Anyone use synthetic motor oil instead of regular?

[LDfan]

I've been thinking about switching my 99 honda accord to synthetic motor oil but after talking to a few people some say it's better and others say it's a waste of money.
Any thoughts?
thanks,
Jeff

 

[Mike Main]

I use mobil 1. If u change it yourself its no big deal so u spend couple buck more like $10-$15 more. At a dealer or lube place its like $45 vs $20. Basically theres no difference for normal driving-- its just a piece of mind thing. Thats about it --Mike

 

[Chris Maynard]

Mobile 1 is all I will use in my Corvette.
My other vehicles get Valvoline 10/30
[Edited last by Chris Maynard on October 18, 2001 at 11:08 AM]

 

[Jared_B]

Synthetic oils allows longer intervals between oil changes. My BMW V8 comes from the factory with synthetic and has 12000 to 18000 oil change intervals. Actually, even standard oil can be changed at much longer intervals than is commonly advertised. American companies just want you to buy more oil. In Europe, it is unheard of to change your oil after only 3000 miles. The interesting part is, on average, foriegn car engines last much longer than their American counterparts.
Jared

 

[Stephen_Opipari]

I plan on doing this in my 2000 1.8T Jetta. VW puts in a dino/synth blend. I plan on changing to 100% synthetic because it keeps the turbo a tad cooler when running hard and is less likely to coke the oil lines into the turbo which can cause a blown turbo. But, I also have put in a performance chip that drives the turbo a lot harder yeilding almost 50hp more and 50lb torque more over stock. 196hp/192tq mooded vs 150/155 stock.

I don't know if it's really worth it on a standardly aspirated engine, but on a oil cooled turbocharged vechicle it's wise.

 

[Thomas_A]

I currently run mobile one synthetic in my 2000 intrigue... One thing though...normaly not recomended to run synthetic till your engine has some time to break in a bit..normaly 10k. I heard that from GM mechanics when I told them what I was gonna run.. I change mine every 7-10k..I'm on the highway a lot and run 75-85 constant...
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[Philip_G]

I run mobil 1 fully synth in my car, and motul 5100 synth in my motorcycle.
when it's -30 ambient out here, my car starts without a block heater, when not many others will, that's one advantage

but honestly the byproducts of combustion are pretty harmfull to the engine, so I look at it this way.
synth is better than dino juice if changed at 3-4k miles, but given the choice I'll take dino changed every 3k over synth changed every 8k ANY DAY.

 

[Dave Morton]

I put in your basic Castrol 10W30 in my Acura Integra and I just hit the 154,000 mile mark. So far so good, knock on wood!

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------ Dave ------
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MY HT

 

[Dennis Reno]

I recently noticed that most American auto manufacturers are backing off of the 3,000 mile claim. In fact, my Ford Explorer manual recommends an oil change every 5,000 miles. "Odd" thing is that the dealership still recommends 3,000... hmm, I don't know why

 

[SteveGon]

I prefer regular motor oil. The synthetic kind tastes funny.
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[Marvin]

I used synthetic oil (Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec) for a while in one of my cars. Soon afterwards, I had to replace a leaky head gasket. At the time I figured it must be a coincidence. But I subsequently had to replace other gaskets in the engine. I had read that synthetic cleans out engine deposits that may have been blocking leaks. But I've had leaks develop even after replacing the gaskets.
I don't know for sure if the synthetic oil was to blame but I decided to go back to regular oil.
Has anything like this happened to anyone else?

 

[LDfan]

Actually, a mechanic that told me not to use synthetic said that these kind of motor oils are a lot thinner and will find any weak points in your engine block, hence you start seeing leaks more often.
Jeff

 

[RAF]

I use Mobil 1 in my 1995 Impala SS (Corvette engine). As recommended, I started with regular motor oil for the first 10,000 miles then switched to synthetic. This is the car I drove from NY -> LA for the recent HTF meet and it performed flawlessly.
The car now has over 104,000 miles on it in didn't burn or leak one single drop of oil during the entire 7,000 mile trip. I waited until I returned from LA to change the oil. Otherwise my oil changes are every 3,000 miles. Normally, I've "retired" this beautiful vehicle to occasional use (about 1000 miles/year) but after this most recent experience I'm seriously thinking about using it more often since it has all heavy duty items (police hoses, Borla CatBack exhaust, etc. etc.) and is definitely up to the task.
Also, I averaged well over 24 MPG during the trip and, how can I put this delicately, usually had the wind beneath my wings during the drive.
Over 4200 pounds, a 305 HP V8 engine, and 24+ MPG? Unbeatable!
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RAF
[Demented Video Dude since 1997]
[Computer Maven since 1956]
["PITA" since 1942]
My HT (latest update 02/05/01)

 

[Marvin]

My guess is that the key is starting with synthetic early
(well, not too early). In my case, the car about about 60K when I switched. That was probably too late.
[Edited last by Marvin on October 18, 2001 at 01:33 PM]

 

[Carlo Medina]

I'm not real knowledgeable about cars, but I have a friend who is, he drives an Audi 1.8T and all he'll put in it is synthetic.

 

[Dana Fillhart]

quote:
I recently noticed that most American auto manufacturers are backing off of the 3,000 mile claim. In fact, my Ford Explorer manual recommends an oil change every 5,000 miles. "Odd" thing is that the dealership still recommends 3,000... hmm, I don't know why
[/quote]
I have a feeling the manufacturers are under pressure from the EPA to recommend a longer oil-change cycle. The longer the cycle, the less oil sludge ends up being buried. Of course, this has to be balanced with the potential for oil burning due to engine wear from poor vehicle maintenance.
Oh, and I use synth as much as possible, and usually go about 6000 miles between changes.
[Edited last by Dana Fillhart on October 18, 2001 at 01:56 PM]

 

[Jay W]

Mobil 1...

 

[Wade]

Mobil 1 for me as well.

 

[Brian Perry]

Synthetics typically outperform regular oils in a multitude of ways, such as being more resistant to heat and oxidation, having higher film strength and clinging to metal longer when the engine is shut off.
quote: Actually, a mechanic that told me not to use synthetic said that these kind of motor oils are a lot thinner and will find any weak points in your engine block, hence you start seeing leaks more often.[/quote]
I've been told that the leaking when replacing regular oil with synthetic is due to the swelling nature of the gaskets induced by regular oil. Synthetic oil does not produce this swelling property on gaskets. Therefore, once gaskets and seals have swelled, gaps open up when they shrink back when using synthetic.
[Edited last by Brian Perry on October 18, 2001 at 02:42 PM]

 

[Jonathan Burk]

My '89 Accord just turned 200k (without any major probs), and all its ever seen is $.69 on sale at Pep Boys, with a rebate, black bottle generic.
But if I ever get a new car, I'll go for a synth blend.
Oh, and don't forget to use a good oil filter (Percolator Plus is my choice

)
[Edited last by Jonathan Burk on October 18, 2001 at 03:07 PM]