By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
I recently replaced my manual transmission fluid with synthetic and I added Lubegard. On a recent trip to Yellowstone I had plenty of opportunity to downshift on slopes and for passing. On the standard transmission fluid the transmission would shudder, and the 4wd button on the shifter would vibrate. Didn't do it this time. This means to me that synthetic clearly improves transmission performance.
about 5000 miles for the engine to break in before I do this. my second car has 195k and i
was wondering if it would be a good idea to change to synthetic oil, i wanted to use amsoil
0w30.
Interesting though, on a recent purchase of 97 with 57,000 miles I switched to synthetic. Engine was seeping oil upon purchase using dino and continued to seep oil in the same three locations after switching. Fisrt change after 3000 miles and oil analysis was great and next change will be after 7,500 as I work my way up to 12,000 or so. However, after 9000 miles in total of synthetic use two of the seepage areas appear to have dissappeared for the present time. Will see if this continues. With 6,500 miles on this current change I have had to add only 1/2 quart which is good under any circumstances. This one is Amsoil 10W30.
Let me say that the synthetic doesn't cause the seals to shrink, but since the molecules are a uniform size, it will leak out quicker from existing holes.
Be as it may, I didn't change over on my 170K mile car either.
Pricey as well.
I am trying out AMSOIL now.....
check back in 3 months for report on AMSOIL
go to castrolusa.com and contact their technical support. They can fax you some tests that are impressive.
It is definitely better than conventional oil. Don't know if it's as good as other synthetics.
So sleazy advertising, high cost and for these reason I refuse to support any company that intentionally misleads the buying public
I'm sure their Syntec is better than just dino oil but it's seriously overpriced and I heard when pressed hard, tends to form ash deposits. I wish I remembered where I heard that last comment from.
Royal Purple - Long on hype, short on quality. First of all, it's a blend ... NOT a 100% synthetic oil ... and they don't make this obvious to the average buyer. Oh, and they add this 'secret ingredient' called "Synerlec".
*sniff* *sniff*
Does anyone else here smell something ... something like snake oil? >;^)
Want a good laugh? Read the "technical data" on Royal Purple's website:
http://www.synerlec.com/technical.html
Hehe, Redline Synthetic Oil these guys ain't!! I'm surprised they don't have a graph showing their product's 'specialness' quotient superior to that of some unnamed competitor. LOL! They have graphs, they have (arbitrary?) numbers, but they don't seem to have any useful information.
Really, try some other brand!
I haven't seen Mobil 1 5W20 yet. I'm sure 5W30 would do in the meantime.
--- Bror Jace
Could also be the injectors are plugged, spraying poorly need cleaning etc. Could be one of multiple factors.
You actually change tranny fluid every 12,000 miles. Isn't that overkill????
The engine also knocked heavy with regular and even mid-grade gas. With 93 octane it was OK.
My friend told me the modern American cars do not require tuning and cannot be tuned, and it is impossible to do anything. Later he confessed that he simply did want us to waste money on the tune-up.
Both I and my wife had zero driving experience, and it was the first car in our family, including parents and grand-parents. My friend was sure that we will total the car very soon.
A year later we learned that tune-up is possible and advisable. We did it, and and it cut the fuel consumption in half.
Just a standard tune-up at Firestone. It costs about $50 to $100, depending on number of cylinders, how is the engine mounted, transmission and air condition interference, etc. Even less with coupon. Includes new plugs, injectors cleaning, probably air filter, and I do not remember what else.
However, the car must be driven much more gently after the service. I accustomed to push the gas pedal to the floor before the tune-up, and ruined the engine soon after...
Thanks
Is it any good?
http://www.pennzoil.com/prdsmktg/products/high_tech/default.htm
Thanks again
valvoline synpower, castrol syntec and even havoline synthetic seem to surpass mobil in industry tests.
i remember reading that even amsoil commented that mobil's prior products were much better.
i dont know what the reason might be ... could be something related to the fact that they lost the court case with castrol over the definition of the term "synthetic" and decided to downgrade their product (?) so it could still be called a "full synthetic"
btw i've been a loyal mobil1 user for the past 2 yrs.
According to the mobil-1 website, heir tri-synthetic is the result of adding one component to their old oil. Hard to beleive that that would make their oil that much worse.
