oil question
- Thread starter gtsn95
- Start date
alleymad95GT
Member
I have heard this before, and I have to wonder...why do so many people think synthetic oil has little "leak gremlins" floating around in it that are waiting to attack your engine and make it leak?
You have been using conventional oil for years. That oil has left nasty deposits behind, not so affectionately referred to as "sludge." That sludge has accumulated at various locations throughout the interior of you engine. At some point, your leak formed, but the sludge acted like a plug. As the gooey nastiness flowed into the leak, it gummed up the hole. So, you didn't notice the leak. Then, you put in the synthetic. The detergents in the synthetic affected the sludge, as they should. After all, synthetic oik is supposed to reduce sludge right? It does this by including the detergents that I mentioned above. As the sludge is removed, your previously plugged leak is exposed. The result is that your engine appears to suddenly have a leak.
Did the synthetic really "cause" the engine to leak? Nope. The cause would be a failed seal or gasket or whatever. The synthetic oil just exposed the underlying problem.
So, what is worse? Fixing a leak, or having enough crap accumulate in your engine to act like a plug?
You have been using conventional oil for years. That oil has left nasty deposits behind, not so affectionately referred to as "sludge." That sludge has accumulated at various locations throughout the interior of you engine. At some point, your leak formed, but the sludge acted like a plug. As the gooey nastiness flowed into the leak, it gummed up the hole. So, you didn't notice the leak. Then, you put in the synthetic. The detergents in the synthetic affected the sludge, as they should. After all, synthetic oik is supposed to reduce sludge right? It does this by including the detergents that I mentioned above. As the sludge is removed, your previously plugged leak is exposed. The result is that your engine appears to suddenly have a leak.
Did the synthetic really "cause" the engine to leak? Nope. The cause would be a failed seal or gasket or whatever. The synthetic oil just exposed the underlying problem.
So, what is worse? Fixing a leak, or having enough crap accumulate in your engine to act like a plug?
R.J.
Member
Maybe you do have a small gasket issue but, there is also another issue at work here.
Have you ever heard that gasoline will leak through a hole that water won't? It's the same for synthetics vs. conventional oils. The molecules in synthetic oils are all of a more consistant size than in a conventional oil. You will also notice that your oil consumption will increase slightly between changes with the synthetic.
A few years ago I changed my daugthers '00 Taurus SEL DOHC over to Mobil 1 5W-30 and after a time a slight leak had formed. I went through 1 more oil change with the Mobil 1 and .... it continued. The next time around I went back to the OEM Motorcraft 5W-30 synthetic blend and to this day it still does not leak.
I originally thought maybe it was a gasket type/material that was not compatable with the synthetics but, I don't know.
I run the Mobil 1 5W-30 (0W-30 in winter) in my "98 GT and in my wifes '08 Escape with no leak issues.
Good Luck,
GT
Have you ever heard that gasoline will leak through a hole that water won't? It's the same for synthetics vs. conventional oils. The molecules in synthetic oils are all of a more consistant size than in a conventional oil. You will also notice that your oil consumption will increase slightly between changes with the synthetic.
A few years ago I changed my daugthers '00 Taurus SEL DOHC over to Mobil 1 5W-30 and after a time a slight leak had formed. I went through 1 more oil change with the Mobil 1 and .... it continued. The next time around I went back to the OEM Motorcraft 5W-30 synthetic blend and to this day it still does not leak.
I originally thought maybe it was a gasket type/material that was not compatable with the synthetics but, I don't know.
I run the Mobil 1 5W-30 (0W-30 in winter) in my "98 GT and in my wifes '08 Escape with no leak issues.
Good Luck,
GT
alleymad95GT
Member
So, what the guy above me is saying is basically that...
conventional motor oil will plug up a leak that synthetic will not.
The key thing is that the synthetic simply cannot "cause" a leak. It merely exposes the underlying problem. If the hole that he is talking about is too small for the larger molecules often present in conventional oil to flow through, doesn't that necessarily mean that there is a hole there?
Same thing I said, only phrased to make it seem like the synthetic oil is the underlying problem, which it simply is not.
So, if you switch to synthetic and notice the dreaded little drips under your ride, you can do one of two things:
1. Switch back and hope that the return to conventional will re-plug the hole that the oil was dripping from. Of course, you still have the hole. You have put a band-aid on the problem, and your gasket, seal or whatever is not going to regrow to repair the hole.
2. Figure out where the leak is coming from and fix that issue.
conventional motor oil will plug up a leak that synthetic will not.
The key thing is that the synthetic simply cannot "cause" a leak. It merely exposes the underlying problem. If the hole that he is talking about is too small for the larger molecules often present in conventional oil to flow through, doesn't that necessarily mean that there is a hole there?
Same thing I said, only phrased to make it seem like the synthetic oil is the underlying problem, which it simply is not.
So, if you switch to synthetic and notice the dreaded little drips under your ride, you can do one of two things:
1. Switch back and hope that the return to conventional will re-plug the hole that the oil was dripping from. Of course, you still have the hole. You have put a band-aid on the problem, and your gasket, seal or whatever is not going to regrow to repair the hole.
2. Figure out where the leak is coming from and fix that issue.
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