Switching to Synthetic Oil

[l2ULEJJ]

Hey,

I was wondering if it would be okay if I switched from conventional to synthetic oil. I was thinking of switching to Amsoil. I was also wondering if it would be okay if I mixed Amsoil with Slick50 Plus Engine Treatment. My ride is a honda civic si 94 and has 220,000 clicks on it.

Thanks,

-l2ULEJJ

[DavidYeh]

Just stick to changing the oil out every 3000k. For the extra money you spend on synthetic and slick 50, you'll can get another oil change out of it.

[BoS_DC2]

Originally Posted by YoungGunna

Just stick to changing the oil out every 3000k. For the extra money you spend on synthetic and slick 50, you'll can get another oil change out of it.

x2

[l2ULEJJ]

yeah but it lasts for up to 25,000km...thats like a year for not having to do an oil change

[strayheart]

last UP TO 25,000km ... thats the "Best" result the product is claiming it can achieve... chances are it wont reach that.. or even close... you'll end up messing up your car.
Everyone including track cars changes oil frequently year round for a reason.. and thats just the way it is.
I mean you can try if you want and you might be lucky... but I highly don't recommend it

[SkinnyPupp]

My old Honda Accord with 200+K on it burned oil like mad, but then I switched to synthetic and all my problems went away. I wouldn't bother with the treatment, but switching to synthetic is a good idea.

"Old School" people will tell you otherwise, thinking there is some whacky trickery going on which makes conventional oil a better idea.

[Lomac]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

My old Honda Accord with 200+K on it burned oil like mad, but then I switched to synthetic and all my problems went away. I wouldn't bother with the treatment, but switching to synthetic is a good idea.

"Old School" people will tell you otherwise, thinking there is some whacky trickery going on which makes conventional oil a better idea.

Synthetic oil should actually have the opposite effect on older engines. Synthetic is naturally thinner than dino and is more susceptible to leaking because it can find cracks and holes in older gaskets that dino oil is unable to penetrate. Another side effect of using synthetic in high mileage engines is a possible increase in lifter tick.

Not sure where the "old school" comment came from; it's simply a proven fact.

[Leopold Stotch]

I've had a chance to talk to some really old people and they don't approve of synthetic oil because a lot of them think it'll wreck the seals or they think it's detergent oil, which will wreck their seals.

[Corey Darling]

Synthetics are not thinner than dyno oils. That is a myth apparently.

The thing about the seals is that Synthetics do clean out motors well. So, if you have a very old motor that's been running on dyno its whole life, then switching to synthetic may not be a good idea.

Although synthetics are superior in every way to dyno oil. And some synthetics are more so than others.

Also, a good synthetic oil does not need Special addon fixes to make it better. Its got everything it needs.

Redline and Royalpurple are both top of the line synthetics.

Last time I checked (about 2 months ago) Mobil one is not a full synthetic.

I'm currently using Royalpurple in my tranny, power steering, and motor. I had an oil analysis done on my RP motor oil after 6000km. They came back and told me it had lots of life left in it based on the data they collected.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Lomac

Synthetic oil should actually have the opposite effect on older engines. Synthetic is naturally thinner than dino and is more susceptible to leaking because it can find cracks and holes in older gaskets that dino oil is unable to penetrate. Another side effect of using synthetic in high mileage engines is a possible increase in lifter tick.

Not sure where the "old school" comment came from; it's simply a proven fact.

The "old school" comment comes from.. well your post shows exactly what I mean. The people who think that it's a "fact" that synthetic is "thinner" when it's not. At operating temperatures, they will be the same.

Early synthetics did have a 'solvent' property that essentially made it double as an engine cleaner. This cleans out all the crap left in older engines, and that can of course cause leaks. However, any decent modern synthetic will not have this problem.

That's where the "old school" comes from. Mechanics who saw synthetics beginning to being used, with solvent like properties it cleaned out the gunk causing leaks, and then the myth of synthetic oil automatically causing leaks began.

Of course there is a different between "old school" and "ignorant". Not a big one, but at least ignorant people have the ability to learn.

[Lomac]

Originally Posted by Corey Darling

Redline and Royalpurple are both top of the line synthetics.

Last time I checked (about 2 months ago) Mobil one is not a full synthetic.

I'm currently using Royalpurple in my tranny, power steering, and motor. I had an oil analysis done on my RP motor oil after 6000km. They came back and told me it had lots of life left in it based on the data they collected.

Royal Purple uses a petroleum base stock for their synthetic motor oils (at least in their non-XPR lineup), meaning that they're not 100% synthetic.

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Early synthetics did have a 'solvent' property that essentially made it double as an engine cleaner. This cleans out all the crap left in older engines, and that can of course cause leaks. However, any decent modern synthetic will not have this problem.

That's where the "old school" comes from. Mechanics who saw synthetics beginning to being used, with solvent like properties it cleaned out the gunk causing leaks, and then the myth of synthetic oil automatically causing leaks began.

Modern synthetic oils are designed to clean out sludge in the engine, meaning that it eats away deposits left by dino oil that's blocking a small gap in a gasket, thus allowing the synthetic to leak out. Most reputable oil companies that sell synthetic oils even have a disclaimer on their website telling owners of cars with high mileage to stay away from their product because of that. Some synthetics come with a gasket conditioner designed to help combat this issue, but only a handful has it so far.

Originally Posted by Corey Darling

Synthetics are not thinner than dyno oils. That is a myth apparently.

The thing about the seals is that Synthetics do clean out motors well. So, if you have a very old motor that's been running on dyno its whole life, then switching to synthetic may not be a good idea.

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

The "old school" comment comes from.. well your post shows exactly what I mean. The people who think that it's a "fact" that synthetic is "thinner" when it's not. At operating temperatures, they will be the same.

Yes, at optimal operating temperature both oils will have the same viscosity. What I was referring to I didn't really explain completely. As I posted above, synthetics (yes, even modern synthetics) contain chemicals designed to clean the engine. If you've been running 5w30 dino for the past 250,000 clicks without an oil leak, yet suddenly change to the equivalent synthetic brand, you're going to end up cleaning all of the deposits left behind from the dino crap. Through this process, leaks can appears once deposits are cleaned, giving the appearance that it's thinner.

Just didn't explain it completely, is all.

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Of course there is a different between "old school" and "ignorant". Not a big one, but at least ignorant people have the ability to learn.

So which one am I?

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Lomac

So which one am I?

Depends. Are you still insisting that you're correct?