Going Conventional... am I nuts...?

[BigJohn]

Ok.. been on here for a while... I have tried nearly every dang oil a man can buy.... For a decade I was on the synthetic train. Then a combination of motorcycles and gears and a couple of 4 and 6 bangers...... convinced me that I needed to depart the synthetic cult.

My motorcycles run and shift 1000% better on conventional. My gears, vastly prefer conventional.

To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic.

Am I nuts.... or am I just coming around to wisdom?

 

[wwillson]

Am I nuts

Yep

 

[4WD]

Ok.. been on here for a while... I have tried nearly every dang oil a man can buy.... For a decade I was on the synthetic train. Then a combination of motorcycles and gears and a couple of 4 and 6 bangers...... convinced me that I needed to depart the synthetic cult.


Am I nuts.... or am I just coming around to wisdom?

Conventional wisdom

 

[Revving2Redline]

Ok.. been on here for a while... I have tried nearly every dang oil a man can buy.... For a decade I was on the synthetic train. Then a combination of motorcycles and gears and a couple of 4 and 6 bangers...... convinced me that I needed to depart the synthetic cult.

My motorcycles run and shift 1000% better on conventional. My gears, vastly prefer conventional.

To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic.

Am I nuts.... or am I just coming around to wisdom?

if you had a oil consuming vehicle or a Mazda rotary wenkel that needs consumption I would say no but I think your off on this one most likely. Sounds more psychological or emotional , are you watching a program or YouTube where you are getting this info? Granted the additive package makes the wheels go round, most or all synthetic oil has more stability and leaves less stuff behind. There is lots of info on this forum to look into and help.

 

[RoadDukie]

Ok.. been on here for a while... I have tried nearly every dang oil a man can buy.... For a decade I was on the synthetic train. Then a combination of motorcycles and gears and a couple of 4 and 6 bangers...... convinced me that I needed to depart the synthetic cult.

My motorcycles run and shift 1000% better on conventional. My gears, vastly prefer conventional.

To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic.

Am I nuts.... or am I just coming around to wisdom?

I agree with you in regards to moto's with a shared sump due to the shearing effect of the gearbox, but it's all synthetic in my four wheeled vehicles for sure.

I totally get what you mean about your gears liking conventional oil. You know exactly when to change your oil on a bike by the way it shifts. It's better than an OLM.

 

[hrv]

Ok.. been on here for a while... I have tried nearly every dang oil a man can buy.... For a decade I was on the synthetic train. Then a combination of motorcycles and gears and a couple of 4 and 6 bangers...... convinced me that I needed to depart the synthetic cult.

My motorcycles run and shift 1000% better on conventional. My gears, vastly prefer conventional.

To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic.

Am I nuts.... or am I just coming around to wisdom?

YES...

 

[FT92]

as long as I can find it, conventional is my choice. next in line would be a semi synthetic

 

[Zee09]

I like SS myself but the price is as much as FS.
But I have a bunch of it.

 

[billt460]

Some change is bad. But a lot of it is good. Synthetic oil is right up there in the "good" dept. with LED light bulbs, flat screen HDTVs, and computerized fuel injection.

 

[dnewton3]

You're not nuts for considering conventional oils.
You are, however, nuts for starting a conversation on BITOG without any bounds.

Choosing a lube is not just a one-size-fits-all topic; it's part of an overall maintenance plan. You should consider many things in the application:
- planned OCI duration
- equipment design
- equipment history
- equipment health
- environmental temps
- contamination factors
- filtration
- ability/desire to do UOAs/PCs/Inspections
- etc

If you're happy with your choices, then great. Some will think you're wise; others not so much. Because you've not delineated the application(s) you have, we can apply the Schrodinger's Cat theory and assume you're both wise and foolish at the same time.

 

[billt460]

Even if all of that is taken into account, would there be any application where conventional oil would be proven to be actually, "better"?

A bit more justified perhaps. (But I can't see how).

More cost effective, yes.

A bit lesser lasting, most likely.

