Synthetic Benefit?

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Not really, no. Unless you live in alaska or you're seeing high engine temperatures, no.
 
I use synthetic in my wifes 5.8L Bronco because it's a grocery getter and sees short trips and low mileage. For regular driving, just use the best dino on the market which in my opinion is Pennzoil YB. You could always use a blend like motorcraft but YB would do nicely.
 
its thinner at start-up, and flows through your engine quicker than dino. It gets lubrication to your engine quickest where most engine wear occurs.
 
No. Unless the MFG says you have to run syn in the manual (turbo, etc) with a 3k OCI, you are wasting your $$.

Really if your 3k miles are in a short time, you are wasting conventional oil with only a 3k OCI.

Syn does not get oil to the parts any quicker than normal oil unless we are talking WELL below zero (like -30 to -40 BELOW)

A 5w-20 Conventional oil is the SAME as a 5w-20 Syn oil. Not thinner.

Take care, Bill
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
No. Unless the MFG says you have to run syn in the manual (turbo, etc) with a 3k OCI, you are wasting your $$.

Really if your 3k miles are in a short time, you are wasting conventional oil with only a 3k OCI.

Syn does not get oil to the parts any quicker than normal oil unless we are talking WELL below zero (like -30 to -40 BELOW)

A 5w-20 Conventional oil is the SAME as a 5w-20 Syn oil. Not thinner.

Take care, Bill


Bill, you always have sound advice on this board. I totally agree with your points.

When an oil is xW-xx it has to be whitin a certain range in terms of viscosity regardless if it's dino or synthetic. Synthetics may have more uniformed molecules but that doesn't make them "thinner", not in terms of viscosity anyways.
 
Originally Posted By: breeves
Is there any benefit at all to using a synthetic oil over a dino when the oci's are 3000 miles?
thanks

If you use a full synthetic, you don't need 3000 mile OCI, so that is flawed question. There would have to be some unusual (and probably temporary) reasons for a 3000 OCI with synthetic oil to justify doing that (such as trying to clean out a sludged or very dirty engine that did not previously use synthetic).

However, IMO, a good quality synthetic will provide better engine protection (including at engine startup) at 6000 miles than a conventional oil will provide when it has zero miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Peter_Pan
When an oil is xW-xx it has to be whitin a certain range in terms of viscosity regardless if it's dino or synthetic. Synthetics may have more uniformed molecules but that doesn't make them "thinner", not in terms of viscosity anyways.

The problem is that those "ranges" are big enough to drive a Mack truck through, and synthetics exceed conventional oils in almost every way.

Also, conventional oils must contain more additives to maintain their initial specifications, and additives wear out over time as the oil is used. An oil made with superior base materials will need fewer additives to maintain viscosity and other ratings, and hence will last longer and provide superior protection.
 
A dino oil, will not keep the inside of your engine as clean, even at 3000 mi intervals, than a quality Synthetic! A synthetic oil also lubricates better & will show much less engine wear! Even at 3000 mile intervals....
 
Originally Posted By: RISUPERCREWMAN
A synthetic oil also lubricates better & will show much less engine wear! Even at 3000 mile intervals....

Yes, and even if you use 3000 OCI for conventional and 6000 OCI for synthetic.
 
Originally Posted By: Mark888
Originally Posted By: Peter_Pan
When an oil is xW-xx it has to be whitin a certain range in terms of viscosity regardless if it's dino or synthetic. Synthetics may have more uniformed molecules but that doesn't make them "thinner", not in terms of viscosity anyways.

The problem is that those "ranges" are big enough to drive a Mack truck through, and synthetics exceed conventional oils in almost every way.


Yes Mark the ranges are pretty wide however strictly in terms of viscosity a synthetic doesn't mean simply thinner.

