SYNTH VS BLENDS VS MINERALS

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The idea of this is to see how many people use what type of oil...
1 a full synth
2 a synth blend
3 a mineral base

Also this is to see how this poll program works as well. any other ideas of poll's people want to try let me know.
bob
 
This was kind of a tough question for me to answer, although I did vote on the synthetic blend, since that's what Maxlife is.

However, since the late 80s I have used nothing but synthetics (mostly Mobil 1, but also Amsoil for a couple of years), and my wife's car is currently running Mobil 1.

I do plan on going back to Mobil 1 in my Firebird this winter for a couple of reasons, one:better cold starting ability, and two:to analyze the new Mobil 1 and compare it to Maxlife. Depending on those results, I may or may not go back to Maxlife in the spring of 2003.

Once my aftermarket warranty is up on the Firebird and I no longer have to follow the silly 3k oil change rules, I want to do slightly extended intervals again (probably 5-6k). I was planning on Redline until I found out it's $17 a quart up here!
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[ June 04, 2002, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]
 
Only one vote but three vehicles, so my vote was cast for the newest one!

1999 Camry V6 - Mobil 1 since 9,000 miles (28,000 miles total on odometer).

1991 Camry 4CYL - Dino oil (whatever my mechanic or the dealer had in their bulk tank) since new now at 185,000 miles.

1991 Toyota Pickup 4CYL - Same oil as the 1991 Camry now at 91,000 miles.
 
Bob-- With all these new bells and whistles your board is looking better and better.

Also, some of these fascinating subjects are the kind of things which would be closed down as overly narrow by Edmunds. Edmunds board members should know your improved forum exists!
 
Actually I have used all three types. After using full syn, I tried blending my own (50/50) using Castrol brand. Since then I just use the straight mineral 10w-30, and change it regularly.

I haven't been able to tell any difference in engine cleanliness, apparent wear, or performance.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TheLoneRanger:
Actually I have used all three types. After using full syn, I tried blending my own (50/50) using Castrol brand. Since then I just use the straight mineral 10w-30, and change it regularly.

I haven't been able to tell any difference in engine cleanliness, apparent wear, or performance.


Have you done any oil analysis on the synthetic and then again on the dino? This is one area I'm going to be looking at closely with my upcoming analysis's, to see if engine wear is any different with the cheap stuff compared to the synthetics. I think the Maxlife might offer the best bang for the buck, as I feel it'll be close to the synthetic, but at considerably less cost.
 
quote:

Bob-- With all these new bells and whistles your board is looking better and better.

Also, some of these fascinating subjects are the kind of things which would be closed down as overly narrow by Edmunds. Edmunds board members should know your improved forum exists!

Thanks so much, I had seen your post on edmunds plugging the new board it is greatly appreciated. Really have enjoyed having the new board and has seemed to be a much better format and look forward to continue the different segments. I'm sure in the future, I'll have to prune some of these threads down as they fall way down but until then, we'll continue to keep moving forward.
cheers.gif

bob
 
Nope, Patman, I didn't do analysis on them, just a visual inspection (granted, not exactly scientific). The mineral oils were run in a 2.3L Ford having a reputation of excessive cam lobe wear. After 100K miles the lobes showed very little noticable wear and the cover area was very clean. This is with 3K oil and filter changes using mostly Valvoline 10W-40.

The vehicles with the all syn and syn mix in them had far less miles, but I could see no advantage to spending the extra money, so I went back to using mineral.

Your analysis should be very interesting.....
 
quote:

Originally posted by TheLoneRanger:

The vehicles with the all syn and syn mix in them had far less miles, but I could see no advantage to spending the extra money, so I went back to using mineral.

Your analysis should be very interesting.....


I think it will be! I think with the improvements in conventional oils with the new SL rating, I may not see a huge difference in engine wear between these three oils. I am going into these tests with a totally open mind, since just six months ago you couldn't pay me to run dino oil in my cars, that's how much I was against them! Now I see that things have come a long way though.
 
