Switching to Synthetic

[BUBBA0420]

I am considering switching to synthetic on two vehicles 1. 2003 Toyota Corrola 20,000 Miles

2. 1998 Nissan Maxima 66,000 Miles

I was told that once you switch to synthetic you cannot go back to dino and that if you switch to synthetic to change the oil after 1000 miles because you are going to clean up the internals in the engine Is this true ????. What would be a good brand to go with ??? I should mention that currently I use nothing but Castrol GTX and change the oil every 1500 to 2000 miles. Yes I know that's overkill but it seem to keep the motor nice and clean. I also add about 4 OZ's of Marvel Mystery Oil when I change it for a little extra detergency. What do you think is it worthwile to switch to synthetic for the purpose of longer engine life or should I keep doing what I am doing ??? Sorry for the long post

 

[TC]

"I should mention that currently I use nothing but Castrol GTX and change the oil every 1500 to 2000 miles. Yes I know that's overkill but it seem to keep the motor nice and clean. I also add about 4 OZ's of Marvel Mystery Oil..."

1. I'd suggest that routinely changing ANY oil at 2,000 miles is a waste. After 25,000 miles of 5K oil changes on my 2002 ride, there's still not a speck of sludge or varnish on the valvetrain visible through the filler cap, and I'm not concerned about UOA metal wear either.

2. At intervals like that, there's probably little to clean out anyway, syn or no syn.

3. Unless you're living in Buffalo, New York or similar ice age neighborhood, in most cases you won't experience significant benefits in using syn than if you stick with dino and change it reasonably often (certainly no more often than 3K, and even that's conservative).

4. I've used Marvel Mystery Oil successfully on an older engine to cure a lifter tick, but personally don't think much of routinely adding products to somehow "improve" fresh oil. Some products, such as the Lucas oil additive, actually screw it up. Keep in mind that there's also DRAWBACKS to adding more than a certain amount of detergents/dispersants. I'd leave the oil formulation to Castrol, Pennzoil, Chevron, etc.

 

[SWS]

I have recently switched to M1 5W-30 in all 3 of my cars. Like you, I ran 65K miles on Dino with OCI every 3 months, which for me was ~2500 miles. I used Pennzoil, which is a good oil. Just before I switched to M1, I had to have the oil pan gasket replaced and I got to see inside the crankcase - everything was very clean! Note that this is a '97 Camry - one of the engines that tends to sludge easily. Based on my OCI experience, which is similar to yours, I think that you will do great in your switch to Synth.

I plan to extend my OCI to 6 months with M1. After 3 months with M1 in my Camry, I find that the oil still looks like new! The Dino oil in my hot-headed Camry would have been nearly been beaten to death in the summer heat (OK - an exageration, but it was clearly oxidizing after 3 months - it looked "muddy").

I don't think that your post was long - I typically go much longer! However, I do observe that the shorter posts get more responses!

Best Wishes as you motor along!

 

[SWS]

I forgot to mention - just use your chosen oil alone. You do not need to "strengthen" it with additives. Especially with Synth oil and clean, healthy engines, oil additives will not do any good at all, but might possibly do some harm. Just my opinion.

 

[KW]

Amsoil or Mobil 1 every 5K to 7K should be easy going. No need for additives either.

 

[RedWolf4000]

In your case, you dont need to flush the synthetic oil at 1000 miles to clean anything. both your cars are still very young and you changed the oil so early its probablly beautiful in there.

You can always go back to Dino oil, you cna even mix syn and dino.
What you have heard about not being able to go back is a big myth with todays syn oils.

You seem to be a little overboard with your oil change, so i would be guessing if you switched to synthetic you would still change it every 3k miles? If this is the case you would waste money. Switch to synthetic, i reccommend mobil 1, and change it every 5k-7.5k, you will probablly break even with the cost, and you will still get better protection.

 

[Schmoe]

You can go back and forth until your heart contents. Will not harm anything. In general, the synthetic oil will "clean" your engine, but you have to determine just how much cleaning it will do. In your case, I doubt any cleaning will be possible based on your OCI, it should be pretty clean now. If you are still wanting to change out the oil every 1.5 to 2K, save your money and continue. A good synthetic, like M1, will take you to about 5K without any problems and good reliability. You don't need to "flush" out the engine after the first 1K miles either.

 

[TallPaul]

I plan on running Valvoline Synpower (the free rebate batch) in an Aerostar 3.0 that has 103,000 miles. Has been running synthetic blend for many years. I don't see any problem, but a Valvoline tech person just advised me not to do it as it can find leaks. I don't buy that, especially since this stuff is probably Group III.

 

[Amkeer]

Lose the mystery oil!

Use m1, Amsoil, etc., and change the first batch at 4 months, 4000 miles. You can then proceed with 6 month, 6000 mile changes safely. With UOA you could extend it maybe 1 year 10,000 miles.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil1 Synthetic SS 5W-30.
ODO 9600 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30.
ODO 91800 Miles.
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

 

[michaelc80]

If you really want to go to synthetics, I'd go with M1. However, if you do your super short OCI's then you are just throwing your money away. If you can't get yourself out of the mindset of the super short OCI, then just stick with what you are doing now.

I use Marvel Mystery Oil to loosen up stuck tractor engines but...I would NEVER put it in a well running automobile engine. I can see it doing more damage than good.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

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Originally posted by michaelc80:
I use Marvel Mystery Oil to loosen up stuck tractor engines but...I would NEVER put it in a well running automobile engine. I can see it doing more damage than good.

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I would add that if one was feeling like they just had to run one of those five minute engine flush products prior to changing the oil, that a quart of MMO would do as well or better and would be a whole lot safer than the engine flush.