Take for example viscosity of Pennzoil 5W-30:

Platinum has: @ 40 = 57.5 and @ 100 = 10.2

YB has: @ 40 = 63.9 and @ 100 = 10.5

Those are extremely close viscosity numbers. There are of course a lot of other benefits to synthetics as you point out but viscosity is very similar to conventional oils.
 
Originally Posted By: Peter_Pan
Take for example viscosity of Pennzoil 5W-30:

Platinum has: @ 40 = 57.5 and @ 100 = 10.2

YB has: @ 40 = 63.9 and @ 100 = 10.5

Those are extremely close viscosity numbers. There are of course a lot of other benefits to synthetics as you point out but viscosity is very similar to conventional oils.

Those are viscosity numbers of virgin oil. Once it starts being used, the conventional oil viscosity starts going down much faster than synthetic, which is why the conventional is formulated to start out higher than the synthetic.

But what I was referring to is the ability of synthetic to have a wider viscosity range (because of higher quality base stock) than conventional oils and to do that with fewer additives. Additives wear out, so a synthetic provides better protection over a longer period of time.

Additives are like medicine. They all have side affects other than their intended benefits. Most people would agree that a person who did not need any medication to be healthy is better off than someone who relied on prescription medicines. For example, take two people with the same blood pressure, but one is on blood pressure reducing medicine, and the other is not. Which one is healthier and which one is more likely to have heart disease problems?
 
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I was told that good dino oils will handle fuel dilution better than synthetics. If this is correct then for short trip driving, 3000mi OCI's dino is the way to go. If your miles are 50/50 or more highway you are throwing away your money with a 3000mi OCI even with dino.

So I guess the question lies in the question. More info about this 3000mi OCI would get a more direct answer...breeves?
 
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Originally Posted By: tuckman
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I was told that good dino oils will handle fuel dilution better than synthetics. If this is correct then for short trip driving, 3000mi OCI's dino is the way to go. If your miles are 50/50 or more highway you are throwing away your money with a 3000mi OCI even with dino.

So I guess the question lies in the question. More info about this 3000mi OCI would get a more direct answer...breeves?

I don't doubt that someone told you that. There are a lot of differing opinions on every subject. So you can always find someone to agree with any position on this forum.
 
Here's my thing anybody still buys into the 3000mi OCI for every car B.S. can throw their money away all they want! The oil companies and quick lube places are still trying to brainwash us that 3000 on syn or dino or your car will blow up!!! I heard an ad on the radio just today saying if the oil on your dipstick is dirty it's time to change your oil GET REAL!!! Even the car makers are extending OCI's on dino to 5k. They would not do that with the length of the warranties now, if they knew it would harm the engine.
Now there is a place and a time for a 3000mi OCI, not every car on the road or every oil out there!

If you do not believe the dino is not better for fuel dilution (with the exception of RLI)...show me the proof that i am wrong


So if breeves wants to give us some info on his application of this OCI I will give him my opinion on it.
 
At one time, doing a 3000 OCI was not a bad idea. The quality of oils, both conventional and synthetic have improved since then. But clearly, synthetics last longer.
 
I do not disagree one bit that synthetics will last much longer than dino oils and are better in extreme temps. Depending on the specific circumstances there are places that dino oils would be the better choice over a synthetic.
 
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Originally Posted By: Mark888
Originally Posted By: breeves
Is there any benefit at all to using a synthetic oil over a dino when the oci's are 3000 miles?
thanks

If you use a full synthetic, you don't need 3000 mile OCI, so that is flawed question. There would have to be some unusual (and probably temporary) reasons for a 3000 OCI with synthetic oil to justify doing that (such as trying to clean out a sludged or very dirty engine that did not previously use synthetic).

However, IMO, a good quality synthetic will provide better engine protection (including at engine startup) at 6000 miles than a conventional oil will provide when it has zero miles.

Wrong.

Spend some time on this site looking back to find out why you are.

Anyone who thinks that 6k old syn is better "protection" then conventional at zero needs to do above....
crackmeup2.gif
 
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