What the hey, there’s not much else going on. I use synthetic only in the car that requires 0-20 which is not (normally) available in dino. I use dino in the car that requires 5-20 which is readily available in dino. Like I said I also use syn in all my small engines now because B&S says OK and one weight takes care of them all, year round. I’m reducing shelf space a little.
I like synthetic because it just tastes great (less filling).
I use synthetic oil to cook omelettes in an iron skillet. It keeps the eggs from sticking and it extends the life of the pan.
This board has had the same discussion many times over the years, with the usual suspects presenting the same tired old arguments. So, quite a few years ago, I decided to find out the truth. I let my high mileage 2002 Sienna go over 8,000 miles on Mobil-1 EP, then sent a sample to Blackstone labs.
All the usual claims on not extending mileage on oil after your warranty expires did not match reality. At 8800 miles on MY car, in mostly highway driving south of the Snow Zone, all parameters were good for several thousand miles more than 8800. I could have gone 10,000 miles without one parameter failing to meet minimum standards.
Contamination; protection against acid levels; viscosity; all great.
That car had 220,000 miles when I took it back to the US because of changing import laws in Mexico. No excess oil consumption. Motor runs like new.
Note that such a decision has to be made for each person; each vehicle; each driving pattern. For example, if I moved to the Snow Zone, I would repeat that lab test, Ditto if I started short trips.
I also did considerable reading on sludge. All experts agreed synthetics would virtually eliminate sludge. Now, that is a considerable benefit for using synthetics.
There is another good reason to use synthetics. For what a car costs, the difference in cost between synthetics and dino is trivial by comparison.
Some of our good members have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on dino oil. Are you as good as they are? Perhaps, but also perhaps not. That also is a factor to think about. That 450,000 miles on a car on dino probably tells you more about the owner than dino vs. synthetic.
If you are proud of your car which cost you so much, do not apologize to anyone for spending a few dollars more and use good synthetic. Don’t let them discourage you. With all the people who imbibe in large quantities of booze, or even illegal drugs, why should you need to apologize for using the best oil available for your car, just because someone else doesn’t think it’s necessary?
And if you want to be sure, test the oil at various miles. Blackstone reports actually tell you a lot about the condition of your motor that no mechanic can even guess at.
Note:: my son has his old 2002 Protege with now over 300,000 miles. A few years ago, he tried the new 0W-20 synthetic. His mileage did go up. And, still no leakage or oil burning.
“If you are proud of your car which cost you so much, do not apologize to anyone for spending a few dollars more and use good synthetic”
I would say this . . . “If you are proud of your car which cost you so much, do not apologize to anyone for using conventional oil” . . . provided it’s the correct viscosity, and the manufacturer approves using a conventional oil
Naturally, this would not be the case with a recent european vehicle, and even some of the recent japanese vehicles
I think this topic has been beaten to death both here and on other forums. Nothing wrong with following owner’s manual and playing it safe. I now have two cars with direct injection engines and just for that reason am doing synthetic oil changes on them and following something in between the regular and severe schedules on the book.
LOL… @db4690 I guess I wasn’t really thinking at that moment… I thought you were saying that because of something earlier…but what…I did not know… Haha
I decided to find out the truth. I let my high mileage 2002 Sienna go over 8,000 miles on Mobil-1 EP, then sent a sample to Blackstone labs.All the usual claims on not extending mileage on oil after your warranty expires did not match reality. At 8800 miles on MY car, in mostly highway driving south of the Snow Zone, all parameters were good for several thousand miles more than 8800. I could have gone 10,000 miles without one parameter failing to meet minimum standards.
Do that same test in 30k more miles and you’ll get different results. It may actually show you are way past an oil change. One oil test NOW does not mean it’s valid even 30k miles later. So for me it doesn’t justify the added cost for periodic oil analysis.
@irlandes You used Mobil1-EP which is an extended drain oil similar to what European cars require. Your 8000 miles between drains is expected for that type of oil. You verified it by Blackstone tests.
I would not like to see someone emulate your tests with a cheap regular dino oil.
I once changed oil for someone on a car that had gone 10,000 miles on the Wal-Mart supertech conventional oil. I was expecting a sludge monster when I changed the oil but was pleasantly surprised. The oil was a quart low so obviously she never checked the levels. The oil was black as coal but all the metal parts I could see through the oil fill cap in the valve cover were clean as can be with no sludge at all. She had like a 30 mile trip one way to work each day and am sure this really helped her engine from sludging up. The oil was probably right at the end of its useful life when I changed it. I certainly wouldn’t suggest going this long on oil without changing it but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the results she had using a relatively cheap conventional oil.
That being said, when you buy large quantities of synthetic on sale like I do, it is the same price or CHEAPER to use synthetic. In this case it is a no brainer to opt for the better grade of oil.
