engine and drivetrain Anybody use synthetic oil in thier 02?

[Guest Anonymous]

As long as the engine doesn't leak, synthetic is the way to go. It will seep through seals and gaskets if they are old but synthetic will help an engine last a heck of a lot longer.

[Guest Anonymous]

Do you think there are any advantages?

Have you changed your oil and filter less

frequently? I have heard that synthetic oil

is great but you still need to change the

oil filter every 3000 miles but can go more miles

with the oil in the car.

Any opinions?

So far I have used Castrol GTX 10W-40

every 3000 miles with a new filter.

I will use 20W-50 in the summer, but was thinking

of giving the synth stuff a try.

[Guest Anonymous]

When my motor was old and tired, I ran mostly Castrol GTX. Since a complete rebuild, I run Syntec. I change the oil and filter every 3k-5k, earlier if it appears dirty. I don't have any proof that it works better than other oil.

My first exposure to synthetic oil was when my father bought a new 1980 Plymouth Champ (Mitsubishi hatchback, 1.6l motor, 8-speed transmission), and he ran Mobil 1 in it for about 130k miles. The motor ran like new despite my thrashing it, and never used any appreciable quantities of oil between changes.

On the other hand, I never used synthetic in my Volvo 240, which I bought at 60k miles and rebuilt (rering, new bearings, valve job) at ~300k miles. Despite the constant diet of Castrol GTX, the bearings and other lubricated parts were quite tight and serviceable when I replaced them.

The one difference I've noted is that synthetics seem to leave less varnishy gunk under the valve cover than mineral oils do. Mineral oils break down more rapidly with temperature, so if you expect to thrash your motor with heavy-duty driving, hot running conditions, etc., it might stay cleaner with synthetics.

As others have pointed out, if your motor is older and somewhat leaky, switching to synthetics might make the leaks worse. Even with my fresh build, I've had difficulty preventing the synthetic from leaking past the timing cover on my 2002. Not much leaks, but it's noticeable.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

It will also seep right through worn tolerances in the bearings and whatnot without properly lubricating them becasue it is so slippery. So I have heard from people more knowledgable than myself.

[Guest Anonymous]

I run synthetic in all of my cars - engine, tranny, and diff. Mobil 1 in my engine b/c it's the most available. Redline products in my trannys and diffs b/c those aren't changed often.

In undergrad I had a friend with an E30 M3 who, once his oil temperature was up, would drive that thing like he stole it. Tires would last him less than 10k miles, and all four would wear out about the same time. A ride with him was always exciting. Anyway, 3-4k miles of driving like that, his oil was jet black, we assumed from thermal breakdown. On my reccomendation, he switched to synthetic (Redline) and at the next oil change (3-4k miles later) his oil was still brown.

There was an article in the Roundel by Bob Murphy about the Mobil 1 E30 that ran for over 1 million miles. Mobil claims it was b/c of their synthetic.