical problems with my own units in well over 2 million miles of useage.  Do what you have to do and as Larry the Cable guy says. "get er done."

 

[Pat]

You're all referring to oil change schedule in terms of miles rather than time.  Is time between changes a factor? 

--pat

 

[John From Detroit]

I have heard assorted things about Slick 50 and other PTFE treatments... Most of them had concerns about using products which can leave a deposit in the engine clogging some of the smaller oil passages, pressure relief valves and the like.

However in the case of the engines cited up thread which had timing chain and valve problems.  I am not convinced Slick 50 had anything to do with those problems.. Sounds more like defective from the factory.  Or.. Very bad (hot-rod type) driving.

Common among state employees when driving state cars I might add.

 

[Ned]

Pat, maintenance schedules are usually described in terms of miles and time, i.e. 12,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.  This is particularly true for fluid changes, like oil, lube, transmission, etc.  Other items can be serviced after so many miles or hours of use, like filters.  This will always be specified in the maintenance schedule for the vehicle or engine.

 

[John Canfield]

Last summer when we needed our first Cummins oil change (in the coach), I talked at some length with the techs at Cummins Northwest in Anchorage about our oil choice.  Alaskans like synthetic oil because of the low viscosity at very low temperatures; they steered me away from synthetic oil because our winter driving would be in fairly temperate climates.

Apparently another situation where synthetic oil is highly desired is in high performance (or high compression) engines.  My '93 Corvette used Mobil-1 and I think our 2001 Mercedes E320 also used synthetic (both vehicles now sold.)

Probably for the bulk of us, dino oil is just fine; for those with high compression/performance engines or those with cold winters, I think synthetic oil is worth the expense.

 

[John From Detroit]

Well, as I said earlier, I will be sticking with synthetic,  Based on assorted studies including my brother-in-laws it delivers cooler operation and more MPG.  ON a rig like this even 0.1MPG translates to a major fuel savings long term (long term is per oil change)

The difference in cost is not that great

Math: Assuming 8 Miles per Gallon, and 7,000 miles per oil change,  0.1 MPG is about 30 dollars savings, And I think synthetic is 20 dollars more than dino (At the dealer who changed my oil last time) so there you are.  10 bucks saved, just on gas

 

[Ron]

John IMHO the Cummins place in Alaska did you a disfavor.  When you have invested all those bucks in your coach it just doesn't make sense to me to skimp on the oil you use in it.  Now I have used Amsoil synthetic oil since 1973 in every vehicle I have owned and based on my experience and tests results that I have it is the best choice.  Cummins recommends Cummins Blue which as I understand is their synthetic made by Valvoline.

 

[Fizzban]

Well, I started this whole thing by asking the question.  After reading all the posts here, and other places, the only thing that seems confusing is that I have been told that switching to Synthetic oil can make the seals leak on older vehicles that haven't been on SYN.  Then on one of the links listed here, it said the reverse is true.  Does anyone know for sure?

THANKS......

 

[Shayne]

As previously stated  I won't try to speak for others, but I restored many older cars as a hobby and used Mobil 1 in each and everyone of them for years.  Had nothing but great success with it.  Know nothing about the forumlas  and specs.  All I know is I won';t use anything else.  Too each his own.  Sometimes I feel to much is put into the reports.  All I know is vehicles that were using oil, no longer did so after the switch.  Again this is just my experience.  I will continue to use it.  Same with filters,  I use what works for me and I pay no attention what others think, as long as they work for me.

 

[Ron]

We have been using Amsoil since late 1973 and have introduced the use of synthetic oil to others over the years.  I have never talked to anybody that actually experienced a leak occurring where there was not leak when switching to Synthetic oil.  Like Shayne mentioned I have seen oil burners quit burning oil after switching and using synthetic oil.

 

[John From Detroit]

I have had a car with leaky seals, However it was using pure dino oil.  When I got the seal fixed I swithced to synthetic

There was only one seal that leaked, and it was replaced (Distributor shaft) no other leaked, ever, for the life of the engine, nearly 200,000 miles.

People tell you stories about how synthetics will harm your engine because they make money selling lots of dino oil.  And they get support from folks who say things like "Well I switched to Synthetic and 2 weeks later my seals started leaking"

What would have happend if they stuck with dino?  Answer  2 weeks later their seals would have started leaking. (no difference)

 

[Shayne]

Great comparison John

 

[cougar3514v]

Sorry to sound like an idiot, but can you recycle synthetic oil?

-Dave

 

[Lowell]

Sorry to sound like an idiot, but can you recycle synthetic oil?

[/quYes ote]

Yes you can.  I return my used synthetic oil to Checker or Auto Zone stores for recyling.

 

[pjriss]

Synthetic oil absolutely will not make the seals leak. When Amsoil first hit the market decades ago it was just repackaged jet oil. The seals in jet engines were (and still are) designed to withstand the solvent like esters in jet oil but the seals in cars were not. Oops! They quickly reformulated the oil and fixed the problem but not before a lot of cars had pretty sensational leaks and Amsoil got some pretty sensational bad press that lives on in urban myth. The bad news is that most oils marketed as "synthetics" aren't any more synthetic than $1.50 bargain basement brand stuff. That's why they don't test out as any better. Having made finished blends at a refinery in another life I can say first hand that the major oil companies are the biggest crooks on the planet. You get what you pay for. That's why I use Amsoil. 

Here's a link to some good info on oil. It's from a motorcycle site but it's relevent and from what I can tell, 100% accurate All About Oil