I was told by a auto mechanic yesterday, not to use synthetic oil. He says it will cause excessive wear to your engine and you will not get much life out of your vehicle. He has been doing my dads auto work for al long as I can remember. So he is not some shade tree mechanic. Does anyone else know anything about this? I usually use coventional oil in my car, but all I use in my truck is sythetic. I would hate to know I use sythetic to prolong the life of my truck and it is actually working against me.

 

Synthetic oil does not cause excessive wear. How can a better oil increase wear? My guess is he gets a better profit by selling dino oil and 3000 mile changes.

 

My guess is he is just old school and suscribes to the theory of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". There's nothing wrong with that since the old stuff (dino oil) does work and has for years, it's just that synthetics can work better in some applications. My friend's family owns a shop where I take my truck to have any work done and they're old school also. It's tough convincing some people about "new fangled" stuff.

You're definitely not messing up your engine running synthetics.

 

Synthetics are becoming more and more prevelant in newer high performance engines. Many models of BMW, Mercedes, etc... require synthetic lubricants nowadays. It is a better oil that reduces friction and wear, not increases it. Tell him to go to a new age automotive repair class and pay attention

 

Synthetic oils have, in my opinion, been completely over-hyped, but to say they cause excessive wear in a modern automobile engine is just flat-out incorrect.

The use of any high-quality synthetic, synthetic blend, or dino oil in your vehicle, along with a good oil filter and sensible oil change interval, should give you well in excess of 150,000 miles of service out of your engine.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

I think that's BS but I would believe that you can cause problems if you go too far between changes with Synethetic. The oil may be better and last longer but it still gets dirty. I wouldn't leave it in for really longer intervals unless I was: 1. Using a remote filter I could change relatively frequently, and 2. I was having my oil tested.

That said - I have no problems going 5K between changes with synthetic. With dyno I still like 3K mile intervals. Then again, there's nothing scientific about those numbers - just what I'm comfortable with.

 

Jdew, the difference is that once it begins to break down, dino turns to sludge and becomes quite black. Synthetic on the other hand, gives less of a visable indicator because it doesn't turn to sludge, it merely looses its lubricity and begins to simply not function once its lifespan is done. Without testing it (which is a waste of money quite simply) you cannot tell by look, smell, or even taste if you're that brave.

 

Yup.

 

Synthetic oil is the best oil you can get no question in my mind!

 

Thats what I say too. I tried to tell him, but Im no auto mechanic. I tend to think that the cars he has seen with synthetic & engine wear have been people that think you can go 20,000 miles between oil changes with sythetic. I change my oil every 5,000 miles in my truck with is about every 6 months. I use Amsoil synthetic. I dont worry about the testing cause 6 months/5,000 miles is long as I want to go between changes. Thanks for all the input!

 

Synthetic oil is great stuff, but it is not always right choice for certain applications. Wich is why some mechanics choose not to use or recomend it, for instance in a horizontally opposed engine synthetic oil is actually so good at getting into every nook and kranny of the engine that it gets past the rings and into the combustion chamber and causes an oil consumption problem. It is not uncommon for this type motror running synthetic to burn a quart to a quart and a half of oil every 1,000 miles but if you switch that same motor that was burning oil back to dino oil the consumption problem goes away. I work for Subaru and have seen a lot of blown motors due to people running synthetic oil and not being aware of this problem.

 

+1

 

Yeah, but you can do the same crap with dyno oil too. If you are gonna go 20,000 miles with synthetic, why not with dino? The owner's manual says to go 5,000 miles with dino. It says it's ok to use synthetic, but use the same interval. I cannot imagine why anyone could think that it's ok to deviate from that if you use synthetics.

You can if you want to, but it's not recommended by ford, and it probably won't do anything to help longevity. And (according to ford), neither will changing your oil every 3,000 miles, unless your truck is subjected to severe duty. (mine is, and I still change it every 5,000 miles) .... So ya'll can save a few bucks and conserve some dead dino, by waiting 5,000 miles

 

Whatever makes you happy! I use the top of the line synthetic, which is Amsoil. You must use a low micron, high capacity filter, and the oil must have a top quality basestock, to get an extended oil change interval. Also, if you have high mileage, it's not worth switching over. Benefits: increased gas mileage, reduced operating temps, less wear, etc. Note: If you have more than 25K on your ride, you have to run an engine flush before switching to synthetic.