Is there an upper limit as to how many miles an engine can have and safely switch to a full synthetic? I know some say that synthetics can make a higher mileage engine leak, but how high is too high a mileage?
Mileage limit for synthetic oil switch
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Originally Posted By: synthetic_crazy
Is there an upper limit as to how many miles an engine can have and safely switch to a full synthetic?
No.
Is there an upper limit as to how many miles an engine can have and safely switch to a full synthetic?
No.
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: synthetic_crazy
Is there an upper limit as to how many miles an engine can have and safely switch to a full synthetic?
No.
+1
My 250k+ miles had been switching between synthetic and dino and oil consumption is the same 1/2 qt every 3-4k miles since the first oil change in 1994.
Originally Posted By: synthetic_crazy
Is there an upper limit as to how many miles an engine can have and safely switch to a full synthetic?
No.
+1
My 250k+ miles had been switching between synthetic and dino and oil consumption is the same 1/2 qt every 3-4k miles since the first oil change in 1994.
A common myth is that you cannot go back and forth. Even my father-in-law, who has rebuilt taxi cab engines in Poland in a pinch almost overnight, thinks this. Feel free to change back and forth. Good luck
I switched my Celica at 254k miles for the first time and no leaks so far! So i would say no mileage limit.
I know its a little different but this girl I know who drives a couple of beaters and really doesn't care about them takes my USED synthetic oil (only keep it in for 3,000 miles or less) and tops off her leaker/burners with it. One is a VW Golf and the other is a Pontiac Fiero. They keep running.
It's the engine condition and prior upkeep that matters, not mileage. It's been said repeatedly on this board that if you have minor leaks or oil burning issues with dino oil, going synthetic can increase these issues further.
I think that all these myths about synthetic oils are originated from the way people think. Common wisdom is that since synthetic oil is more expansive and therefore "superior" to dino, the automatic assumption is to think that it will do everything better than dino. If the engine was leaking oil on dino, the synthetic will stop it, if the engine is burning oil, synthetic will stop it as well, but when the opposite happens, the oil is blamed not the neglected engine. This is exactly the same myth as with the ATF fluid changes on high mileage transmissions. People don't change the ATF until the transmission starts slipping, so as a last ditch effort, they change the ATF, and when the transmission stops working a few thousand miles later, they blame the ATF change.
I think that all these myths about synthetic oils are originated from the way people think. Common wisdom is that since synthetic oil is more expansive and therefore "superior" to dino, the automatic assumption is to think that it will do everything better than dino. If the engine was leaking oil on dino, the synthetic will stop it, if the engine is burning oil, synthetic will stop it as well, but when the opposite happens, the oil is blamed not the neglected engine. This is exactly the same myth as with the ATF fluid changes on high mileage transmissions. People don't change the ATF until the transmission starts slipping, so as a last ditch effort, they change the ATF, and when the transmission stops working a few thousand miles later, they blame the ATF change.
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