If mobil-1 has really dropped down that much. I'll gladly switch to something else. I'm just curious which industry tests these are. I am somewhat wary of AMSOIL publishing tests saying mobil-1 is a poor choice.
If castrol syntec is a solid choice, i can just use that--it's the synthetic my dealer already uses.
dave
Something to think about ...
--- Bror Jace
they also have graphs depicting certain tests (i think its the 4-ball wear test and some other test) where tri-syn 0w-30 is at the bottom of the pack and tri-syn 5w-30 isint too far either.
i'm not an "oil guru" to comment on the validity of these tests, and dont know whether they should be taken with a pinch of salt or not. i'd leave that for the experts to comment on.
i've been using mobil1 diligently for the past 2.5 yrs and have no problems with it whatsoever. all i'm trying to find out is that for the money that i'm paying, is there something better out there for the same price (or maybe even cheaper)
if anyone out there has any info regarding an independent lab comparing the quality of different brands of syn oil, i'd be really happy to have it
API Sequence VE and IIIE tests are used by Mobil as a measure of real world performance. These are run at double, tripple and quadruple the required lengths. These results are documented in SAE Pubs 951026 and 98144 and are available at sae.org for 10 bucks online. The second publication was used in developing the latest generation of syn at mobil which among other things added a new synthetic wear inhibitor. Ironically the same laws which allowed Castrol to call Syntec "fully Synthetic" prevents Mobil from advertising that their oil meets say a double Sequence VE test.
Mobil-1 says they ran a bmw 2.5L i-6 engine for 1 million miles, doing 7,500 mile changes, and found it to be inside new engine factory specs for cam wear, etc.
Of course, if that engine was under no load, that's not as impressive. If it simulated regular diving conditions, i'm quite impressed.
Serendipitiously, i have almost the same engine in my car ( i have the 2.8L ) , and i change the oil when the computer says--about every 10-12K miles or so. Realistically, 250K miles inside new engine specs would be great.
dave
I paid 34 cents for the stamp to mail in the rebate request. When it is all over and done, the oil will have cost me 42 cents a quart. It has all the needed endorsements for use in gasoline engines, and will not void my warranty on any car I own. I'll change the Purolator standard filter and the oil at 3000 miles, and all will be well. I used to use synthetic oil, but saw the light. Come on down to the dino mission tonight, people, and be saved!
Later,
Brotha' Al
The one thing that would make me rest a little better if I were using this stuff is if they cranked up the amount of ZDDP in their formula ... just a touch.
They brag about their formula being really, really low in this phosphorus but it's an extremely useful last ditch, high-pressure anti-wear additve. Right now, Mobil one is 0.76% ZDDP by weight. The automobile manufacturers want to offer a 100,000 mile warranty on the catalytic converters and this stuff is bad for them so they pressured the oil companies to begin reducing the amount they put in oil.
Valvoline Synpower, on the other hand is 0.70-1.4% ZDDP by weight. That's almost double and a figure like that would mean a lot to me if I were using the stuff for extended drain intervals.
--- Bror Jace
Then 2-3 months later in November/December I am still on the same oil and it is 20-30 below zero. You don't want to hear what a car sounds like when it is 20-30 below zero and you start it (not quite as bad with syn). At that temperature I start the car 20 minutes before I leave the house, and the temp gauge is still pegged on cold when I get in to drive off. Sometimes I go a week without the temp gauge moving, but I do try to let the car warm up every now and then. I usually let it run after I get to work once a week, but tend to forget, and when I go to the car to go to lunch it is still running! At least the car is toasty - finally.
I doubt there is a grade of dino oil that can handle those extremes (on the same change) as well as Mobil 1 5w-30.
I must confess that I use synthetic GL5 in the hub of my shaft drive Valkyrie. Does that count? (;^~
Side note - shortly after we moved out here it got down to -35 one night, and I wasn't sure my car would be able to start so I placed an old comforter over the hood to help keep some heat in. The trick worked fine the car started right up when many other people were having trouble. The only problem was that the heat from the engine condensed in the comforter then froze it to the hood. When I pulled it off I had material stuck all over the car. Lesson learned.
dave