going from regular to synthetic

Its not rocket science people, you can go from conventional to synthetic to conventional etc without any need to flush your engine or any worry about damaging your engine.

You can mix them up all your want,heck oil companies sell mixed blends.
 
Absolutely NOTHING woll give you more raw HP and torque than a good set of racing stripes.
pfive said:
will this oil give me more horsepower then a set of racing stripes?
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Bottom line, just do the switch, you and your car will be happy. It is OK to mix, read the label on any synthetic, it will tell you so, but make the switch to full synthetic and be happy.
 
I would NOT switch if you had 137000 miles on the car...

53000 is close to the limit imo, be wary of oil leaks, synthic leaks more easily (gets through places that regular doesn't and if you switch at higher mileage you might start springing oil leaks that would not have happend if you had stuck with regular.)

I switched at about 2000, broke car in with regular oil

i don't know why you would say that you can't mix the two, infact there are some oils that come pre-blended 1/2 and 1/2 reg and syn.

also, that greddy oil is a buncha bulls***, hey kids, lets put 100 octane in our cars, it gives us more horsepower because as far as octane is concerned bigger is better right? I mean it is race gas, race cars are fast!
 
just wondering cause i dont know much about it, wut are the advantages of having synthetic oil over normal?
 
i second that? aside from a larger hole in my pocket, what are the benefits of synthetic?
 
Mmmmmken said:
Nothing... it does'nt.
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I know, I was asking that in reference to the poster above me (prix, I just didnt quote it). I was trying to get his logic on why it would
prix said:
be wary of oil leaks, synthic leaks more easily (gets through places that regular doesn't and if you switch at higher mileage you might start springing oil leaks that would not have happend if you had stuck with regular.)
Click to expand...

pfive said:
i second that? aside from a larger hole in my pocket, what are the benefits of synthetic?
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Think of the lighter pocket as weight reduction!! Seriously though...

www.answers.com said:
Advantages
The industry recognizes the following benefits for synthetic oils:

Improved viscosity at low temperatures. Mineral oils tend to include wax impurities which coagulate at lower temperatures.

A typical 10W-30 oil remains liquid at -50 C (-58 F)

Better high temperature performance. Synthetic oils have few low molecular weight hydrocarbons which evaporate at high temperatures.

Higher purity

Decreased oil consumption

Reduced friction and engine wear

Improved fuel consumption through better engine lubrication

Longer intervals between oil changes

Resistance to oil sludge problems

Crude oil doesn't have to be used for the production of the lubricants
Some synthetic producers offer extended drain intervals
Click to expand...
 
BradC said:
I know, I was asking that in reference to the poster above me (prix, I just didnt quote it). I was trying to get his logic on why it would


Think of the lighter pocket as weight reduction!! Seriously though...
Click to expand...

From what I have heard (two things)

1. There are degerents in the oil that break down some of the buildup on older engines, some places this buildup acctually prevents leaks

2. Synthetic molecules are slighly smaller, so when an engine has been wearing on reg oil with slighly larger molecules, when you switch it to synthetic the new oil wears differently then the old and if there were any microscopic leaks that were not happening due to the slightly larger reg oil, they will start leaking with the syn.

Both of these things have been told to me by my auto-shop teacher, they aren't just something I made up.
 
prix said:
From what I have heard (two things)

1. There are degerents in the oil that break down some of the buildup on older engines, some places this buildup acctually prevents leaks

2. Synthetic molecules are slighly smaller, so when an engine has been wearing on reg oil with slighly larger molecules, when you switch it to synthetic the new oil wears differently then the old and if there were any microscopic leaks that were not happening due to the slightly larger reg oil, they will start leaking with the syn.

Both of these things have been told to me by my auto-shop teacher, they aren't just something I made up.
Click to expand...
I can see that, but 5w30 synthetic has the same viscosity as 5w30 conventional. How can something of the same thickness, be thinner?
 
The viscosity might be different when the two are heated up. The synthetic probably becomes more viscous?
 
.paul said:
The viscosity might be different when the two are heated up. The synthetic probably becomes more viscous?
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Can't be though, thats what the 30 in 5w30 is. The fist number is its viscosity when at a low temp (0 degrees F) and the second is at a high temp (210 degrees F).
 
The viscosity remains the same, but the molecules are smaller (there are just more of them and they cling together better maybe)
 
BradC said:
Can't be though, thats what the 30 in 5w30 is. The fist number is its viscosity when at a low temp (0 degrees F) and the second is at a high temp (210 degrees F).
Click to expand...

This is right, 5w30 is 5w30, syn or reg, doesn't make a difference as far as viscosity goes, the only thing that should change the viscosity is changing the weight ie 5w30 -> 5w40
 
The only real downside to synthetic oils is the cost. It is typically two or three times the cost of conventional oil for a good synthetic. Another little-known downside is that switching to a synthetic oil on an old engine can result in oil leaks. Why? Because the detergents in the synthetic oils will "clean-up" the varnish and sludge left by conventional oils. If your engine seals are worn, the synthetic will break down the oil varnish that may be maintaining the seal. So it's not that the synthetic oil caused a leak, it just that it revealed worn seals by cleaning the varnish off of them. Many people have switched to synthetic on 100,000+ mile engines with no leaks, so it just depends on how often you changed your oil and the overall condition of your engine.
Click to expand...

Further illustrates my point about the degergent effect of synthetics. The smaller molecules may not be as accurate as my auto teacher would like people to believe but I think a combonation of the two could lead to leaks.

In the case of the OP, I wouldn't really recommend switching to synthetic unless you really understand why you are doing it. In this case, that does not seem to be. You arn't really going to gain anything from it and stand to have your engine start leaking (with its unknown maintianance history.)


Taken from http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil.html
 
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