Your experiences with switching to Synthetic Oil

[nfs480]

I've heard that if you switch to synthetic on an older motor that it can create a lot of oil leaks. Currently my engine has 187,500 miles and i'm considering putting in Valvoline Maxlife 5W-30 Full Synthetic. I was wondering, for those of you that have switched from conventional to synthetic, how many miles were on your engine at the time of the switch and did you have any negative effects from the switch? I'm hoping that because the maxlife has additives that stop leaks that my car wouldn't start leaking if I put it in. Currently my car burns no oil and has no leaks.

[Pico]

On my 89 Accord I'm running Mobil 1 on a rebuilt engine with less than 5000 miles on it and no problems at all.

My 92 Legend with almost 260,000 miles Im also running Mobil 1 and have had no problems, the engine seems quieter, and my gas mileage has increased, I now average 360miles on a full tank.

Finally on our 04 F150 same oil with just a little over 24,000 miles and no problems either.

I've also have ran Royal Purple, Red Line, Castrol, but have been most happy with Mobil 1

[Civic Accord Honda]

i have not switched to synthetic oil so i cant vote :'(

[nfs480]

Perhaps I should have included an "I just use Conventional" option in the poll.

[dlr1989]

I have switched both my 89 LXi with 80000 miles at the time and my 01 Dodge Ram 1500 with 40000 miles at the time to Mobil 1 with no problems. Both engines run quieter. Both vehicles saw an improvement in gas mileage. And the Accord was using about a quart of oil every 1000 miles or less before changing to Moble 1, that stopped, I don't think I have added any oil between changes (I still change oil every 3000 miles) since the change over to Mobile 1.

[Stock89LXi]

Redline hasn't let me down yet.

[lostforawhile]

i use the syntec blend, increased my oil pressure about ten pounds when hot. i would think the max life would be formulated not to cause older engine leaks,due to thats what it's for

[nfs480]

i use the syntec blend, increased my oil pressure about ten pounds when hot. i would think the max life would be formulated not to cause older engine leaks,due to thats what it's for

That's kinda what I thought and is exactly why I bought it. But there was still some doubt in my mind. I'll be putting it in my engine tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

EDIT: I feel kinda bad about working at Valvoline and recommending this stuff to customers every day and yet I don't fully trust the stuff myself yet. Who knows, maybe I will after actually using it!

[turabaka]

so is the general consensus that it would be safe to use synthetic motor oil in our cars if we wanted too? I'm thinking about switching to royal purple if that's the case.

[nfs480]

I know it's safe to use synthetic in our cars in general. I've just heard there might be problems with cars that have a lot of miles. How many miles do you have on yours?

[turabaka]

something like 216,000

[nfs480]

Maybe, maybe not. I've got 187,500 on mine so i'm going to use a high mileage oil (in this case the Valvoline MaxLife Full Synthetic) because I think it won't be as likely to have problems on a high mileage engine since that's what it's designed for. If you do switch be sure to post your experience here. I'll make sure to post how mine goes.

[Toneloc5145]

I switched to 5w30 Maxlife Semi-Synthetic about a year ago with no problems with leaks. At that time my car had about 125,000 miles, and conventional oil was used before that. Expect an increase in gas mileage and a quieter, smoother running engine. I'm going to go full synthetic on my next change and see what that does.

[Pico]

so is the general consensus that it would be safe to use synthetic motor oil in our cars if we wanted too? I'm thinking about switching to royal purple if that's the case.

I ran Royal Purple for awhile but at the time I was doing alot of stop and go highway driving, and it seemed to break down too fast.
Maybe for regular ordinary driving it would be ok

[87roach]

If I recall royal purple isn't really for regular driving, correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding was for more of drag runs and such. Even then they change it ever run or whatever.

[lostforawhile]

I think the max life has seal conditioners. you will get leaks with full synthetic because it's so slippery it can get past older brittle seals. this means you need to fix the oil leaks is all. the semi synthetic won't have the same problem as full synthetic. also if you are breaking in a new engine,DO NOT use full synthetic to break it in. switch to full synthetic after the break in period.

[cubert]

i got my Jy motor with 130k on it, used semi syn from 130k til about 160k, and then switched to full synthetic and never had an issue.

[Civic Accord Honda]

on my next oil change im switching to semi synthetic 5W20 and im at 218k rite now

[nfs480]

Ok, I just put in 3.7 quarts of 5W-30 Valvoline MaxLife Full Synthetic and installed a Purolator PL14459 oil filter. So far i've driven it around with no problems.

Also, don't our cars specify using either 5W-30 or 10W-30? I don't know if you should use 5W-20 in your car, CAH.

[jdmaccordnut]

Switched to synthetic at 258,000. Leaks started everywhere. Woops.

[nfs480]

Was it just a standard synthetic or was it a high mileage synthetic like Maxlife synthetic?

[jdmaccordnut]

Mobil 1.

[Civic Accord Honda]

Ok, I just put in 3.7 quarts of 5W-30 Valvoline MaxLife Full Synthetic and installed a Purolator PL14459 oil filter. So far i've driven it around with no problems.

Also, don't our cars specify using either 5W-30 or 10W-30? I don't know if you should use 5W-20 in your car, CAH.

i ment 5W30 lol
and yeah i used some of that moble 1 7500 mile oil in 5W20 once and it burned up in less then a week in my 3gee i have to use 20W50 or it burns O_O lol
but yeah im going to use some semi synthetic 5W30 in my legend +
i just changed the oil today in the legend allready bought the oil last week and its just penzoil 10W30 and a STP filter

[nfs480]

Give the Valvoline MaxLife a try, it's supposed to resist burning off really well. We have customers who come in and they just love this stuff, several of the other employees use it too.

[jdmaccordnut]

I have switched both my 89 LXi with 80000 miles at the time and my 01 Dodge Ram 1500 with 40000 miles at the time to Mobil 1 with no problems. Both engines run quieter. Both vehicles saw an improvement in gas mileage. And the Accord was using about a quart of oil every 1000 miles or less before changing to Moble 1, that stopped, I don't think I have added any oil between changes (I still change oil every 3000 miles) since the change over to Mobile 1.

If you're using synthetic but changing your oil ever 3k you're just throwing money in the toilet.

Synthetic is better than regular oil because it does not break down like dino oils. This means you need to change it less often. The only reason to ever really change synthetic is becuase it becomes contaminated with slight blowby of fuel, and other things. Filters keep the particles out. Please... either go back to regular, or extend your changes. What you are doing right now doesn't make any sense.