Dino Vs Synthetic ?

[fdcg27]

As others have noted, there are often deals on synthetic and you'll more often find really cheap syn, especially after MIR, than you will conventional.
For this reason alone, I like synthetic, although twenty five years ago, I thought it was the elixir of engine life.
I was mistaken, of course, as I should have observed from how clean the engines I ran on a conventional diet were, as well as how long they lasted in quiet, good running condition.
But can't you run a syn longer?
Maybe, but we have a mod here who ran his own iron 15K on bottom dollar conventional and had a very good UOA to show for it.
I guess that the best answer I can give you is that it probably makes no difference which you choose.
Use whichever makes you happier with what's in your engine.
In practice, the difference in cost is almost nil as will be the difference in the life of your engines.

 

[FutureDoc]

Originally Posted By: wemay
Down here, Mobil Super 5000 is $12.47/5qt jug at WMart, not even a rollback. If your OCI is limited to 5k miles max by a warranty and your specs allow conventional, why not use it if this is your choice?


Yeah, I am seeing Mobil Super 5000 on sale everywhere. Walmart for Sub $13 (I think it is like 12.74 here... so not cheaper that WPP ST), AAP has it for $14, Autozone was the "high" place at $15.

I wonder if Mobil is pushing it out or something to drive up market share.

 

[Merkava_4]

This guy ran Mobil Super 5000 for 6000 miles. I was thoroughly impressed by how clean it kept the filter.

No stains whatsoever. Very clean.

[Cut Open] NAPA Silver 31372 6K

 

[HTSS_TR]

My highest mileage car is 1994 LS400 with 380+k miles on odometer. The OCI for 20 years was 6 months with dino and 1 year with synthetic, oil filter change interval is once a year. Either oil type were various name brands bought on sale. Oil filters were low-end to mid-range types from Fram Extra Guard to Bosch Premium or Motorcraft.

Never open the valve cover for anything (never change the valve cover gasket), so I don't know how it looks under the valve cover. All I know is the engine consumes 1/2 quarts oil, syn and dino, every 3-5k miles since new. For dino I added 1/2 quart at 4-5k then change oil at 6 month, for synthetic I added 1/2 quarts at 4-5k and 8-10k and 13-14k then change oil at 1 year. There is no engine problem related to oil or anything else. It isn't as quiet as new but it isn't too noisy either

From my experience with this engine, I think synthetic is probably better for less oil change labors. The cost of part(oil and filter) is about the same. My estimate is this car costs me about $2 per thousand mile in oil and filter. Gasoline is totally different, since gas mileage is around 16-18 MPG and with high cost of gas in California the cost per thousand miles is around $150-250.

 

[SilverC6]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: SilverC6

It's more about which contaminant in your oil are you going to catch before it becomes a problem.


"Its more about"...based on...what?

You just voiced a personal opinion. The dollars and cents benefits of syns can be quantified.


It's all personal opinion here, just like your quantified opinion.

The money works out to be the same.

Cheap dino/standard filter vs. more expensive synthetic and better filter.

Spend double on the latter and run twice the miles and the cost per mile is still equal.

The advantage of shorter OCI's is that you can catch a problem sooner rather than later.

That could be grit in the oil from a bad air filter or sludge/gunk from a coolant leak.

5000 extra miles with either of these conditions could mean excessive wear or even a rebuild.

And Mobil 5000 is an excellent dino choice as is Pennzoil conventional.

My last change was Havoline/Microguard from O'Reilly for $13.99.

That's tough to beat on a per mile basis.

 

[Jiblet]

Like Yogi Berra said: 90% of the game is half mental.

You can't discount the warm fuzzy feeling you get from doing what you think is best. Whether it's saving money or spending extra, brand loyalty, "treating" your baby to the best, following someone's advice or marketing, or just following your own convictions.

 

[bigt61]

Personally, I would and do pay more money so I don't have to change the oil as often. Time spent underneath a car is not a fun activity any longer for me. It used to be, but we get older.

 

[Oregoonian]

Originally Posted By: FFeng7
At first I was skeptical of t g e extended drains on synthetic oil but after being a member here for a few years and reading the uoa that members post I'm starting to understand that synthetic oil changes in the 8 to 10 thousand mile range are probably the more cost effective means of oil changes. I think that is the way that I am going to maintain my vehicles is with synthetic oil and long oci compared to conventional and shorter oci. Plus you get the added benefit of quicker start up lubrication with synthetic oil.

Your statement above says exactly how I feel, especially the apprehension I had of using synthetics for long OCI's. With the advise of tig1, and a few others, I'm convinced that using syns, and a top-tier filter is the way to go....and is economical as well.

My last OC was after 13 months and at 9,200 miles, using Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0w20 and a Fram ULTRA filter. Next OCI, I'm considering going to
Mobil 1 Extended Performance and the ULTRA filter, and extend my OCI to somewhere near 13 to 14K.

 

[Lex94]

Agreed...And with Mobil 5000, in most cases, you could safely extend to 8K miles. Look in the used oil analysis section for a Mobil Super 5000 run to 10K miles...It was probably a bit too long but wear was excellent.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: Camprunner
This topic may have been covered before but....


...but nothing....it's been covered under so many guises....the advantage of searching is that you'd find answers to more diverse questions than you even thought of asking...

e.g.(on page 1 below): "Pennzoil conventional or Synthetic?"

 

[wemay]

I've always liked Godzilla over MechaGodzilla myself...