JHZR2
Staff member
first off, I believe in and use synthetic oils heavily. That said, often people talk about removing a valve cover and seeing varnish when using dino oils in their engines. I say so what?
If a dino oil repeatedly gives excellent results in your engine, does a thin layer of varnish on surfaces do anything or is it any sort of an issue? I can see if you have a lot of sludge in your oil pan; this means that the oil is breaking down, and the junk is potentially circulating and not protecting well. But varnish? Id guess thats just from the lighter oil components flashing off and then condensing/solidifying on cooler surfaces. So what?
My mother's 97 plymouth breeze had dino done at the dealer for the first 40k of its life. Since then, Ive been doing the changes with Mobil 1. She drives 5 blocks 4 times a day, and maybe once a day does the temp needle in the car go up all the way. Her analysis results are still excellent, Ive posted them in the UOA forum. However, when I pulled the valve cover, just yesterday, there is still varnish on the inside surface of the valve cover (nothing else has varnish on it though). Maybe its lefotver from dino oil use. Maybe its from the M1. Does this make any difference? I dont think so. Does it make any difference if the varnish was nearer to other 'working' parts? Dont think so either. Would varnish form on working and moving parts? I doubt it.
So as long as a dino oil doesnt sludge up, and so long as it is protecting reliably, does the formation of varnish on non working surfaces really matter?
Im not trying to put down synthetic or raise up dino, nor am I trying to make up a dino vs synthetic argument. I just have heard a lot about varnish spots when engines are opened up, and saw them on my mother's valve cover after 30k on m1. So Im just curious.
Thanks,
JMH
If a dino oil repeatedly gives excellent results in your engine, does a thin layer of varnish on surfaces do anything or is it any sort of an issue? I can see if you have a lot of sludge in your oil pan; this means that the oil is breaking down, and the junk is potentially circulating and not protecting well. But varnish? Id guess thats just from the lighter oil components flashing off and then condensing/solidifying on cooler surfaces. So what?
My mother's 97 plymouth breeze had dino done at the dealer for the first 40k of its life. Since then, Ive been doing the changes with Mobil 1. She drives 5 blocks 4 times a day, and maybe once a day does the temp needle in the car go up all the way. Her analysis results are still excellent, Ive posted them in the UOA forum. However, when I pulled the valve cover, just yesterday, there is still varnish on the inside surface of the valve cover (nothing else has varnish on it though). Maybe its lefotver from dino oil use. Maybe its from the M1. Does this make any difference? I dont think so. Does it make any difference if the varnish was nearer to other 'working' parts? Dont think so either. Would varnish form on working and moving parts? I doubt it.
So as long as a dino oil doesnt sludge up, and so long as it is protecting reliably, does the formation of varnish on non working surfaces really matter?
Im not trying to put down synthetic or raise up dino, nor am I trying to make up a dino vs synthetic argument. I just have heard a lot about varnish spots when engines are opened up, and saw them on my mother's valve cover after 30k on m1. So Im just curious.
Thanks,
JMH