Synthetic Oil

JamesBaumann · May 5, 2004

Just looking for some recommendations here on synthetic oil. Have you guys that have used it ever found any kind of an increase in fuel economy? Lower running temperatures? Better lubrication? My neighbour who used to race 5.0L's down the 1/4 mile told me that he picked a tenth of a second using it. He says its because it is slippier than natural oil and lets everything move faster. Could he be right? Anyways, just some opinions and recommendations on it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mustang5L5 · May 5, 2004

Just stick with a good quality conventional oil and you'll be fine.

Usually when guys convert to synthetic with a lot of miles on the motor leaks tend to develop because the particles are smaller and it doesn't "clot" as well as natural oil.

There are racing synthetics designed to give you HP, but they are expensive to use for oil changes all the time

JamesBaumann · May 5, 2004

Well, I should not have a problem with leaks, because my motor only has aboty 1800 miles on it since the rebuild. But I suppose I will just stick with frequent oil changes and conventional 10w30, unless someone can convince me otherwise. I was just wondering what the perks were to synthetic (if any).

Red_LX · May 6, 2004

Synthetics are nice because they don't break down at high temps like conventional oil, they work better at low temps, and on a turbocharged car they won't coke up in the turbo bearings if the turbo is really hot.

I'd like to run synthetic in my rebuilt engine once it's all broken in, but I may just stick with a synthetic blend. I don't know if I can afford the $5 a quart synthetic costs

BTW, if you wanna pick up some power, switch to 5W30. Hot Rod ran a test and found the lower weight oil you run, the more power the engine makes. Since you have a fresh engine that should work pretty good for you.

Stinger · May 6, 2004

Red_LX said:
I may just stick with a synthetic blend. I don't know if I can afford the $5 a quart synthetic costs

Well, I got 6-8k miles (filter change at 3-4k) on mine so it's not any more expensive than conventional oil. It's actually only 19 bux for 5 qts at Wal-Mart and like 16 bux at Sam's Club. That's only ~$3/qt.

JamesBaumann · May 6, 2004

Red_LX said:
BTW, if you wanna pick up some power, switch to 5W30. Hot Rod ran a test and found the lower weight oil you run, the more power the engine makes. Since you have a fresh engine that should work pretty good for you.

5W30 is lower weight than 10w30? I was always under the impression that it was the other way around. I guess I was wrong again. Ya learn something new every day. Thanks for the tip though. Are there any disadvantages by using 5w30 than using 10w30? I'm interested in this.

ka0tyk · May 6, 2004

I switched to 5w30 synthetic and my rear main started leaking like crazy... when I switched back to 10w40 it leaked still and now I'm screwed. synthetics always have had a reputation for leaks... and i got

Bearded Forever · May 6, 2004

You shouldn't change to synthetic unless you know your SEALS are going to hold.
Mine are all new so I went with synthetic.

140cilx · May 6, 2004

I run Castrol Syntec in both cars, AMSoil's website (undisputedly the best syn you can get if you could buy it in less than 50 gallon drums) ranks it just under theirs in protection.
I change it and the filter every 3k. I know the synthetic last's longer than conventional oil, but you still have the potential of carbon, metal, & acids that get in the oil to small for the filter to grab. Just my thing, I bet I could go much longer safely.
If I had an old beater (oh yeah I do, my svo), I'd still swap over if I were keeping the car. If you find you develop a leak, just replace the seal. No biggy.

legomaniac32 · May 9, 2004

--5W30 is lower weight than 10w30? I was always under the impression that it was the other way around.--

the 1st number is the cold one. usually only noticable below freezing temps. the 2nd is at operating temp. so both run at 30 weight when the engine is hot. when it is real cold, like winter, the 5w will be more liquidy to flow better to the upper engine faster (less wear). the new ford 5w20 (mostly for the newer engines with smaller clearances etc) is thinner at operating temps again.
the grade of oil you should use mostly depends on where you live, here where we get below freezing in the winter alot, i use 5-30 for cold starts in the winter. and 10-30 in the summer. but i could run 5-30 year round.
if you really want to see the difference, put a small glass of each oil in the freezer for an hour, then pour them out into a container, you will see the 5-30 will pour easier out of the glass then the 10-30. try that with a 20-50 lol it will be worse in the cold.
but at room temp they will pour almost the same (both at 30w)
hope that helped some

4b316 · May 9, 2004

oil

We ran syn. in our 2.3 ranger race truck but did'nt like the way oil pressure dropped in the corner.We know you have a little less pressure due to less visc. but it was making me watch the gauge instead of the track(bad).We also change oil and filter every 2 wks.We run Amsoil in everything esle,10,000 between changes,but we do change filter at 5 just to check the filter.We buy Amsoil in quarts at our local Carquest

JamesBaumann · May 9, 2004

Thanks for the help. I may switch to 5w30 when I do my next oil change. My motor has only 2000 miles on it since the rebuild, so I know my seals would hold, however, I think I will just stick with conventional oil and frequent changes. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

rbohm · May 9, 2004

as to leaks developing when changing to synthetic oil, the leak was already there but teh synthetic is very aggresive at cleaning, and it removes the old clogs. you need to change the seals and gaskets. as to the low oil pressure problem, you just need to run a heavier weight oil, but keep the synthetic as you dont do damage to the bearings like a mineral oil would when that happens. the nice thing about synthetics is the molecule chain is much longer and far more stable than a mineral oil chain. when the molecule chain in a synthetic oil breaks you end up with two shorter pieces. when the molecule chain in a mineral oil breaks, the chain unravels which causes problems of its own. the first time i tried synthetic oil was in my 84 tbird(V6). it did gain performance, but the mileage went from 26 frwy to 36 frwy!! the only vehicle i had that did not gain mileage, it didnt lose it either, was my old F250 diesel, it got 20mpg pretty much all the time.

mcmmotorsports · May 9, 2004

legomaniac32 said:
--5W30 is lower weight than 10w30?

Yes, 5w-30 is lower weight than 10w-30. The lower the number, the lower the viscosity. 10w-30 is lighter weight than 10w-40, 10w-40 is lighter than 20w-50, blah-blah-blah.

As far as Synthetics go, if you attempt to switch to a Synthetic on a vehicle with a lot of miles, you stand a VERY,VERY good chance to spring a leak. If the motor is tight, ie: fresh rebuild or brand new, a change to Syn right after break-in, about 1,200 miles, is probably the greatest thing you could do. Increased fuel mileage, better protection at start up, extreme oil temperature
protection, longer duration between oil changes (even though I change mine every 3,500 anyways) and the list goes on and on and on. I have seen with my own two eyes in person HP inprovements of 6-8 HP on a dyno with nothing more than a switch to Synthetics. FREE HP

Synthetic Oil

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