Thought About Going Synthetic @ 118k??

[Boston Mangler]

Going to change the oil in the new rig and was thinking of swapping over to Mobil 1 Synthetic to protect my nicely running engine.

Any thoughts of doing this @ 118k? Is it too late?

Thanks

 

[Gumby]

I did and got leaks. I switched back because of very frequent oil changes that limit the usefullness of synthetic. If you fix the leaks instead, your engine will be quite happy with the synth.

Do a search. This topic has been covered in length a number of times.

 

[corbs]

I switched at 168k, it leaked for a couple of weeks then stopped. All of the leaking was at the drain plug/gasket which I did not replace with the oil change. No problems since.

 

[erics_bruisers]

i switched the following to M1 at the following

1991 civic at 150K - no problems

1994 80-series at 70K - no problems

1989 62-series at 150K - no problems

1991 80-series at 170K - no problems

1986 chevy small-block at 75K - initial leakage, then went away on a 500 mile drive - no problems since

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[Boston Mangler]

Cool!

Thanks guys!

 

[Romer]

I switched and developed a leak at the valve cover. I replaced the valve cover gasket and no more leaks. I switched from Mobil 1 to Redline recently. Its better on the seals and a lot more expensive. Adavnced Auto was selling it for $2 off a qt making it about the same price as Mobil 1. I stocked up.

Cory (resident oil expert) recommended a blend of Mobil 1 and Redline due to the cost issue.

 

[hank14]

I ran Amsoil in my 100 series after I bought it with 116,000 miles. No leaks. Ran great. I drove it until I sold it with 136,000 miles on it, changed the filter evry 6 months and the oil once a year. I had people telling me I was crazy, it would leak, die, burn up, etc, but it never changed anything as far as I could tell.

 

[Kazmanff]

Went with Amsoil @ 142K in my LX, have about 146K on it now, no problems noted.

 

[reffug]

SWITCH PERIOD!

Hey Romer, calling him Cory might get you in trouble dude.

 

[jcj_78FJ40]

An opinion on Synthetic oil

My dad used synthetic oil in a Mazda pickup since it was almost new. I inherited this truck at about 160Kmiles. Shortly afterwards, I was driving down the interstate and the crankshaft pulley wrung off. This was due to a not-so-smart mechanic damaging the end of the crankshaft while changing the timing belt. So a little frustrated, I had to pull the motor out of the truck to replace the crankshaft on and engine that otherwise ran beautifully. At disassembly, I was amazed to see how great of a condition this engine was in. It was clean with no evidence of wear, sludge or any other kind of buildup. I did replace the rings and bearings only because I had already bought & paid for them. I sold the truck about 2 months ago with 250K miles & it still ran great.

I wouldn’t run anything but synthetic oil in my cruisers.

 

[Rusty Phillips]

I bought my 96 80 series at ~190,000 miles, (Jan 1 '04) dont know what PO had been running, but I did one (maybe two) dino oil change then switched to M1 at ~200,000 miles

my dipstick was dropping pretty regularly

I wasnt leaking oil, (I park on concrete driveway) coolant looked good, tailpipe didnt look smokey or smell too bad (although I understand synthetic will not burn but perhaps it was being atomized and blown out the tailpipe as a small particulate doing who knows what to the catalytic convertors)

added oil & hoped things would seal up eventually

changed the filter a couple times, and kept adding oil (engine oil light came on a couple times - by the way checked PCV valve it is good)

did a complete drop and refill with synthetic.... tried 15 w 50... still having to add oil... decided that I couldnt afford to keep putting synthetic in it and went back to dino at about ~220,000 miles

at 230,000 miles now, oil level seems to drop slower with the dino oil, plus I can get a 5 qt jug of dino for about the same price as 1 qt of synthetic.

I am running synthetic in the diff's and xfer case


IMO if you can put synthetics in an not have be constantly topping off, then its worth it. I wanted it to work on my truck, it just didnt.

 

[MLX450]

I've never tried Mobil 1 but i've tried Valvoline max life on my 92 camry and to my suprise it did seal a tiny leak on the valve cover, so it tried this stuff on the LX (did two oil changes with the dino maxlife) then switched to the synthetic 5-30 maxlife. I've noticed an increase in oil pressure. I've recommended it to a friend who has a 99 expedition. He said it helped. He had an oily spark plug in one of his cylinders and after changing to maxlife and new plugs he inspected the "oily cylinder plug" and it was clean. So it might of helped condition the seals.