I voted Synth for all three of my vehicles:
'92 Suburban (4X4), 249,000 Miles, no Engine Work, 130 psi avg. per cylinder.
'86 Suburban, 293,000 Miles, Replaced factory cam with Comp Cams 260H at 125,000 Miles
for towing purposes. 137 psi Avg. cylinder pressures.
'01 Nissan Frontier (2.4L) 30,000 miles, Gas mileage went from 23 to 28 mpg by replacing factory oil with synthetics.

Mola-Kule
 
I don't believe that just by going to synthetic oil you'll see a 5 MPG improvement in your gas mileage. I have never ever seen that kind of difference going from dino to synth on any car I've owned. Maybe 0.5 MPG at the very most, if even that. It's not as if synthetic is some magic elixer that eliminates all friction totally.
 
I use 1-3% as a conservative figure to quantify the difference between SJ and older conventional oils and a decent, 100% synthetic oil. That also seems to be the power loss at high RPMs when cars are dyno'd.

I know that when I switched to Red Line 10W30 from Valvoline Synpower 5W30, I lost 2mpg because Red Line in that weight is significantly thicker. That was 2mpg on a car that routinely gets over 40mpg. This is mostly why I switched back to 5W30.
 
I use whichever is more economical. I adhere to a 6 month rule. Even if it's synthetic, I change it at 6 months. If it's cheaper for me to run synthetic, I run synthetic. My time is worth something also, so if I can go less often, I'll spend $20-$30 a year more for synthetic.

My grandmother drives 3000 miles every 4-6 months, so her car gets changes 2-3 times per year. It would cost more to keep synthetic in her car, which used to be mine and had synthetic while I owned it, because I put 30,000 miles per year on it. it cost $25 per mineral change, and 60$ per synthetic change. It cost me $50-75 vs $120 per year for grandma. If I had used mineral when I drove it, it would have cost me $250 per year vs. $180 with synthetic.

Presently I put about the same 30,000 per year on the Impala, basing that on 15,000 for the first 6 months. It would cost me $250 year for mineral. It will cost me $240 with the 8000 mile synthetic change. I could probably push it further than the olds, since it has an oil cooler, but for now I'll stick with 8000.
 
Because I'm so cheap I run the best I can find as long as I care to. Last oil change was 18months and over 10,000 miles. In the F150. Now I have by-pass filtration, I don't plan to ever change it.

VW TDI, run 10,000 mile oil changes, no by-pass yet.

BMW scoot 10,000 mile changes, very hard use. had some shear of the viscosity over 1 years time, brought it down to a high 30wt. was a 10w40. So thinking of doing a filter change 1/2 way to keep the vis up. Will see this year am off to a bad start only about 2,000 miles thus far.

So I guess I get 3 votes(oops 4, got synthetic in the lawn mower too, yea briggs and straton)
 
2000 626 Mazda Amsoil 0W30 8,256 miles
1995 Ford PSD Delo 400 15W40 55K miles
2001 Ford PSD Shell Rotella 15W40 1,578 miles
1982 Cad. Custom Convert. 10W30 Mobil I 6,280 miles
Original owner on all.

[ June 13, 2002, 12:09 AM: Message edited by: 59 Vetteman ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by msparks:


BMW scoot 10,000 mile changes, very hard use. had some shear of the viscosity over 1 years time, brought it down to a high 30wt. was a 10w40. So thinking of doing a filter change 1/2 way to keep the vis up.


I'm curious, how does a filter change help keep the viscosity from changing?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Patman:

quote:

Originally posted by msparks:


BMW scoot 10,000 mile changes, very hard use. had some shear of the viscosity over 1 years time, brought it down to a high 30wt. was a 10w40. So thinking of doing a filter change 1/2 way to keep the vis up.


I'm curious, how does a filter change help keep the viscosity from changing?


By removing a specific volume of oil oil and replacing with an oil of the proper viscosity will bring the viscosity back up. Also if VII's have shear, replenishing those VII's with the 1/2 quart or so will allow the oil to stay at the proper viscosity at 100 C.
 
That's a good point, I didn't think about the fresh oil factor, I was simply thinking of the new filter only. It was pretty early when I posted that, I guess my thinking cap wasn't on tight enough yet!
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