Quick synthetic oil question
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
Likes: 439
From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
You can use it in any engine. I converted my '76 to synthetic about 10 years ago and all has been fine. Some will say that changing to synthetic after running mineral oil will tend to produce some oil leakage around gasketed areas. Some say synthetic is not worth the money. This subject has been discussed for years and will probably continue to be. Everyone has their opinions on the matter. I personally run synthetic in everything I own including my lawn equipment and have never had to take an engine apart, some of which have over 200k miles on them.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 43,136
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From: Thomson Georgia
You can use it in any engine. I converted my '76 to synthetic about 10 years ago and all has been fine. Some will say that changing to synthetic after running mineral oil will tend to produce some oil leakage around gasketed areas. Some say synthetic is not worth the money. This subject has been discussed for years and will probably continue to be. Everyone has their opinions on the matter. I personally run synthetic in everything I own including my lawn equipment and have never had to take an engine apart, some of which have over 200k miles on them.
Thank Jud, that is what I wanted to hear. Is Mobil a good brand or are they pretty similar...............Did you have many oil Leaks?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
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You can use it in any engine. I converted my '76 to synthetic about 10 years ago and all has been fine. Some will say that changing to synthetic after running mineral oil will tend to produce some oil leakage around gasketed areas. Some say synthetic is not worth the money. This subject has been discussed for years and will probably continue to be. Everyone has their opinions on the matter. I personally run synthetic in everything I own including my lawn equipment and have never had to take an engine apart, some of which have over 200k miles on them.
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Columbia TN
There have been a small number of "scientific" type tests done on conventional vs. synthetic. I've seen them mostly in magazines like CHP or muscle car.
I believe that its usually in the range of 2-5hp lost/gained.
I've also heard the rumors that switching to synthetic can produce leaks. I doubt this, but I have seen synthetics make a leak worse, most likely because the synthetics have cleaned out the area of old gunk.
I've heard this suggested by others also and I did notice that my first few changes -after- switching the oil came out much dirtier(perhaps it was doing a better job removing old contaminated residue?)
I've run synthetics in my past few vehicles and noticed that they are noticeably cleaner at changes than conventional mineral oils.
I've used Mobil1 and Royal Purple and never had a problem. Plus you can run them longer and you don't have to worry too much about times when your engine temp gets a little high.
I believe that its usually in the range of 2-5hp lost/gained.
I've also heard the rumors that switching to synthetic can produce leaks. I doubt this, but I have seen synthetics make a leak worse, most likely because the synthetics have cleaned out the area of old gunk.
I've heard this suggested by others also and I did notice that my first few changes -after- switching the oil came out much dirtier(perhaps it was doing a better job removing old contaminated residue?)
I've run synthetics in my past few vehicles and noticed that they are noticeably cleaner at changes than conventional mineral oils.
I've used Mobil1 and Royal Purple and never had a problem. Plus you can run them longer and you don't have to worry too much about times when your engine temp gets a little high.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
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From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
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From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
You might want to talk to Redline about this. You know many new cars including Vettes come with synthetic. I don't know how they get around the break-in period. Perhaps someone can help me with that.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
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From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
Likes: 439
From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
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From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Make sure your rings are seated then change to synthetic. A leakdown test would be nice to make sure everything is seated. Some rings seat at 100 miles, some at 2000 miles depending on the rings and honing finish of the cylinder.
