Is synthetic oil better than regular Arab oil & is it worth the extra price?
Pros & cons? Better protection?
I think of synthetic oil as application specific. As in, if you race the vehicle, you tow with the vehicle, you live where ambient temperatures go to extremes, or if the engine is turbocharged, then these are good reasons to use a synthetic oil. Other than this, it’s a waste of money.
Tester
It’s only twice as much so it is definitely not going to hurt many people to part with the money. Yes, it’s better but you may never be able to prove it. Castrol at Wal-Mart.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php forums are a good place to ask this question. Come to think of it, I’m sure it has been asked there a bunch of times.
I use synthetic in mine, and I think of it as cheap insurance. I also drive over 20K miles a year, so I also buy it for the more extended drain intervals, otherwise I’d be changing my oil every month. If you drive hard, drive in LA or any other traffic-ey big city, or generally abuse your car in the ways the previous poster mentioned, you’d be a good candidate for synthetic oil.
Also, they are kind of old now, but Toyota designed a camry engine a while ago that was called the “sludge monster” because of its tendency to sludge up when used with conventional oils. Those are excellent synthetic candidates.
Short answer yes.
Longer answer yes, but do you need that something better? For cars that do not call for synthetic in the owner’s manual and do not have some special need, like driving in the arctic, it is a waste of money.
There is really no substitute for changing oil at the right frequency, as tated in the manual.
Toyota compounded the problem of sludging by their very long drain interval, which they have since shortened. They had 7500 miles for all servcie situations; and stop & go driving in Minneapolis with a car parked outside overnight would GUARANTEE sludge problems with any oil, in any car.
Synthetic oil in a cold climate only guarantees that the car will start easier in the morning; it does not reduce sludge formation or allow a longer drain interval. The new Mobil 1 Extended Drain oil has more additives, so it allows a longer interval, but it comes with a lot of fine print.
As mountainbike said somewhere, oil is cheap, engines work is expensive.
I still recommend synthetic oil for extreme conditions to reduce engine wear and for easy starting. Turbocharged engines should all use synthetic!
Synthetic oil in a cold climate only guarantees that the car will start easier in the morning; it does not reduce sludge formation or allow a longer drain interval.
UM…Yes it does…Synthetic oil does NOT sludge as easily as regular Dyno oil. Sludge is usually caused tempuratures outside the oils range. Synthetic oil has a much higher temp range then dyno oil. In fact that was the problem with the Toyota engines. They reduced the cooling channels to increase the tempurature so it would polute less. This did havoc to regular dyno oil and the 5k oil change interval. Synthetic oil does NOT have with the interval or the increased temps.
I guess there is sludge and there is sludge! The sludging caused by oil breakdown is definitely less with synthetic, I agree, since it is much more stable viscosity-wise. The other kind of sludge caused physically and chemically by combustion by-products, contamination, condensation, raw fuel, etc. does not change with synthetic. This kind of sludge is typical of stop & go driving, many cold starts without proper warmup, and all the things millions of car owners do as the "“baby” their cars.
The additive package in the oil fights these contaminants until it loses its effectiveness. Therefore, frequent oil changes with dino oil are better than infrequent changes with synthetic in general driving conditons.
Talking of sludge, most of it comes from mixing oil brands when one is low by one quart. Each manufacturer has a different amount of detergent in their oil, and this will do the trick. My wife destroyed a Chevy engine on me by doing that several years ago, and then proceeded to do it on a Pontiac I had.
Talking of sludge, most of it comes from mixing oil brands when one is low by one quart. Each manufacturer has a different amount of detergent in their oil, and this will do the trick.
I find this a bit hard to believe. Differing AMOUNTS of detergents would not cause sludge, only different types that are wildly incompatible with each other would, and I don’t believe that this is occurs.
Huh ? Sludge comes from infrequent oil changes or really cheap ’ recycled oil or coolant leaking into the crankcase but mixing brands of oil! You have to be kidding !
All automotive motor oil sold in the US has to meet strict API (American Petroleum Institute), SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials) standards. ALL OIL IS REQUIRED TO BE FULLY COMPATIBLE, REGARDLESS OF THE LEVEL OF DETERGENT OR OTHER ADDITIVES!! Diesel oil has slightly different additives , but most oils are diesel/gas engine rated (mixed fleet) as well.
Some manufacturers, ususally European, have designed their cars to a different standard of oil, such as Volkswagen, which has to have a slightly different oil.
So, sludge does not result from mixing different brands of oil.
Your wife could have ruined your 2 cars in the following ways:
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Mistakenly putting transmission fluid in the oil filler
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Mistakenly putting a heavy straight 40 grade in the car in the winter; the lack of oil circulation after startup can easily ruin an engine. Heavy oil in winter has wrecked a lot of engines!
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Mistakenly putting gear oil in the crankcase; effect similar to #40 oil
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Mistakenly putting antifreeze in the oil filler
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Mistakenly putting a straight mineral oil (2cycle, etc) in the crancase
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If your 2 cars were late models, mistakenly putting a very cheap oil with a rating for 1980s car, rather than SJ rating in the crankcase
So, there are many ways to mistakenly do the wrong thing to an engine; I have to admit accidentally putting a top oil lubricant in my transmission and had to have it cleaned out at a cost of $185.
Talking of sludge, most of it comes from mixing oil brands when one is low by one quart.
Who told you that??? You can mix oil brands or mix dyno and synthetic or mix oil weights without any problems what-so-ever.
My wife destroyed a Chevy engine on me by doing that several years ago, and then proceeded to do it on a Pontiac I had.
That was NOT the reason your Chevy engine was distroyed.
Suspect any one of 6 previously mentioned as well as no oil changes, just topping up.