synthetic vs non synthetic motor oil...

[cros]

hey guys. i have a question regarding engine oil since i have an appointment to have it changed this friday.

i been doing a lot of searching on the topic of synthetic vs non-synthetic, and i cant really come to any concrete solutions.

what are the pros and cons of each and what would your suggestions be?

my 4runner has around 63,4xx on the clock. thanks.

[YotaFun]

Way to open up a tasty can of worms..... :clap:
This has been debated heavily on many sites.
Honestly it is all personal preference.
Some save conventional is just fine,
and others say synthetic is the way to go.


I have an 97 with 144K
I have been running synthetic since when I purchased the truck at 76K
All other fluids in the truck are also synthetic.

My step dads 02 sport has had synthetic in it since its 3rd oil changed.
My moms Lexus ES300 has had it since 92K and its at 125k now.

Back in the day when I had a 95 olds cutlass, we switched to synthetic and I personally think it saved the cars engine life.
The head gasket went on th car and it over heated on the way back to the shop.
After driving it 10 miles (never should have done that but I was young and stupid then)
The heads were still straight, nothing warped and I believe the synthetic helped.

As you can see it is just my opinion that synthetic is better, I don't have actual proof to say that its what you should do...

Just my .02 dude

[slosurfer]

I had always heard that synthetic could cause more leaks on older engines with leaks already. I switched to synthetic on my 4runner last oil change, and I already had some valve cover gasket leaks and it would burn a little bit of oil on long trips with prolonged highway driving. My leaks have not gotten any worse and if anything are slightly better, also, it hardly burns anything now on long highway trips. The last two long highway trips, I didn't have to add at all. The last one was almost 900 miles of highway.

I've got some major leaks in the van, but will switch to synthetic once I get those taken care of. Our Tacoma will also be getting synthetic here on its next oil change. Buying it in bulk at Walmart isn't that much more expensive than dyno oil anyways.

[cros]

Haha...these 2 comments are exactly what I'v seen whenever trying to make my mind up. One person swears by synthetic, while the other says it caused some engine leaks...

I called 2 local dealers to get their opinion. one place said they used Pennzoil synthetic while the other said a synthetic/non-synthetic blend from Quaker State.

I don't mind at all paying more to switch to full synthetic from hear on out, I guess my main concern is engine leaks. Now, like I mentioned, my runner has around 63,400 on the clock, so it isn't exactly a high-milage engine just yet. What are the chances of a synthetic oil causing leaks if I started you it now?

[Seanz0rz]

my opinion, stay away from blends. if you are going to pay the extra, just pay the extra and get full synthetic.

i use synthetic in mine. for me, it means in the off season i can go 6000 miles between oil changes, a nice feature when you have to drop a huge skidplate to change the oil. during offroading season (basically spring, summer, and fall) it means i can go 3000 miles between oil changes, even with all the idling and super high ambient temps (120+ on the pavement or in the desert). with my switch (starting at about 140k) i have never developed a leak. as far as i know, the previous owner never ran synthetic. i do agree that if you already have an oil leak, synthetic may make it worse. you should be fixing that leak anyway though...

with the rising cost of crude, im finding synthetic is only a dollar or two more /quart than conventional. i usually buy what brand is on sale.

best thing ever: draining oil that looks essentially new, instead of black sludge :) makes me feel good about what i put into my engine. these 5vz's should last an easy 200k. im already at 156, so if i could extend the expected life by 50k, ill do it!

as for conventional oil. its fine. you arent hurting anything by using it. if that is all you can afford (and in these tough times, it might be hard to even afford that) dont feel bad about putting it in.

oil filters are another big thing. ive always heard fram was crap, but ive personally never had a problem with them, and still use them (my neck of the woods seems to lack decent oil filters). i will be switching to the larger taurus v6 oil filter in the future (search here for more information about that)

[mastacox]

I think that if you can afford to run a high-quality synthetic such as Mobil 1 or Amsoil, do it. If not, well just change you oil every 3000 miles and don't worry about it too much. I run full Amsoil bumper to bumper on my 4Runner, and swear by it. The price is comparable with all other high-end synthetics, and better if you get a preferred membership.

