I just switched over to sythetics in my '01 supercrew 4X4 (5.4). I went with Havoline since I have been more than satisfied with their conventional motor oil. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with their syn's or may know some of the pro's/ con's to their basestocks/additives? Some others I contemplated where Mobile 1 and Pennzoil

 

but I have similiar ?'s.

Is it worth they extra $$$$.

Once you strat using synthetic, I've heard you shouldn't change back to regular. Is that correct?

 

You can switch back and forth with Dino and Syn with no problem.
In my opinion, Mobil1 or the new German made Castrol are the best for the money. Royal Purple is great too but about $1 more than Mobil 1.

 

In regards to Havoline, there are two on the shelves for now. If the bottle is marked Equilon on the back, it is a Group III dino synthetic. If it is marked Texaco/Chevron, it is a PAO basestock similiar but much stronger than M1. So take a look at the bottle if you still have it.

Is synthetics worth the $$$? Well I'm sure that there will be lots of opinions concerning this so let me give you the basic technicals. Why are you considering synthetics? Most folks say it offers more protection. Protection from what? Wear? Synthetics will almost always have more wear metals in analysis than dino oils. Heat? Yes, most PAO basestocks do have a slight advantage over dino basestocks of today but not enough to warrant the addition cost. Durability? Engines run on dino run just as long as engines run on synthetics. So where is this extra protection? For the average user there isn't any. If you drive your rig to and from work and occasionally pull a trailer, you don't need a synthetic and will get no benefits from it. If you have a rig that pulls a trailer full time in a high heat environment, idles for prolonged periods of time, and has lots of service hours on it per week, you might be a candidate for synthetics. If you think you are a candidate for synthetics, you may want to invest in a by-pass filter system and Amzoil and go for the benefits of extended oil changes with scheduled oil analysis. It gives the rig more service hours between changes and keeps the tires turning. For some folks- time is money. On a side note- I don't sell oil- I just work with it all day.

 

Labnerd,

That's a very succint reply to a topic that is often debated at lenghth and very confusing for those of us new to this type of discussion. If I understand your comments correctly, a good quality dino oil changed frequently enough will offer the same long-term overall protection as a synthetic with extend-drain intervals for a vehicle in "normal" service as you mentioned. Is this correct?

John

 

Thanks Lab!!!

 

labnerd,


i am going to change my oil next week and was thinking of using a synthetic (mobile1). if i was to use a dino oil which would you recommend. mostly around town driving .....deer season is coming up so will use 4x4 a couple of times but nothing to exteme.

 

Labnerd makes some good points and with his background he is providing a high level of expertise. My "opinion" is that synthestics like Mobile 1, Redline, etc... are worth the extra money. I have a farm and have seen better results with synthetics. Cooler running air-cooled engines. No sludge inside crank cases/heads when I have had to pull the pan or head to replace a blown gasket. It has also quited the dreaded piston slap on a XL work truck that I accquired with 65K miles. I have read reports on various synthetic oils vs. dino oils and my conclusions are that the synthetic oil is superior in every catagory except what you have to pay at the cash register.

Is it a cure all - no
Will it prevent all engine problems - no
Does it cost more - yes, but I feel that it is worth the differance

 

Are you sure about that? Don't recall hearing of any Havoline that is a Group IV oil. The MSDS says the C/T Havoline is >80% "Hydrotreated Dist., Heavy Para." CASRN is 64742-54-7. Sounds like a Group II+ to me.

 

Sure I have some knowlege of the Texaco, it's 100% Group III Isodewaxed hydroprocessed refined mineral oils. Meaning they are very very high quality conventional oils!! While I think that this new group of oils is great, they still do not beat full PAO/Ester blended basestocks as far as performance goes. The group III base oils are very very good, and have better performance than a conventional group I and II baseoils, but the pricing on the Group III's are usually the same if not more than the True synthetics like Amsoil, Mobil 1 and Redline.

If I could get a group III based oil for around $2 a quart I'd run it, but since I can get a true synthetic for the same price I'll take the better oil of Mobil 1 or Amsoil.

Here is a page on the chevron/texaco ucbo group III "synthetic" oils.

Other oils that are in this Group III so called "synthetics" are Pennzoil, Quakerstate, Petro Canada, Conoco(Motorcraft), Chevron, Texaco, and the first of the So called syntethics "castrol syntec" as well as Amsoil's XL7500 line.

http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/Base..._perform.shtml

 

Um, Labnerd please refer to this page to clear up the confusion:
http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/Base..._perform.shtml

I don't believe Chevron/Texaco currently markets a PAO based motor oil.

 

If your paying over $.89/quart for a conventional oil your wasting your money, they are all about the same. If you want the best protection out of a conventional oil look for a lightweight diesel oil that will have high ZDDP's that will reduce wear. Most of the current SL based oils will have lesser amounts of phosphurous to reduce emmissions poisoning to catalytic converters but will also increase wear.

If it were me, I'd stick with a full synthetic and change it out every 7-10,000 miles (mobil 1 with a filter change somewhere about 1/2 way)

 

Mahoney,ide suggest Chevron Supreme.Its numbers are almost up there with some synthetics out there.And you can buy it from $1.08-$1.29 a quart.

 

cool thanks guys i appreciate the advise.

 

Mike, I'm not exactly sure how to respond to your post so let me mumble my way thru it. PAO basestocks are nothing new, actually the first PAO's were produced by Standard back in 1928. The german war machine used them for their gas powered vehicles in the late 30's-40's to take pressure off of the very little oil reserves that they had. In 1954, Gulf Oil was the first to commercially produce PAO basestock oils but it was too expensive considering that at that time a quart of "Pennsylvania crude" was 49 cents. Gulfs major buyer was Uncle Sam. Gulf is now part of the Shell/Texaco/Chevron mess. They have been producing it all along- just don't market it to the public. I think if you do another search at Chevron, you might find it. They should list two as they have the PAO and the Group III.Then again, most info that is available on the internet regarding oils is either wrong or grossly outdated. When was the last time you looked at the MSDS for the best selling PAO basestock oil? I'll bet it still says it is 100% PAO.