I know a bunch of guys who swear by synthetic oil. On the other hand, I know quite a few more who swear by good old conventional oil. What are the pros & cons of both? What are you putting in your truck?

Thanks,
Ron

 

Go to the 2004 F150 board and search for this topic - It has been beat to death overthere.

IMO Syn is the way to go. I use and I sell it.

Screwdrive

 

the bottom line is that most ANY major brand of oil; syn or dino will work just fine; and go 5,000 miles as well with no ill effects. syn has better cold flow characteristics which are useful in cold climates; that is, regularly 0 degrees and colder. otherwise, take your pick and spend your money. i use syn because of the minnesota winters but the new dinos are great oils. you really can't go wrong. and 5W-20 works just fine too! don't get caught by the "heavier is better" line of thought.

 

I lean towards my old 5w20. I can't justify the cost of synthetic. But I see where you're coming from. especially with the wicked winters you deal with.

 

ive run mobil 1 or valvoline 5w30 full synthetic ssince new and my truck runs smooth as silk at 62,000. Ive talked to a couple mechanics that have said that theyve torn down engines that have 200k+ on them and have run full synthetic forever, and they said they look dam near brand new on the inside.
Id shell out a few extra bucks for synthetic on any of my vehicles.

 

I like dino oil and have logged well over 100k miles on my trucks with no engine problems
http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.shtml

 

I would suggest using whichever oil gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling in your tummy when you go to sleep at night.

 

All our cars use dino (pennzoil) although I think my mom's uses motorcraft.

The oldest car has 180,000+ miles on it and the engine is in ok shape and burns a bit of it.

My truck, I bought at 96k and is now at 103k, I have no idea what was used by the previous owner on it.

 

I really don't see any cons of running synthetic unless you are changing every 3000. In that case price would be a con.

Pro's. low temp protection, high temp protection, better fuel economy(3-5%) longer lasting, higher viscosity index, higher HT/HS viscosity, longer engine life.

I'm sure there are other that I forgot. I am a firm believer in synthetics.

 

What is your time worth? Whether you change your oil yourself or get it done somewhere you still have to set aside some time for it. If you change every 3000 miles you will be eating into your free time. I use Amsoil 0w-30 and change once a year (about 15000 miles). I plan to install a remote dual filter and do analysis to see if I can go further. With the environment in mind think about the amount of oil waste we discard that is probably still good. 3000 miles is severe service, in most cases you can go longer with dino as well. Just my 2 cents on this well trodden topic.

 

Go to http://www.BOBISTHEOILGUY.com and study up. I came to the conclusion that Mobil 1 10-30 and a 5000 mile interval was for me.

Some of the thinner oils provide great used oil analysis results in newer Japanese engines, however I had a very bad UOA (used oil analysis)(0-20 M1)in my older Mazda, yet M1 10-30 and especially 15-50 give me very good UOA's in my Mazda.

It seems that the 5-30 M1 breaks down faster than the 10-30.

There is some very good info in that site.

And yes, many dino oils do protect very well.

Chris

 

MOBIL 1 Synthetic Oil

8,000 miles oil change interval......


problem solved. If you are going to use synthetic, you may as well get your money's worth and use it as its designed.

 

Can you really go that long safely on using syn? I stretch my oil changes based on the look of the oil on the stick - but I don;t think I've ever go that long. I would be interested in seeing the inside of your engine.

 

The color of the oil is not an indicator of its remaining life. The oil I use is actually capable of 35,000 miles but that is with oil analysis to make sure everything is ok. I will try that after I add a remote dual filter unit. Most oil that is thrown out today is still good. Think about the waste and potential harm to the environment. That is reason enough to switch to synthetic for me. As most people have pointed out you can get 200K miles or more out of your truck with dino oil but add up the amount of oil you might use over that time if you do 3000 mile changes or 7500 mile changes or 15000 mile changes. Some guys with bypass filters do not even change their oil. The only new oil they introduce is when they fill their filters (in some cases this is 2 quarts).

 

Yes, you can go that long. I've got the oil anlysis to prove it. I actually went over 18 months without a change with standard filtration. I would suggest a filter change at 6 months though.

Now I have a by-pass filter and have not changed in over 22,000 miles and over 2 years.

I can email you the analysis if you want. msparks@lube-direct.com