Motor Oil - Synthetic or not?

gglaeser22 · April 27, 2004

Been looking at some of the "new" motor oils.. ie. "Extended life", "High Mileage", Penzoil's new "SUV, Truck, Van" oil. Are these just gimmicks or are they worth the extra money. I have been using Synthetic in my cars and old truck, wondering if it is really worth the money to continue using it in my new truck. My brother (19 year Dodge mechanic) says as long as you use a quality oil (Q-state or Mobile) and change it every 3000 you should have no problems. I also have never used anything with Teflon in it any of my motors. Any thoughts guys?

Thanks

G

2004 Chevy Silverado Ex-Cab

2000 Chevy Silverado Reg Cab

Various quads and moto-x bikes

99silveradoz71 · April 27, 2004

A search under synthetic oil may help you out. Also, guys have recommended checking out Bobistheoilguy.com for more technical information. I run Mobil 1 5-30 in mine. Others use Amsoil. A lot of it will depend on your use, driving habits, and how long you want to keep the truck.

superbee · April 27, 2004

Teflon...

Mighty HD · April 28, 2004

I personally use Mobil 1 in EVERYTHING, even the lawnmower, edger, and pressure washer...lol

The 1st time I "tried it" I noticed immediately the truck & car both started much easier. Call me crazy but it's true. I thought if it starts that much easier (turning over faster), it must be doing somethign well, so I never went back. Since then, everything that has oil, gets it.

The transmission, motor, front/rear end all get the treat...lol

I change the oil every 2,000 miles---It's an over kill, but I look at it like cheap insurance.

gmcjoe · April 28, 2004

Mobil 1

JBZ71 · April 28, 2004

Use Royal Purple myself...Little more expensive than M1..Gonna do an analysis after 6 thousand miles and see how it's doing... Will post any pluses or minuses..

piratebaseball · April 28, 2004

Go with the Mobil 1 5w40 SUV engine oil. You can find it at wal mart but only in the quart size, not the five quart jugg. It good stuff

superbee · April 28, 2004

I use Amsoil, Mobil 1 would be my second choice.

03blackburb · April 29, 2004

Mobile 1 5-30W. The major difference between full synthetic and dino is theat the synthetic does not break down like dino and has a much higher flash point. All of the tests I have read show that using synthetic you can extend your "full" changes to over 20,000 with no problems. You still need to change the filter and top off the level. The newer GM's using the oil life monitoring system usually go around 6 to 7000 miles for each change. Using full synthetic you can get 3 cycles out of 1 complete oil change.

piratebaseball · April 29, 2004

Another difference is that synthetic oil is a little thinner than regular. Like chevrolet recomends running 5w30 in my truck, but the equivalent mobil one is 10w30. I'm personally going to the new mobil one 5w40 on the next one

frdfandc · April 29, 2004

Mobile 1 used here.

melbertbloosfan · April 29, 2004

Been looking at some of the "new" motor oils.. ie. "Extended life", "High Mileage", Penzoil's new "SUV, Truck, Van" oil. Are these just gimmicks or are they worth the extra money. I have been using Synthetic in my cars and old truck, wondering if it is really worth the money to continue using it in my new truck. My brother (19 year Dodge mechanic) says as long as you use a quality oil (Q-state or Mobile) and change it every 3000 you should have no problems. I also have never used anything with Teflon in it any of my motors. Any thoughts guys?
Thanks

G

2004 Chevy Silverado Ex-Cab

2000 Chevy Silverado Reg Cab

Various quads and moto-x bikes

I highly doubt anyone on this forum (or any forum) would ever state that dino oil is superior to syn oil when it comes to lubricating properties.

Also, it is accepted that syn oil will not break down (under normal usage) but it will get dirty.

My $.02 (from a mobil 1 user): get a good filter (wix or purolater - no fram) and go 5000 to 6000 miles between oil/filter changes. Price is about the same as changing the dino oil every 3000 miles anyway.

6 qts M1 at $27 , 1 good filter at $7 = $34 plus tax.

6 qts "Name Brand Dino" at $12 , 1 "Name Brand Filter" at $4 = $16 plus tax.

(But ya gotta do it about twice as often....)

When you add in the superior lubricating properties of the syn stuff, no-brainer for me anyway.

Of course, YMMV (or may go up using synthetics )

GMCSierra04 · April 29, 2004

I reccomend synthetic oil if you dont mind spending a few extra bucks. You should change your oil/filter every 3,000 miles if your driving conditions are considered "severe" which is stop and go. If you mainly drive on the expressways you can push it a bit longer. Synthetic oil resists breaking down at higher temperatures, provides better fuel economy, increased lubricity and is overall a better oil vs. conventional engine oil. Make sure that you stick with manufacturer specs for the correct weight oil, if it calls for 5w30 then thats what you put in. The engines are designed to run with that specific weight oil and it shouldn't be changed to another weight oil.

mitchntx · April 30, 2004

hmmm .... well, I guess I will be the lone voice ... ;)

I have been using Havoline 10W30 in my '98 Trans AM road race car for 3 years. It still rolls the dyno at 380 at the rear wheel. The LS1 has 80K+ on the clock.

Now ... my regiment is to change the oil and filter before each event weekend and after the weekend if I plan on any street driving. So, the oil/filter gets maybe 500 miles on it.

The car uses no oil under normal driving, but will use 1/2 a qt in a 20 minute session on course.

All that is not saying that Havoline is superior to Mobile 1. But, in my case, I am more concerned about suspended solids and fuel contaminated oil than I am about thermal breakdown. I prefer to change it often.

For the record, my HD has M1 10W30 in it ... not necessarily for the protection as it will never see extreme duty as a normal mode of operation. Rather, I plan on taking the mileage out to a an annual oil change. It burns a quart every 2K, so I am in effect replenishing 15% of the oil supply with new every 2 o 3 months and I will put a new filter on it every 6 months.

I did this exact regiment on my wife's commuter car, a '90 Lumina. It went 225K like this before a water pump sheared the shaft and the engine overheated. It blew a head gasket and that was all the damage it did. It had close to 300K when I traded it for work on my Bronco.

I still see it tooling around town to this day ....