Synthetic oil does NOT cause oil leaks, so you can pretty much not worry about that. It's an old wives' tale, I have never seen a documented case of a perfectly good engine leaking oil once someone put synthetic in it, period. Just get the same weight oil you would run anyway, and you're done. The argument doesn't even make logical sense when you think about it, because synthetics are rated using the same oil-weight scale.

When you get an oil filter, get one for a '95 Taurus with the V-6 (non-SHO). It is a larger filter with the same gasket diameter and threads, so it fits nicely and gives you extra filtering capacity. Like was mentioned you can search to learn more about it. Oh and P.S.- don't get Fram. Sorry Sean.

[YotaFun]

oil filters are another big thing. ive always heard fram was crap, but ive personally never had a problem with them, and still use them (my neck of the woods seems to lack decent oil filters). i will be switching to the larger taurus v6 oil filter in the future (search here for more information about that)


I run the larger filter, i use napa gold myself.

[cros]

thanks for the response guys, that really helped out

[MTL_4runner]

I'm a little late to the party but I've been running Valvoline Synpower or Penzoil Platinum synthetics for a while now and it does make a difference in gas mileage. I've also had a motor overheat and the oil didn't turn to sludge so that's a biggie too. In winter the synthetics also crank over alot better than regular oil in -40F weather (ask me how I know....brrrrrr!!!) As for filters, definately run a Taurus 3.0L filter and stay away from Fram. I use Napa, Quakerstate or Purolator filters for the most part. You can tell a good filter by looking inside the screw portion and you should see an all metal cap at the end, no cardboard or plastic inside. Hope this helps.

[Brunoski]

Worked with a guy from europe last summer, he used to work as a distributor for Castrol Oil. He went through all their training and what not. He told me that todays synthetics are so superior that you can practically run it for up to 20000 miles. Even Mobile 1 guarantees their synthetic extended performance oil can go for 15000 miles with the Mobil 1 filter. Which agian shows that the fiilter is the limiting factor.

Personally I use the Mobile 1 mentioned above and change it every 10000 miles while switching the NAPA Gold Taurus filter halfway through. Have not seen any problems when draining it. Even the manual calls for a 5000 mile interval on regular oil. Also if I remember correctly Mercedes has 10000 mile intervals.

When speaking to several mechanics as far as synthetics go, their use is to prolong the change intervals.

[MTL_4runner]

Running synthetics will at least double your oil's typical service interval. I typically do one oil change per year now and just change the filter at the halfway mark, topping up the oil level as needed.

[CJM]

It all really depends on what you wanna spend. Syn is getting on par with price with conventional b/c oil is $$$

FWIW my boss maintains a fleet of HD work vans for roadside service. We put on literally between 25-80k a year depending on which van is used where and by whom. My boss only uses mobil clean 5000, this is a conventional oil that they guarantee for 5k.

Now, we dont always have the time do change the oil as much as we like b/c the trucks are almost in constant use. I last changed my oil in my Ford E250 at 187k iirc, I now have 206k. The oil was dark, not broken down to much but dark and I changed it and no issues. Thats 20k! The truck runs fin, like all fords she burns oil, stay away fromt he ford 5.4L btw if you can they all burn oil and have piston slap when cold. But we also take care of the trucks, all fluids changed every 50k, all trucks warm up for a good bit in cold weather.

1 of the he tried syn in only b/c the bottom end is letting go at 260k. It made no difference at all in performance or such.

Hell, we have this only old beat up dodge 1500 van that in the entire time I drove it for a ood year received only one oil change and I probably drove 60k. Granted since it burned oil too I was toppingit off every 3-5 days-still. Heck its only a V6 and was hauling around to much weight and the trans and engine wouldnt fail...I beat it badly and it wont die.

In reality choose whats right for you, I justput in regular dino oil into my toyota b/c I hardly drive it and I just change it every 6 months anyways after putting on maybe 500 miles.