synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

j_martin... question for you.

If you run synthetic oil for longer periods and change your filter every 3k miles, how long do you run the synthetic oil before you dump it?

Hey, I?m with you on that. My Mercedes manual recommends 0w-30 Mobile 1 synthetic. Specs, say to change filter and oil every 10k miles. It KILLS me to see how clean that oil is every time I dump it. So, I?ve started changing the filter every 5k miles and changing the oil every 15k miles. I thought I was stretching it until a friend told me about the Amsoil he uses. My friend said he changes no less than every 25k miles and he has gone farther than that after sending a sample of his oil off for testing. He did admit that he changes his filter every 10k ? 12k miles though.

Does anyone else maximize their synthetic oil like this?

 

[j_martin]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

j_martin... question for you.

If you run synthetic oil for longer periods and change your filter every 3k miles, how long do you run the synthetic oil before you dump it?

Usually about 25,000 miles. Usually seasonal, running 10w30 in summer and 5w30 in winter.

At 3000 miles, the oil level is usually down about 1/2 quart, so a quart of oil will fill the new filter and top it off.

Caveat is if you get into real dusty conditions for a period of time, and the oil goes brown, it needs changing immediately. The newer high filtration air filters even eliminate this problem, though the air filter will need changing early.

There's 4 major items that contaminate oil. Soot, which is not a factor in most modern injected engines. Water, which synthetic oil will hold in suspension till the next warm up without reacting with it. Acid, which is also not much of a factor since they got most of the sulfur out of the fuel, and also modern engines tend to have less ring bypass which keeps it out of the oil. The 4th is dust and dirt, which the air and oil filters get.

When an engine gets old, I can hear the lower end bearings rap for a second on start up. The 4.3 with 328,000 miles on it does not rap at startup. I'm planning to tear down the engine and look at it. I suspect I will be able to throw in rings, gaskets, and a valve grind and expect another 100,000 or so out of it. Just need something to put it into. I should look around for an early 90's S10 to put it in.

 

[mommicked]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

Speaking of the Castrol dino.Ive almost always used it in everything,lawnmowers,cars and trucks.since 1982.I had a hotrod 67 merc cougar in 84/88,289 built buy previous owner.TRW10 1/2 to1,solid cam,highrise,msd,9qt oilpan etc.I ran 20w50cast in summer and drove the snot out of it almost every day.when the body was wrecked by runaway truck,ins co. offered peanuts for it.i dropped the ins. but drove it ocasionally for 3 or 4 years as hard as I could,drag raceing myself!!!I tore it down to make storing it easyer when I sold the body to a guy(kept the goodies)and was amazed at the lack of wear in the engine.it almost looked brand new!in the bores,chambers etc.I could really tell a diff.when I added the 20/50 each summer MORE COWBELL!!I find myself missing the thrill of the power and slamming the gears w the toploader4 and hurst ramrod vgate!!!If I win the lottery,Ill reserect it from the shed!!maybe a falcon or a fairlane.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

I used to have a link from a third party test on the oil filters.I can't find it now but the Fram filters were on the bottom end....very cheaply made and were out performed by even the Walmart filters.
At the top of the list was the Purolator Pure One filters.They rated better than the K&N filters.
These tests were done by a lab and tested media area inside the filters and the ability to clean the contaminates out of the oil.
Plus the Pure One filter has a stainless steel check valve.Fram uses cardboard.
They did find that many of the check valves in the Fram filters were missing after the test.So that piece of cardboard got sucked into the engine at one point.

 

['96 Charger]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

They did find that many of the check valves in the Fram filters were missing after the test.So that piece of cardboard got sucked into the engine at one point.

How long would it take a piece of cardboard to work its way out of an engine? The tiny holes on the Fram where the oil gets pulled into the filter also make me wonder how the engine can even get properly oiled even with the 5w20 oil most newer motors run on these days. Best filter I've ever run personally was the Mobil 1 filter. One time I took off to Dallas from Little Rock with well used Mobil 1 in the pan and when I got back the oil had gone from a dark brown to the honey color it is when it's new. How the heck did that happen?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

The Mobile one filter was rated pretty good.The K&N is actually a Mobile One filter with a nut welded on the bottom but about 2 bucks more.
Google "Bob the oil guy" He has done hundreds of oil and filter tests.
Wix was rated pretty well too.
The Napa Gold they sell as a high priced filter has the exact same internals as the cheap regular Napa filter.It is all a marketing thing.
The Walmart filters were made by Wix but i just read Champion now makes them...JUNK!

That stuff inside the high mileage Fram filter is a Teflon goo...not good for an old engine.Every test i have read was a big thumbs down on Fram.
Google will bring up more than you can read on oil filters...

I have run the Pure One on all of my vehicles with never a problem.

 

['96 Charger]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

I've read quite a bit on bobistheoilguy and could have sworn Champion Labs made a fairly decent filter. Oh well, lifetime warranty on the driveline so it doesn't matter

 

[mommicked]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

Thanks again for the info.Im gonna return the filter and get a better one. I think ill go ahead and use the Penzoil high milage oil though.Any opinions on Bosch oil filters?

 

[bigdee]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

Like most everything in life there is a compromise and on the smaller micron filters (advertised to catch smaller particles) they have a higher flow restriction which mean more oil gets bypassed around them via the bypass circuit.

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

How does one achieve better filtration and not impede upon the flow rate ?

 

[CN Spots]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

One of the best rated filters that I've found and the one that I use on my truck is a NAPA Gold filter made by Wix.

A coworker of mine has done a little research on bypass filters that suggests that their use eliminates the need to change the oil. Ever. Kinda pricy though. More for big rig applications I think.

yet another link:

http://www.gulfcoastfilters.com/

 

[mommicked]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

Vlad,I would guess w more filter area.larger surface w more restriction/filtering could flow similar to a smaller area of less restrictive filter media.

 

[bigdee]

Re: synthetic vs nonsyn. motor oil

Vlad,I would guess w more filter area.larger surface w more restriction/filtering could flow similar to a smaller area of less restrictive filter media.

Yes, surface area would factor into it....if you have a choice of using a larger filter that would be a step in the right direction. Synthetic solves the viscosity issues during cold starts when most or all conventional oil is bypassed around the filter...to me,this should be the biggest selling point of using synthetic. To sum up; restrictive filters cause more oil to be bypassed (unfiltered)