synthetic oil?

[ceejkay]

Any one have any thoughts on using synthetic oil? do our engines like it, not like it? i usually average 400-500 miles a week so 5-8k miles between oil changes are nice. just want to make sure im not causing and unnecessary damage by running it. if it matters im using mobile1.

 

[Rearanger]

Search will reveal more info than you ever wanted.

 

[ceejkay]

oh yea im a member now i can do that. my bad

 

[exbass94]

Damage from using synthetic? No such thing. Seriously, do you think the engine is gonna somehow "sense" that there's synthetic in there and blow itself up? I never understood why people are so scared to use synthetic. Its just oil, your engine will never know the difference. Dump it in and drive. FWIW, I use synthetic in every thing I own, even my lawnmower.

 

[Tedybear]

I've used Mobil one, Royal Purple, and Castrol Syntech 5w40 for diesels (same API rating as normal dino oil...so don't start LOL)

It's easier on my $$ to run around 6-8k between changes. Just pick up an extra qt or two in case of the usual small leaks we normally get.

(Use a high quality filter...Mobil I filters, Napa Gold (wix), K&N....The cheapo **cough fram** do not get the job done right IMO)

S-

 

[ceejkay]

Damage from using synthetic? No such thing. Seriously, do you think the engine is gonna somehow "sense" that there's synthetic in there and blow itself up? I never understood why people are so scared to use synthetic. Its just oil, your engine will never know the difference. Dump it in and drive. FWIW, I use synthetic in every thing I own, even my lawnmower.

lol. i was actually more worried with the truck having 100k and starting synthetic. didnt know how the seals would react. i actually run mobile1 with a royal purple filter. i also run royal purple in the rear end

 

[pcollins]

How often do you plan on changing your oil?

 

[ceejkay]

How often do you plan on changing your oil?

between 5k-7k

 

[pcollins]

between 5k-7k

Thats barely enough mileage to break down conventional oil, synthetic would do nothing. Unless Your taking your truck to the track or constantly hauling heavy loads, i would just go with Quaker state or Valvoline Non synthetic oil. It'll easily Go 5-7k without a change, and still not be black. I have 145k on my ranger, i just use quaker state 5w-30 at every oil change and a new Motorcraft filter.

 

[ceejkay]

Thats barely enough mileage to break down conventional oil, synthetic would do nothing. Unless Your taking your truck to the track or constantly hauling heavy loads, i would just go with Quaker state or Valvoline Non synthetic oil. It'll easily Go 5-7k without a change, and still not be black. I have 145k on my ranger, i just use quaker state 5w-30 at every oil change and a new Motorcraft filter.

my problem is florida heat and stop and go traffic. like most people their trucks go to work then home, with the occasional trip in between. me, i go to work on grave yard shift, come home and wife drives the truck all day long. so the truck only sits off for about 4hrs a day. i put a little bit more abuse than most do.

 

[exbass94]

Really long trips actually leads to longer oil life because it gives it plenty of time to get nice and hot and burn off any condensation and other crap in the oil. Short trips like driving 2 miles to work and back is much harder on oil. If you feel using synthetic is giving you a little extra edge of protection and gives you some extra peace of mind for the type of driving you do, then by all means keep using it. Heck, that's the main reason I use it.

Here's what I suggest.
Run the oil to 5k miles and send in a sample for a used oil analysis. That's really the only way to determine if you're being too hard on it or if you could go longer between changes. You can try using a conventional and see how it holds up for that interval. You may find you can go 7k miles on conventional no problem. It's pretty safe to say that whatever interval you can pull off with conventional, synthetic can go even longer. But a UOA is the only way to determine exactly how much longer.

 

[kcm1582]

Cant go wrong with 5w-30 Motorcraft synthetic blend and a FL 820-S. You can get it almost anywhere and it holds up really well. I change my oil every 5k miles and it always comes out almost new.

 

[pcollins]

Cant go wrong with 5w-30 Motorcraft synthetic blend and a FL 820-S. You can get it almost anywhere and it holds up really well. I change my oil every 5k miles and it always comes out almost new.

then why change it? change the filter, replenish what comes out, and see if you can push the oil to 10k. Be a good way to save money, send the oil in for testing at 10k to see how good it is.

 

[kcm1582]

then why change it? change the filter, replenish what comes out, and see if you can push the oil to 10k. Be a good way to save money, send the oil in for testing at 10k to see how good it is.

Just because it still looks good doesn't mean it's ready for another 5,000 miles. Plus its cheeper to replace oil than a blown engine.

 

[ceejkay]

Just because it still looks good doesn't mean it's ready for another 5,000 miles. Plus its cheeper to replace oil than a blown engine.

agreed. i just changed it today with 6500. i had the coil pack go out on me last week so im not sending this one out. next one i will send out to get a proper answer. thank you for all the input