Synthetic oil!

kcnewell · #1 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 01:05 PM

Having read a lot of stuff on other forums I'm a little curious about how people here feel about synthetic oil. If you like/use it. Why? If you don't like/use it. Why?

I've used both, I'm now using mineral oil in everything I own. Though synthetics have superior lubricating qualitys my personal experience has not been all that great. They tend to not want to stay inside the engine. When I ran It in my Cadillac I seemed to have oil showing up in places I've never had it show up before! It didn't leak so much as sweat out of the engine. I didn't like that!
The other thing that didn't impress me was the oil life thing. The claim is that synthetic oils are longer lasting and that you can go 10,000 miles between oil changes, sometimes more! OK, But I don't think leaving oil in an engine for 10,000 miles is a plus under any circumstances! I usually go about 2,000 miles between oil changes. Overkill? Maybe..Is that a bad thing?

The point is this..OIL is the lifes blood of our engines and we don't talk about it too much! There are many points of view concerning this and I just wanted to open up the topic to discussion.

Devil_concours · #2 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 01:20 PM

i'm about to swith to mobile 1 synth oil on my low mileage north*(engine was replaced at little bit less than 70000mi(under warranty of course). When i use to own the gtp, i use nothing but mobile 1 synth oil. It's a very good oil and you will be able to notice the difference. I don't know how long synthetic oil will last since i get my oil change done every 3000mi.
PS don't use synthetic oil on high mileage engine.

kcnewell · #3 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 01:59 PM

You might want to do a little research before you use Mobil1 in your Northstar. Bill bobyinsky over on Caddyinfo.com says that it's not a good idea to run it in a North.

If you're not familiar with Bill, read some of his posts over there. He's "THE" guy when it comes to Cadillac tech. info! I.M.O.

jadcock · #4 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 04:16 PM

I personally feel that synthetics are only worth the money if you live in very very cold weather and need to start the car in below zero weather. Other than that, I think they're not worth the money. I know you didn't ask for brands, KC, but I always run Valvoline in my cars. The only reason is because I'm a Mark Martin fan and back in my impressionable years, he was racing for Valvoline.

I don't know if synthetic oils' lubricity is better or worse. I think you can find about five Internet sites out there on both sides of the fence. I'm from the camp that as long as you change out your mineral oil on a regular basis, you'll be fine. I have 174k miles on my Nissan truck and 113k miles on my Cadillac Seville and both are using Valvoline. I haven't owned the Nissan long, but my previous vehicle, an '84 Cutlass, I got it at 52k miles. Drove it until about 120k miles and used Valvoline the whole time.

I'm ignorant to the claimed advantages of synthetic (meaning I've never had the need to run it), but sold on regular change intervals with any type of oil (mineral and synth).

BTW, I do subscribe to the theory that any sliver of an oil leak, or possibility of one...that slippery synthetic will find it!

There are way too many stories of Northstars leaking after they switched to synthetic. 'Bill' says it's because the seals weren't validated for synthetic oil. Some say it's because they're cheap seals, some say there's just no need for synthetic, whatever. It is what it is.

In the end, I agree with ya...mineral oil for me.

elwesso · #5 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 04:36 PM

Is it a bad idea to alternate? I was thinking about doing about every third change synthetic, or would that not do any good?

Personally, if i were to change someones oil and it was all black and sludgy (like more than normal) i would give them synthetic, because chances are they neglect changing the oil. I think that they can last long, maybe not to 10k miles, but i think they could last longer than regular oil. But if you change your oil regularly, then what is the use of spending more??

jadcock · #6 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 04:45 PM

I agree. Actually, oil change intervals on the 2000+ Northstar engines are 10,000 miles, on mineral oil, or as indicated by the oil life monitor. I very closely "monitor" this monitor! It knows best the exact conditions the engine has been subjected to, and how much use the oil has had. Blanket 3000 mile change intervals are a thing of the past! In the summertime, you can see 6000-7000 change intervals (as indicated by the monitor), and during the winter, it might tell you to change after 2000 miles or less.

AKPsiMC03 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jadcock
I personally feel that synthetics are only worth the money if you live in very very cold weather and need to start the car in below zero weather. Other than that, I think they're not worth the money. I know you didn't ask for brands, KC, but I always run Valvoline in my cars. The only reason is because I'm a Mark Martin fan and back in my impressionable years, he was racing for Valvoline.

Does that mean you use Viagra now?

elwesso · #8 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 04:58 PM

I wish my Q had a oil life monitor. Now i have to **Gasp** check the oil to see how dirty it is!!!!!!

jadcock · #9 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AKPsiMC03
Does that mean you use Viagra now?

Ha! Maybe when I need it 50 years from now, I'll give it a try.

elwesso · #10 (**permalink**) 03-03-03, 05:13 PM

I think we should leave this one alone, it could get gruesome!!!

ckucia · #11 (**permalink**) 03-06-03, 10:53 AM

I've heard this about synthetic vs mineral oil...

Crude oil contains every possible oil byproduct. To get gasoline, or motor oil, or whatever, it is refined so that the molecules of a certain size range are filtered out.

This isn't an exact science, so although motor oil may contain 95% of the same size molecules, 5% will be a little bit bigger or a little bit smaller.

Synthetic oils are not refined, but engineered. The molecules are all the same size.

The analogy is to put some ball bearings on the floor and put a board over them. In one case, all 100 ball bearings are exactly the same. In the other, 95 are exactly the same and 2 or 3 are too big, 3 or 2 are too small. Which is the better condition from the perspective of the two surfaces separated by the bearings? This is (supposedly) the difference between mineral and synthetics.

FWIW...

elwesso · #12 (**permalink**) 03-06-03, 05:28 PM

Good post. But when the oil is being used, it gets broken down somewhat anyway. So then wouldnt all the molecules become discombabulated (sp?) and therefore not matter?

Besides, I like to go with what the MFG calls for. If it calls for mineral oil, then that is what im going to put in. They built the dang thing, i would hope they know best.

***Brett*** · #13 (**permalink**) 03-06-03, 05:45 PM

i always thought it was funny that my 99 vette REQUIRED Mobil 1...and my buddys 99 Camaro SS did not...same basic engine as you all know...the oil cap on the vette even has the mobil 1 logo on it....sounds like synthetic magic might be a good bit of marketing as well

BeelzeBob · #14 (**permalink**) 03-06-03, 05:52 PM

Not to change the subject - but wasn't 'Slick 50' all the craze once too?

Devil_concours · #15 (**permalink**) 03-07-03, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sal Collaziano
Not to change the subject - but wasn't 'Slick 50' all the craze once too?

most of the additives are ordered by the government to stop their false advertisement. That's why you don't see most of them anymore. In fact in most independent testings, these additives did more damages than actually help out the engine. Best result these tests received from these additives was "no difference".