Synthetic blend at 200,000 miles?

[GOPHER FREAK]

Hello,

I recently depleted my stock pile of regular 10w30 Trop Artic and all I can find is the blended stuff. Truck runs great, no leaks, and does not use any oil. Would it be safe to run the synthetic blend or would that be a problem with that many miles. If it helps it's a Dodge Ram pickup with a 318, and all cylinders are with in 5psi of each other on my yearly compression test.

Also what percentage is synthetic, I've heard it ranges from 10-50% depending on the brand.

Thanks

 

[Ray H]

The ConocoPhillips entry level oils are ALL syn-blend (Gp II & Gp III), now. When I called their 800 CS number, I was told between 40+ - 50% Gp III depending on viscosity grade. I would guess from that discussion that the 10w30 T/A (which I'm currently using and midway through its first OCI) is somewhere around 40%+ Gp III. I won't go into the vagueries of the, "My engine likes it." and "My engine runs much smoother, quieter, peppier, economically, ________ (or fill in the blank with your own accolades).", etc nonsense, either. I'll wait until I've completed two fills of the stuff and submit a sample for a used oil analysis to post. Hard numbers tell more than soft verbiage. (I will admit to finding no reason so far to drain the stuff out early, though.

)

[ April 18, 2006, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]

 

[miked2]

I read somewhere the "Synthetic Blends" are 20 to 25% Synthetic. I am not familiar with all of the groups, etc.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Ray,
Whats your OCI with TropArtic Syn Blend?

Which oil has more Group III, the T/A 5w30 or the 10w30 Syn Blend?

Just before Dollar General stopped selling it, I managed to buy 32 quarts.

 

[ImaginThat]

Run a batch and see how it does, I don't think you'll have any problems with it.

I'm in the same boat as Ray, on the first change to the 5w30 flavor and need to run it to wash out the salt from the Mobil 5000. And after about 4500 on second fill will run a used oil analysis before I run out of Bumper to Bumper warranty.

 

[GOPHER FREAK]

I changed it today. I've always be weary of running synthetic in high mileage engines, But what the heck. I've had this truck since new and never used anything but Trop Artic. A family friend who ran a 66 station turned me on to it when I bought the truck in 95. When he shut down in 2000 he gave me about 20 cases so only being able to find the Synthetic blend kinda caught me off guard.

 

[Nickdfresh]

quote:

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Originally posted by GOPHER FREAK:
I changed it today. I've always be weary of running synthetic in high mileage engines, But what the heck. I've had this truck since new and never used anything but Trop Artic. A family friend who ran a 66 station turned me on to it when I bought the truck in 95. When he shut down in 2000 he gave me about 20 cases so only being able to find the Synthetic blend kinda caught me off guard.

---

I've run Kendall GT-1 10w30 'semi-synthetic' (which I imagine is virtually identical to Trop Arc since both are Conoco-Phillips products) with no problems at all. The car has 170+K on it, and already had a very minor leak. In fact I changed it out last weekend and was amazed as to how clean it appeared with 3500 miles on it. I think I added half-a-quart the whole time (three months exactly).

Don't be afraid. All the evidence points to it being a fine oil at a reasonable price...

 

[JHZR2]

I switched an 83 MB 300D to Full Synthetic at 200k... a 94 toyota previa at 160k, a 94 integra at 151k, a 97 plymouth breeze at ~50k... and no leaks from any.

Id use it without issue. If it brings about a leak or problem, congratulations, you found it so you can fix it!

switching to syn can only do good in a vehicle worth keeping.

JMH

 

[sambojoho]

If you want the non-syn blend, you can still get it in 10w40 at Walmart.

 

[hominid7]

The syn-blends that are blended with Group III oils should not pose the problems that "real" synthetics cause to older engines that have been abused and/or neglected.

Having said that, if your 200,000 mile car has been well maintained, the only real harm in going to a full-synthetic like Mobil 1 would be that your engine may be cleaned to the point where it would develop leaks around the seals.

I've used lots of the TropArtic (in the form of motorcraft) and think it's a great oil, especially considering the price.