Do engines need a "breakin" before synthetic??

[Scottydog]

I noticed a comment on a Jeep site that for engines not specifically designed to use synthetic you should wait until 10-15,000 miles before switching to synthetic. I can think of no rational for such a statement. Any truth to this?

I have a 3.8 liter Wrangler with 4000 miles that needs it's first oil change. I plan on using PP 5w-20/Wix filter.

Now if I could just reprogram the Jeep oil monitor to take into account synthetic...

 

[lexus114]

I personally would wait until 3,000 miles.I know others will say thats non-sense you can use it any time,but thats my personal opinion.

 

[demarpaint]

Short answer, no. But I did a 500 mile oil change, then ran dino until about 2000 miles. At the 2000 mile OC I switched to synthetic oil.

 

[hate2work]

That comment was just someone's opinion.

There are now several cars that come from the factory with syn in the engine, as well as thousands of people who have switched to syn within the first 1- 2k miles.

To answer your question, no, there is no reason you have to wait that long to switch to syn oil. PP would be a good choice for your rig.

 

[Corvette Owner]

On my new cars, I wait until 3,000 miles (short first oil change) to change to synthetic.

Having said that, my 1998 Corvette came with Mobil 1 as the factory fill, now at 122,000 miles it is still doing fine.

Only exception would be if car uses special break=in oil and tells you to wait longer (Honda did this, not sure if they still do?).

 

[cmhj]

What Corvette Owner said +1

 

[tig1]

These cars come with M1 from the factory.

https://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Factory_Fill/Vehicles_Filled_Mobil_1.aspx

 

[Newtonville]

My 2 cents opinion is no it doesn't matter. It seems to me the only area in an engine that break in is desired are the cylinders. That wear happens fastest in the first seconds and minutes of use. By 500 miles a lot of that wearing should be done, by 1000 pretty certainly done, by 4000 it must be done 99%. A synthetic might flow quicker and lessen the cylinder wear rate a tiny amount, but not stop it. Since you have all the wear particles in the original oil the filter hasn't caught, it might be good to pick a filter with a very high efficiency and micron rating, and drain the oil hot so it flushes well.

 

[dwendt44]

Aside from advertising and promotional reasons, most of those engines that come with Mobil-1 in them are run up more than the run of the mill engines you find on a car lot are.
Many of them are, if not hand built, at least assembled slower and more carefully than the usual line built motors are.
Most folks wait for a couple of thousand miles before switching.
A couple of short oil changes with conventional oil would clean out any crud left from assembly and cost less that if done with synthetic oil.

 

[Captain_Klink]

After the factory fill is out, synthetic is fine. That's the best thing you can do, although many engines run all their life with dino and don't complain about it either. Synthetic has better cold flow properties, flows better even at room temp, so the motor will get lubed faster. Also, the polarity of group 3 is > polarity group 2, so the oil will have better tenacity and film strength, so it will hold up better when put under stress.
All 5w30 oil nowadays is group 2, so even "dino" is excellent.
(5w20 is group 2+ even).

 

[Brettasaurus]

No, I am a fan of running the FF to about 1,500 miles and then switching to synthetic.

 

[lexus114]

I read on a bottle of synthetic oil not that long ago(just wish I could remember which one)that you should use only after vehicle has acquired at least 3,000 miles.

 

[fito]

NO

 

[Scottydog]

Well my rig has 4000 miles so it seems the sky won't fall if I use PP.

Newtonville- Do you think Wix filter is adequate?

Thanks so much for all the advice. This is a great forum!

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Scottydog
Well my rig has 4000 miles so it seems the sky won't fall if I use PP.

Newtonville- Do you think Wix filter is adequate?

Thanks so much for all the advice. This is a great forum!


Thats right!

 

[Peted]

Originally Posted By: Scottydog
Well my rig has 4000 miles so it seems the sky won't fall if I use PP.

Newtonville- Do you think Wix filter is adequate?

Thanks so much for all the advice. This is a great forum!

Got a pic of your jeep?

 

[widman]

the short answer is: it depends on the build or re-build. As soon as is stops consuming oil, you can switch to synthetic. My Grand Cherokee used a quart in its first 1000 miles, 1/2 quart in its next 4000 miles, now it does not use any, so I could switch if I wanted to.

 

[WGermany]

I believe I heard that Subaru wants conventional oil used in their engines for a specified period before synthetic OR synthetic blends are used. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[ryland]

what are the reasons why you would want to use dino first? What risk is there in running syn too early? All the synthetic oil sites say its fine to use syn at the first oci.

 

[uncrx2003]

Somebody please clarify this up for me. My sister recently bought a '09 CRV. Therefore, I have read up on the CRV forum about people's experiences with first oil change and I'm now more confused than ever. Many folks there recommend not to do a first change until the OLM is telling you so. But some people have said the OLM would let them run up to almost 10k miles before it would tell them to change it. Personally, I'm quite queasy about doing a first oil change at 10k. I think Honda put Moly in with dino from factory. So, when would it be ok to change to synthetic? I was going to let her drive it to 3k then change over to synthetic.