Castrol Syntec

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Many members seem to be "convinced" that US Syntec is an overpriced oil, due to its Group III composition, but sold for a PAO price. Yet, I haven't seen any evidence that it is worse than Mobil 1, from the limited UOAs we have on this site.

Is there anyone here who would be willing to run Syntec in their vehicle for a 5-7K drain, then have it analyzed?

TIA.
 
I would, but unfortunately I just changed my oil so I have a little while to wait. Plus, it would be better to use an engine that has a good # of UOA's to compare to.
 
Mobil 1 with it's 12 TBN will go further then Syntec, but that is the only advantage I see. You would have to perform some expensive testing to see which is really better...deposits/sludge left behind etc. The $20 UOA's we see are somewhat limited.
 
M1's 12 TBN? Is that EP?

I just picked up some Syntec 5W50. Seems to be under appreciated 'round here.
 
quote:

Originally posted by The Critic:
Many members seem to be "convinced" that US Syntec is an overpriced oil, due to its Group III composition, but sold for a PAO price. Yet, I haven't seen any evidence that it is worse than Mobil 1, from the limited UOAs we have on this site.

Is there anyone here who would be willing to run Syntec in their vehicle for a 5-7K drain, then have it analyzed?

TIA.


The difference is length of service, overall extreme temp protection & slightly cleaner engines -- not gauging both solely on engine wear.

Syntec (most group IIIs) are very good oils. But "full/real" group IV synthetics give you a few more extras in their quart jugs.
 
Thats something I have always said, not only that but I have not seen any evedince that anyone actually know what base oil syntec actually is and I have asked in the past. The only people who actualy know prob. dont want to say anything for legal reasons. Good luck...
 
quote:

overall extreme temp protection & slightly cleaner engines -- not gauging both solely on engine wear

I'd agree with this, but couldn't prove it either way. I think the BMW HP Synthetic 5w-30 Castrol is more on par and in some cases exceeds M1. I don't think Syntec does. I'm still waiting to see someone run Syntec 15-25k miles. I've seen a few M1 UOA's go that distance and they held up well.
 
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buster, how many miles do you have on that Honda?
 
GM, I have 36,800 Miles. Car is 1.4 years old. Much better than the Corolla where I was putting 50k per year on.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
Syntec (most group IIIs) are very good oils. But "full/real" group IV synthetics give you a few more extras in their quart jugs.

What those extras would be?
confused.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by buster:
I'm still waiting to see someone run Syntec 15-25k miles. I've seen a few M1 UOA's go that distance and they held up well.

Very few people are running those intervals.
I believe that Syntec is as good as Mobil 1 or better.
If we wanna compare those two oils, then the comparison must be fare, cause the results will always be skewed when we compare UOA's from two different engines, running under different conditions, in the different environments.
 
quote:

Originally posted by buster:
Mobil 1 with it's 12 TBN will go further then Syntec, but that is the only advantage I see.

The starting TBN doesn't mean anything.
The ability of the oil to retain it is what matters.
 
I think Syntec is a very good product, better than I have thought previously. As you said, the comparison would have to be fair.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
The difference is length of service, overall extreme temp protection & slightly cleaner engines -- not gauging both solely on engine wear.

Well, I disagree with your opinion.
How's that?
wink.gif
 
In fleet use, where we are switching from M1 (GIV) to Chevron Supreme Synthetic (GIII) we are not having any problems. This is real world use, like oci's by the book, not extended oci's. That's because of warranties. The fleet does their own lab work and does not give me details, I just do the software, but they have said the numbers are good. It's probably true that M1 is technically better, but in this context it's no better than a tie. A small portion of the fleet is using Syntec, a manager's choice, and they really like it, based on uoa's again and practical experience. A lot of people stay away from Syntec because of all this synthetic/not synthetic stuff. M1 and Syntec are both quality products. I can't imagine that, given a couple hundred thousand miles, equal driving conditions, driving style and maintenance, that there is two cents worth of difference between the two oils in the same car.
 
quote:

The difference is length of service, overall extreme temp protection & slightly cleaner engines -- not gauging both solely on engine wear.

Syntec (most group IIIs) are very good oils. But "full/real" group IV synthetics give you a few more extras in their quart jugs.

I agree. I should've made it clear in my original post that I wanted to compare Syntec to other synthetic oils, when used for the OEM drain interval.

Most people never reach oil temperatures where PAO based synthetic oils would be superior to Group III based synthetic oils, so this point of yours, while valid, is irrelevant for most users.

As for keeping engines cleaner, I'd like to see proof to verify your statement.

quote:

Mobil 1 with it's 12 TBN will go further then Syntec, but that is the only advantage I see. You would have to perform some expensive testing to see which is really better...deposits/sludge left behind etc. The $20 UOA's we see are somewhat limited.

Mobil 1 EP has recently been reformulated to meet API SM/GF-4 specifications. It may no longer have its 12 TBN formulation. However, TBN alone is not the sole factor in determining oil life; XOM may've tweaked its additive package or the possibly lower TBN is now more stable throughout the drain.

However, comparing Mobil 1 EP to Syntec is not a fair comparison. Syntec was marketed to compete with normal M1, and other products designed for the OEM drain interval, or shorter.

My main curiosity is whether or not Syntec will cause the same "engine noise" issues some have experienced with M1 or the high Iron readings in UOAs.
 
I think Syntec will not cause the same engine noise and might show slightly lower Fe wear. But I don't think the wear we see is ever that high regardless and most will never live to see the differences.
 
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