But not actually better.

As far as his statement, "To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic". I would ask, how so? I can't think of how an engine would be "better" served from a pure mechanical standpoint, by running dino oil over synthetic.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Even if all of that is taken into account, would there be any application where conventional oil would be proven to be actually, "better"?

A bit more justified perhaps. (But I can't see how).

More cost effective, yes.

A bit lesser lasting, most likely.

But not actually better.

As far as his statement, "To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic". I would ask, how so? I can't think of how an engine would be "better" served from a pure mechanical standpoint, by running dino oil over synthetic.

I have read it holds contaminants in suspension better.

Also people like to lump all synthetics together, even though there are many groups in every blend and some are more "synthetic" than others.

I run conventional or semi syn in one of my very high mileage vehicles just because I always have. Why change now. Very short OCI. Very close to 400K miles.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I had 3 different 305 HondaDreams and I'll never forget how after 3 or 4 hundred miles the clutch would get sticky and the gears would get hard to shift. This was way before synthetic oil was available.

 

[billt460]

......I run conventional or semi syn in one of my very high mileage vehicles just because I always have. Why change now. Very short OCI. Very close to 400K miles.....

I used to do much the same with my 1991 F-150 for the first 10 years of its life. (Castrol GTX). Then I switched to Mobil 1, (10W-40), and have been running that ever since.

I did switch to the "High Mileage" version of the same somewhat recently. And did notice less leaking from the rear main seal, that has been leaking for the last 20 years.

I do remember when Mobil 1, (and other full synthetics), first came out, they were very costly when compared to conventional dino oils. But the price gap has closed up enough to where the price isn't much of an issue anymore.

There are $30 a jug synthetics at Walmart's most everywhere. And all are of very high quality.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I used to do much the same with my 1991 F-150 for the first 10 years of its life. (Castrol GTX). Then I switched to Mobil 1, (10W-40), and have been running that ever since.

I did switch to the "High Mileage" version of the same somewhat recently. And did notice less leaking from the rear main seal, that has been leaking for the last 20 years.

I do remember when Mobil 1, (and other full synthetics), first came out, they were very costly when compared to conventional dino oils. But the price gap has closed up enough to where the price isn't much of an issue anymore.

There are $30 a jug synthetics at Walmart's most everywhere. And all are of very high quality.

Those are outcomes, not oils. I think its fair to say any oil you can buy today is better than what existed in 1991.

HPL is not the same as Supertech. Will they perform the same in a 5K OCI on a 20 year old car? Probably.

If my math is right your main seal started leaking shortly after you switched from Castrol conventional . JK.

 

[cptbarkey]

Oil is Oil.

 

[Pablo]

To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic.

Define "love" - feel???

No one is nuts for trying different lubes, and yes gear boxes are often by feel. But what other evidence does anyone have?

 

[kschachn]

Ok.. been on here for a while... I have tried nearly every dang oil a man can buy.... For a decade I was on the synthetic train. Then a combination of motorcycles and gears and a couple of 4 and 6 bangers...... convinced me that I needed to depart the synthetic cult.

My motorcycles run and shift 1000% better on conventional. My gears, vastly prefer conventional.

To be fair, my engines on my cages seem to love a conventional...... or a semi-synthetic.

Am I nuts.... or am I just coming around to wisdom?

Which truly conventional oils are you using?

 

[wemay]

"Synthetic Cult"

Confirmation bias (also confirmatory bias, myside bias, or congeniality bias) is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

OP, i'm just giving you a hard time . Synthetic is unquestionably a better product but Conventional at appropriate intervals should serve you well.

 

[Kira]

You know exactly when to change your oil on a bike by the way it shifts.

If noise and vibration are a motorcycle's way of telling you a lubricant is spent, it's been run too long.
In other words, don't wait for symptoms; a little early in such cases wouldn't be wasteful.

PERSONAL NOTE: Back when we had the Saabs, some owners mocked synthetics because they kept their turbos running >300,000 miles on conventional.