Full Synthetic in an older vehicle?

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I just bought a 95 Subaru Legacy winter beater/daily commuter and I'd love to run full synthetic in it. I've always been under the impression that older cars tend to leak some when using full synthetic unless they were using synthetic for most of their life.

Is there any truth to this? The car has 138K miles, in GREAT shape, doesn't seem to leak any fluids and has had its oil changed regularly with conventional.
 
What happens is that you may have some places where there would be leaks, were it not for all of the crud plugging it up. Synthetic oils help remove that crud. And as a result, you spring a leak. However, if there are no such places, synthetic oils will NOT create them.

My suggestion, do a high mileage double application of Auto-RX and then switch to synthetic oil if you wish.
 
We used to have problems switching european cars onto Reline synthetic after they had 80,000 miles. We learned that if we added about a pint to your normal oil, then a quart, then two quarts, then 100% synthetic we never had any leaks.After about two regular OCI's you are running 100% synthetic. If you want to do your Subaru a big favour, get a bypass filter from Ralph Woods. That will really help your engine.Also, check the coolant section and keep your coolant in top shape. In my experience, all cars get cooling problems that can be prevented.
 
If it's not leaking and has had regular oil changes then synthetic will be fine. I had a 93 Altima back a few years ago that had about 200,000 miles on it when I bought it. I changed the oil, put good ol' GC in it and it never used a drop from the time I changed the oil til my dad got in an accident with it. Like Amsoil says, as long as the engine is mechanically sound, no leaks I assume, then synthetic won't cause any leaks.
 
great advice everyone. I'm mainly looking for extend OCIs then any improved engine protection. I assume I'll put a lot of miles on this car, so I want the easiest maintenance as possible and I've always had great results with Amsoil, even with my STi.
 
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