I've switched one of my cars to synth...do I dare do the others?

[PulMax]

I switched my '86 Nissan Pulsar to Mobil 1 at about 78k miles a year or so ago. So far no trouble at all!

(E16 engine - Not that quiet, not really smooth, not powerful, not even that efficient, but known to be pretty sturdy)

The others:
'91 Maxima SE. Currently has 116k, and from all appearances has been getting standard 5w30 its whole life. Engine currently burns and leaks nothing. (VG30E engine - Nissan's workhorse of the 80s and early 90s, used in all from the Z to trucks, referred to by many as Nissan's most durable engine so far)

1996 Camry LE - Has 98k miles and works great, burns and leaks nothing, as it shouldn't. (5sFE engine - used in Toyota's sports cars in the 80s and early 90s, then dropped into the Camry and RAV4. not sure on the durabiity, since I'm generally a Nissan guy, but seems to be long-lived). I plan to change this one over, so I'm mostly unsure on my Maxima.

I also have a 90 Plymouth Voyager with the oil-burning wonder that is the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6. Its a rusty, rickety pile that is hardly worth the money for standard oil lol

Thanks for the advice!

 

[eljefino]

Waddle through Walmart's automotive section; they might have Pennzoil longlife 15w40 clearanced for a buck a quart. That'd be great for the van.

Camry should definately get synthetic of some sort. Toyotas have small sumps for the amount of power they put out and that bugs me personally, and unscientifically. Whatever you put in the Pulsar would be fine.

 

[Cutehumor]

quote:

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Originally posted by PulMax:
I switched my '86 Nissan Pulsar to Mobil 1 at about 78k miles a year or so ago. So far no trouble at all!

---

your alot braver than I am. did you switch the pulsar after auto-rx? is your goal to do longer oil changes since you have four cars? it wouldn't hurt to auto-rx the engines just in case before you switch to syn.

 

[JHZR2]

Id run a 15w40 in the van... if its burning lots of oil its being a very polluting vehicle and should be gotten rid of anyway. But a 15w40 may reduce the consumption a bit to buy you some more time.

The others, I wouldnt have any worries. If a leak shows up, repair it? The dino sludge, etc in the gap in the gasket was just covering a problem that existed. Its best to get said problems taken care of. I havent had any troubles changing though, anyway.

JMH

 

[benjamming]

quote:

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Originally posted by PulMax:
and from all appearances has been getting standard 5w30 its whole life.

---

What do you mean by this?

 

[JohnBrowning]

If the engines are in good shape and not leaking or burning should be fine. The engines that have leak issues are the really dirty neglected ones usualy have some visable sludge. WHat happens is the seals get coated with varnish and sludge from regular oil and dry out and crack. The sludge build ups around the seals and acts like a plug like wax. Then when you but in a synthetic oil it cleans the varnish and sludge out of the engine revealing the damage down years ago by neglect with conventional oils. With the soft plugs made out of sludge remived the cracks in the seals begine leaking. If the cracks are small then they will normaly swell again once the sludge and varnish covering them has been removed. IF the seal has goten too hard or pieces of it are missing then the leak will continue until you replace the seal.

This is how synthetic in modern times has gotten a bad rep for causeing leaks. THey do not cause the leak but reveal already damged seals from neglect. People rationalize that it never leaked before so it must have been the synthetic and a myth is born.

So as long as the vechile has not been neglected and you have no visable sludge when peaking through the valve cover you are normaly fine! If you can see visable sludge on a high milage engine run on dino you have a 50/50 chance of sprining a leak.

I have never had it happen to me and only know one person that ever had it happen. It was not the engine but his transmission. He had an old muncie(30+ years old) that he put synthetic gear lube in. It leaked right past the seals. It was my Machine Drawing profesor in college that claimed this. He is the only person I have ever met that actualy had this happen! All the other accounts I have heard were always second or third hand accounts!

P.S. Consider Mobil-1 TSUV 5W40 and European Car 0W40. THese should work well and they can be used year round.

 

[PulMax]

Well, none of these vehicles have been neglected as far as keeping the oil changed, so the Max and Cam will probably be okay.

The van uses oil, but so does pretty much every other old dodge van driving around. I actually got this one from my grandmother, who bought it new in 1990, and kept it maintained and in a garage, but put lots of highway miles on. I maintain it, but don't keep it in a garage, so road salt is eating it

Its got lots of miles, but is a reliable old horse(and a good hwy cruiser), so I hope to keep it for a bit longer at least. I plan to just keep it on dino forever.

[ February 04, 2005, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: PulMax ]

 

[PulMax]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cutehumor:

quote:

---

Originally posted by PulMax:
[qb] I switched my '86 Nissan Pulsar to Mobil 1 at about 78k miles a year or so ago. So far no trouble at all!

---

your alot braver than I am. did you switch the pulsar after auto-rx? is your goal to do longer oil changes since you have four cars? it wouldn't hurt to auto-rx the engines just in case before you switch to syn.

---

No, I just kinda...switched it

I didn't Auto-rx or anything like that. This car is a creampuff (or was when I got it anway) that has really been babied its whole life. I wasn't too worried. The Pulsar gets the miles piled on pretty quickly, atm (it won't for much longer though) and it has to work pretty hard thanks to its lack of go, so I thought synth would be a good idea, esp. since its miles were so relatively low. I hope to keep the car for a long time, actually, not because its worth anything (about 5 bucks lol) but because its interesting and not many people have them. And its like a little rolling testament to the 1980s!

pic
pic
old-school blue
Very Duran-Duran

benjamming: I guess I should've clarified. I've got old service docs on the car. Looks like the people who owned it before always just had a dealer or Jiffy type place do a change. Always 5w.

