Synthetic v Mineral in new engine

[RogerKlugerAus05]

Sorry to bring this topic up again but does anyone have any hard evidence that synthetic oil is detrimental for use in a new engine say after dumping initial fill at 500 miles or so? I have read loads of posts which offer opinions but no real evidence. Dealers opinions vary a lot, the last Toyota dealer I asked said synthetic oil was too slippery for use up to 6k miles! I am going to go Mobil 1 in my new Toyota Corolla at 1500 miles, no doubt it will corrode my bearings, rust my piston rings, be so slippery that it will not produce pressure in my oil pump and cause me to come out in a rash. I will take this risk.
Roger

 

[mechtech]

The only hard evidence I have is that some high end cars [Porsche and Corvette, for example] come with synthetic oil from the factory in the engines.
It can't be all bad!

 

[sxg6]

Personally, I don't think anything bad at all would happen by switching to synthetic early. Even with that said, I wouldn't do it myself. I don't see any hard evidence that synthetic will be a substantial improvement over dino for that 3k-4k period that you switch over earlier than what the mfg suggests.

 

[ARB1977]

I waited till 9K before switching over. Theres no need to switch early if your worried.

 

[edvanp]

I only use synthetic after 6k miles. I'll typically have 2 changes done by 3k and using Synthetic is a waste of money for such a short run. I like to run the factory fill to 1k mile, then I run Dino for 2k miles and the next 3k. After 3 changes, I using syn or syn blend.

 

[westex39]

If you cannot break in a new engine with synthetic, how is it that on oil analysis there are wear metals in the oil with synthetic.

 

[Nickdfresh]

I would imagine it doesn't matter all that much. When I had my last new one, I did use mineral Pennzoil for the initial break-in --to about 7000 miles.

Both Mobil1 and Castrol seem to differ on this point. Mobil1's site says you can use it right away in a new engine, whereas Castrol said to wait an oil change or two the last time I looked.

I once had a Volkswagen parts guy (actually an old German dude) tell me that using synthetic in a brand new engine will cause "high-speed glazing," whatever that is.

But now, I think Volkswagens come with synthetic as factory fill and a 5000 first-OCI recommendation. So there is a lot of contradictory information regarding this with the main indication being that the prohibition on synthetic oil during break-in is dated information since engines are far more precise today due to modern manufacturing processes and tighter clearances and tolerances. But then again, I've been told that performance engines like Porsche and Corvette are often broken in at the factory, and are fired and left running for far longer than their pedestrian counterparts. So who knows? basically, I just figured that newer conventional oils are so effective, that it's a moot-point to use it for a short time during the first six months, then switching to synthetic to be safe.

 

[dbvettez06]

quote:

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Originally posted by Nickdfresh:
I would imagine it doesn't matter all that much. When I had my last new one, I did use mineral Pennzoil for the initial break-in --to about 7000 miles.

Both Mobil1 and Castrol seem to differ on this point. Mobil1's site says you can use it right away in a new engine, whereas Castrol said to wait an oil change or two the last time I looked.


I once had a Volkswagen parts guy (actually an old German dude) tell me that using synthetic in a brand new engine will cause "high-speed glazing," whatever that is.

But now, I think Volkswagens come with synthetic as factory fill and a 5000 first-OCI recommendation. So there is a lot of contradictory information regarding this with the main indication being that the prohibition on synthetic oil during break-in is dated information since engines are far more precise today due to modern manufacturing processes and tighter clearances and tolerances. But then again, I've been told that performance engines like Porsche and Corvette are often broken in at the factory, and are fired and left running for far longer than their pedestrian counterparts. So who knows? basically, I just figured that newer conventional oils are so effective, that it's a moot-point to use it for a short time during the first six months, then switching to synthetic to be safe.

---

Corvette engines are NOt broken in at the factory, been there several times...But do come with synthetic oil from factory...

 

[Ray H]

I doubt the early use of synthetic oil in your Corolla will lead to a skin rash...

 

[Nebraskan]

Won't cause you to loose your new car warranty either. You can switch to synthetic any time you wish and just keep it clean.

 

[Louie's gone fishing]

Waiting a few thousand miles is just being consertive. You can use that time to do a few oil changes with conventional oil to make sure you get any loose stuff out of the engine. If you can't afford a few extra bucks then just don't bother with it, and don't use synthetic, either.

 

[Big Jim]

And so the old cycle repeats itself. There was a time that it was claimed that non detergent oil was essentual for an engine to break down.

The idea that synthetic cannot be used for break-in is just as funny as detergent oil not being proper.

 

[Al]

I personally used Mobil I in my car as soon as I got it home (30 miles). 78K miles later it uses about 1 oz. every 1000 miles-if that.. A number of new cars come with Mobil 1 factory fill. There is little, if any difference between the coeffficient of friction (slipperiness) between oils.

Your rings are probably "seated" by the time you get the car home.

 

[buster]

NO!!!

It's perfectly fine. Just floor it a few times to get the rings to seat. I failed to do that on my 2001 and it used 1 qt of oil every 3k miles. Car ran like new though with 180k on it when I traded it in. Oil consumption is more of an incovenience than anything.

 

[LAGA]

88 Ford Taurus, 92 Ford Ranger, 95 Pontiac Trans Am, 01 Dodge Ram, 04 Saturn Ion, 05 Ford Mustang GT. All of the above were bought new and switched over to synthetic at 1000 miles. All ran perfectly and NEVER used any oil in a 4k to 5k OCI. I can assure you that any other new vehicle I buy I will do the same. BTW, all vehicles were driven in the Chicago metro area in heavy traffic and short trips.

 

[Nebraskan]

Last new car I bought was a 1977 Honda Civic in 1977 near Puyallup WA, when I worked for Boeing. Got totaled completely about 3 payments left to go on it.. go figure. Any car I get to bring home is a new car, and it instantly get's changed to synthetic.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

quote:

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Originally posted by edvanp:
I only use synthetic after 6k miles. I'll typically have 2 changes done by 3k and using Synthetic is a waste of money for such a short run. I like to run the factory fill to 1k mile, then I run Dino for 2k miles and the next 3k. After 3 changes, I using syn or syn blend.

---

I have no evidence either but we all know that engines do break in and all sorts of stuff ends up in the oil during the break in period. I did something similar to what edvanp did. Dino change at 500 & 3000. Switched to synthetic at 6000. For those first intervals that are so short, why use synthetic? I'm usually not abusing my car in those early miles anyway where I'd need the extra protection of synthetic. If I had a turbo motor or a car that requires it, I would use synthetic from the start and I'd probably still change my oil more often initially.

 

[Cutehumor]

I swapped over a 06 vibe 1.8L from factory fill at 700 miles to ken syn blend, then at 2700 miles put in havoline synthetic. at 4700 miles no problems with oil consumption so far.