If it was a difference between $20 for a change of conventional vs. $50 for synthetic, I would probably see this differently. I generally pay $20-25 or in rare cases, half this, for a fill of quality synthetic (oil only).
There is now a synthetic oil for the rotary valves on French horns. I attended a horn clinic last summer and an instrument technician advised not to mix the two oils, and use strictly one oil or the other. I do periodically back flush my horn with water and re-oil the valves, so I suppose then it might not hurt to switch to synthetic rotary valve oil. However, I haven’t had problems with regular rotor oil, so I will stick with that I was really curious, though, about why mixing the oils would be a problem with a musical instrument.
No idea on the French horns… That does seem odd as the stresses and temps are nowhere near what you would have in an engine. Basically, they now have synthetic oils for a lot of things. Guns now have them too which makes sense considering the pressures and temps, especially at rapid fire.
This might be a safety thing more than anything. They want them perfectly clean before you change lubes because they might or might not interact.
It could be the horn oils are chemically different; and thus don’t dissolve in each other.
An easy test would be to put a little of each in a test tube, shot glass etc. and stir.
One or the other might not even be petroleum based.
I Believe We Are Transitioning From Conventional To Synthetic Motor Oil.
I Have Use Mobil-1 EP, Exclusively, For Many Years For Similar Reasons To Those Eloquently Stated By @irlandes.
The first I had heard of “synthetic oil” was decades ago when some pilot/aircraft owner used it in his airplane. I believe it was about $4/quart then, compared with 60 cents/quart for conventional.
I think he had to special order it. We thought he was a bit whacko, at the time. However, aircraft ownership and aircraft engine work are two expensive things compared with oil expenses, not to mention fuel.
Now, as @cwatkin points out, I can buy my Mobil-1 EP for not much more than any oil and there are many different synthetic oils available from a bunch of manufacturers, some cheaper than Mobil-1 !
Also, I use it year-around so that I do not have to change viscosities as would be specified by my Owner’s Manuals if I decided to use conventional oil. Often my oil change intervals don’t coincide with seasonal changes. Who needs the hassle involved with the old-fashion oil? Besides, shortening intervals to coincide with the seasons is expensive!
My Older GM cars spec Dexron-3 transmission fluid. This conventional fluid is no longer available from GM and they “supersede” it to Dexron-6 synthetic (not much price difference), which is what my newer GM cars spec. I don’t think they are going to go back to conventional. The modern fluid works better.
Synthetic fluids are gradually replacing conventional fluids because they work better.
I’ll bet’ ya, each time this discussion gets re-hashed, the percentage of synthetic users has increased and the percentage of conventional users has decreased.
CSA
I agree. Because it is a better fluid and because you can go longer between changes (sometimes) and get slightly better gas mileage with thinner fluids, I suspect that more and more makers will begin specifying viscosities that only protect in the synthetic versions. With warranties getting longer and concerns about fuel economy/the environment, this will only make sense. Obviously it doesn’t cost much more to make this stuff than conventional. I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and noticed that the common grades of Mobil 1 were like $23. Common grades mean like 5W30, 10W30, etc. The extended protection versions and the 0W20, 0W40, etc. were a couple dollars more.
Also, it seems there are more and more turbo options on cars/trucks these days. This allows for the use of a smaller engine for better economy under MOST conditions, then when you punch it, you get a nice boost. I don’t think I have ever seen a modern turbo vehicle that doesn’t specify synthetic oil. Turbos are very hard on oil. So I am assuming that any turbo vehicle from now on will require synthetic. More and more seem to be going that way.
This thread has been run and the question(s) answered at least 1000 times on this board…
That’s true. And we still don’t all agree!! 
“This thread has been run and the question(s) answered at least 1000 times on this board…”
I know it! It’s a great discussion for all who are interested. I know that I am. And, as I’ve said, each time the discussion comes up there are more synthetic users and fewer conventional users. It is partly a factor of newer, more modern cars specifying newer, more modern oil. That coupled with greater availability and a greater variety of synthetics at nearly the same price as the good old-fashion stuff.
I would have to believe that these discussions will be ending soon when nearly everybody is using synthetic oil (and other fluids). I don’t think that time is far from now.
At one time there were debates and discussions over radial ply and biased ply tires until radials pretty much were perfected and won out over the good old-fashion style tires for most passenger car applications. Now I hardly ever see that debate or discussion.
Be patient. The end is near.
CSA
Agreed! There was a time before my time when cars were switching from single weight to multiviscosity oils. Now no cars come specifying single weight oils. The end is near for the common usage of conventionals. Single weight oil usually costs MORE than multiviscosity oil these days and I am sure that is because of the economy of scale in production. A lot more 5W30 is bought than 30W.