Johnbrowning: Interesting you mention that. I have actually switched my Maxima's (5-speed) gearbox to RedLine MT-90 Synthetic. So far, all is well. I plan to drain and refill it come summer(and then not worry about it too much anymore!) and check the condish of the trans, but so far all seems quite well

 

[Drew99GT]

What viscosity Mobil 1 did you use for the Pulsar?

 

[car_junkie_moron]

quote:

---

Originally posted by PulMax:
I switched my '86 Nissan Pulsar to Mobil 1 at about 78k miles a year or so ago. So far no trouble at all!

(E16 engine - Not that quiet, not really smooth, not powerful, not even that efficient, but known to be pretty sturdy)

The others:
'91 Maxima SE. Currently has 116k, and from all appearances has been getting standard 5w30 its whole life. Engine currently burns and leaks nothing. (VG30E engine - Nissan's workhorse of the 80s and early 90s, used in all from the Z to trucks, referred to by many as Nissan's most durable engine so far)

1996 Camry LE - Has 98k miles and works great, burns and leaks nothing, as it shouldn't. (5sFE engine - used in Toyota's sports cars in the 80s and early 90s, then dropped into the Camry and RAV4. not sure on the durabiity, since I'm generally a Nissan guy, but seems to be long-lived). I plan to change this one over, so I'm mostly unsure on my Maxima.

I also have a 90 Plymouth Voyager with the oil-burning wonder that is the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6. Its a rusty, rickety pile that is hardly worth the money for standard oil lol

Thanks for the advice!

---

I wouldn't dare to open any leak sealed by sludge.

 

[jthorner]

I would not worry about switching the Maxima or Camry. ASAIK, the idea that synthetics cause leaks in older engines seems to be mostly urban legend, though a persistent one.

If you have any Autozone's nearby they are clearancing out MaxLife Synthetic at $2.00/quart, which is a great deal and would probably be well suited to your vehicles.

John

 

[PulMax]

Hmm...my old Pulsar really likes the synth...its way better in really cold temps, to me at least. Sounds much more quiet.

I'll probably give it a shot in the Camry at least.

All 4 cars are due for changes soon

Looks like I'll be busy for a day.

 

[PulMax]

10W30, as recommended by Nissan.

 

[Islandvic]

If AZ still ahs the promo, I would get the Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic in 5-30 or 10-30, what ever your specs need.

Only $2/qt, AZ is not going to stock it.

Other report Havoline Synthetic at AZ for $2/qt.

If your cars like the Syn, use up your stock then switch to M1.

If your cars don't like syn, switch back and you only paid $2/qt to find out.

$2/qt is what decent dino goes for now days with inflation. So a Synthetic trial will not cost you any more than regular dino OC's.

 

[PulMax]

I've only used Mobil 1.

(It's the cheapest at Sam's Club!

)

 

[n8wvi]

As big a fan I am of Pennzoil LongLife 15w40, I wouldn't recommend it for Wisconsin winters.....

If I were to recommend something for the Mitsu in the van, perhaps something like Pennzoil HM 5w30 winter / 10w-40 summer, depending on what part of WI you're in and how much oil it's drinking. Have you looked into WHY it's drinking oil?

Dave

 

[PulMax]

Typical Mitsu-powered dodge van: valve seats/seals.

Its not nearly as bad as it used to be, but it still eats a bit and there's still a little blue smoke out the tailpipe. If you look around at 6-cylinder Chrysler vehicles from the late 80s and very early (like, pre-92) you see a lot of this, really.

The van recieved 2 treatments from some Lucas Oil product (can't recall the name!) that one of my relatives (he runs a garage down the street) recommended for that car. Worked pretty well. And also by keepign the PCV clean it keeps the burning to a minimum. I've noticed that since I've started using regular old Pennzoil 5w30, its smoking even less still, but I still keep tabs on it.

 

[PulMax]

Well, by the end of this month the Voyager of Doom has to pass emissions :| I managed to put it off until tommorrow, of course. I plan to get some Pennz HM 10w40 to slow the burning down, just throw on a cheapie supertech filter, and do plugs and replace the ancient cap and rotor, and get a new PCV on. I also need to replace the breather and air filter panel.

Does the 10w40 sound like a good bet to slow the burning down? Its burned about 10 quarts since it's last proper oil change :|

It also had a puddle of gassy-smelling oil in the bottom of it's airbox

Bit of blowby.

Wish me luck.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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I also have a 90 Plymouth Voyager with the oil-burning wonder that is the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6. Its a rusty, rickety pile that is hardly worth the money for standard oil lol [Smile] Thanks for the advice!

---

Fear not the emissions man. Retard the timing if NOX is a problem.

For your oil burning problems, I highly recommend AutoRx ..in the double dosage. It is the true silver bullet for a smoking 3.0 Mitsubishi. For your oily airbox ..make sure the metered orifice (that thing that masquerades as a PCV valve) is clear (carb cleaner). Mine has 170k ..and heaven willing, will be running for many more years.

 

[PulMax]

Tonight I changed the oil. $2 Supertech oil filter replacing the $5 Bosch one I had on before...heh, and 4 and change quarts of Pennzoil high-mileage 10w40. It seems to make less noise and run more smoothly. Still a bit smoky, but it always smokes *A LOT* right after an oil change. I think the thicker oil is a good idea...I can't see a blue trail in my rearview.

I also changed the air filter, breather filters, and PCV valve. All Fram lol. I don't care enough about this vehicle to buy nicer stuff.