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For the longest time, we are told that synthetic is the best oil to use but now I am reading that synthetic can lead to more oil leaks. What are we to believe now?
For the longest time, we are told that synthetic is the best oil to use but now I am reading that synthetic can lead to more oil leaks. What are we to believe now?
I've only used synthetic oil (Mobil 1) for over thirty years, for an assortment of cars. Never had an oil leak, never had a car that "burned" oil. Never let my oil changes go over 12 months, regardless of mileage.
For the longest time, we are told that synthetic is the best oil to use but now I am reading that synthetic can lead to more oil leaks. What are we to believe now?
Leak prone cars can leak with synthetic just like they leak with conventional oil. I have switched to syn after 50 or even 100 k and not experienced leaks.
Yep, my car specifies Mobil 1 as the oil to be used, and I've had no problems with it ever.
If your car specifies synthetic, then obviously there's no option. I am talking about cars that does not specifically asks for synthetic. Will using synthetic make it more prone to leaks?
If your car specifies synthetic, then obviously there's no option. I am talking about cars that does not specifically asks for synthetic. Will using synthetic make it more prone to leaks?
I wouldn't think so. The only way that this would occur is if there were something in the oil that led to premature deterioration of seals. As far as I know, this is not the case.
Meh I’ve used regular oil on one of my trucks exclusively. Almost 400,000 miles on the original engine. 10-30 ValVoline for the first 200,000 then switched to Walmart Supertech for the last 200,000. Changed at 3000 miles for the first 50,000 then every 5000 miles after as the oil was never that dirty.
Never a drop of synthetic.
My diesels take regular dyno 15-40 at 5k
All my other cars I started using synthetic but went back to conventional as I do the oil change every 5k. None burn oil at all. My wife’s car is touching 190,000 miles and doesn’t burn a drop.
Even if you use synthetic most car owners will NEVER keep the car long enough to benefit from the supposed engine life/longevity benefit of synthetic oil changes.
Simply changing your oil at the required intervals with the correct weight and rating will do more for yiur engine longevity than simply using synthetic and having long intervals.
The main benefit of synthetic oil is that it allows for longer oil change intervals. There are plenty of auto brands that come with synthetic from the factory and that is all they offer at the dealership. I've been driving VW's for 15 years and they require synthetic with the difference being that my '05 has a 5K interval and my '15 has a 10K interval.
My '11 Explorer specifies semi-synthetic with a 10K interval. I've always gone with full synthetic with that interval without any leaks.
Now we had a '00 Odyssey that got oil changes every 3750 miles with dino oil. At 120K, I changed to synthetic and started to find oil leaks. A little research led to my discovering that synthetic oil is able to get past seals and gaskets that conventional oil can't. Basically, synthetic doesn't cause leaks but it reveals leaks that dino oil is able to plug. Changing to synthetic on an older engine is fine as long as you are are willing to chase down and repair leaks that have been there for some time but become apparent with the change to synthetic.
I've switched over to synthetic on high mileage vehicles and never had a problem with leaks.
Synthetic is clearly better in very cold climates or engines that stress the oil (turbocharged, for example). In the grand scheme of automotive operating costs, the additional price of top notch synthetic oil and a premium oil filter is pocket change.
If you're driving a low performance, normally aspirated vehicle in a moderate climatic, conventional oil is fine. I still think the extra penny (or less) per mile is worth going synthetic.
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