BTW Marin, are not your engines specified for synthetic - gas and not diesel? .
Correct, Tom. One is the 4-cyl boxer engine in our 2011 Subaru Forester (0-20 wt) and the other is the 5.0 liter V-8 in our 2013 Ford pickup.
BTW Marin, are not your engines specified for synthetic - gas and not diesel? .
Not sure you can blame excessive oil use on the fact that it was dino oil....but in your case it seems like you made a move that made you content and as long as your engine lasts a long time...good for you....especially because you didn't listen to someone who might have told you to "rebuild" right away.Thanks for the discussion everyone. Personally, I never intended this to become argumentative, the post was "are there any synthetic users?' I wanted to compare notes with the ones who do use synthetic. I have no connection with Mobil except to buy their product.
When you look at the advantages of synthetic over dino you see;
Advantages
The technical advantages of synthetic motor oils include:[citation needed]
Measurably better low- and high-temperature viscosity performance at service temperature extremes
Better chemical & shear stability
Decreased evaporative loss
Resistance to oxidation, thermal breakdown, and oil sludge problems
Extended drain intervals with the environmental benefit of less oil waste.
Improved fuel economy in certain engine configurations.
Better lubrication during extreme cold weather starts
Longer engine life
Superior protection against "ash" and other deposit formation in engine hot spots (in particular in turbochargers and superchargers) for less oil burnoff and reduced chances of damaging oil passageway clogging.
Increased horsepower and torque due to less initial drag on engine
Does not contain detergents
I changed because of excessive oil use with dino oil. I have always been a "think outside the box" person. I'm not here to change anyone's mind, I just wrote about my experience and it's from more of a "wow! this stuff really works" point of view than trying to make you do this too.
I hope this clears up my intent. I'll continue to use Delvac 1 and I will continue to report honestly any and all changes with my engines as they happen.
Cheers to all and thanks for listening.
While I was searching for a lab to send an oil analysis to, I found this little tidbit on the FAQ page of Blackstone Labs (some pretty funny stuff in there). It's interesting considering they analyze oil all day long:
What's the best oil to use?
Ah, the million dollar question. We are an independent lab, so we don't make recommendations. It has been our experience that oil is oil, and either petroleum or synthetic-based oil will work well for just about any engine.Come on, you're holding out on me. I should use synthetic, right?
Buddy, you should use whatever you want. Synthetic oil won't guarantee a longer engine life any more than my eating organic food will guarantee I'll live until I'm 90. We here at Blackstone generally use regular petroleum-based oil because honestly, it works just as well for us.
Engines running cooler on syns you say, I always thought on a well tended engine it was the thermostats that controlled temps, silly me.
.................New cars are now going 10,000 miles between oil changes. (I don't buy in to this but many of their operating manuals say it's OK.) Many car manufacturers also recommend synthetic oil.
That's fine and when Volvo comes out with a recommendation for extended oil change intervals with synthetic oil, I'll consider changing.
The new cars use synthetic oil (and often very thin oil) to meet the government regulations for fuel economy.
When did I argue?
... but all the literature failed to mention that it didn't protect against corrosion like the dino either. I might have been OK had I fogged the engine in the spring with dino 2 stroke, but who knew. The second season was plagued by poor mileage and performance. I pulled the head to investigate why the compression was down, and the cylinder walls made the cause obvious.
Late to the party but have been hunting, four wheeling and camping for almost 30 years with 4 gentleman whom truly are master mechanics(2 automotive, 1 diesel, and 1 custom vehicle fabricator). I've sat around the campfire and listened to the debates back and forth over the issue of vehicle lubrication more times than I can count. The takeaway from all this is best summed up in Tom's post #35.
The biggest PITA they related where customers coming in waxing eloquent over the virtues of Slick 50 or any one of the other snake oil remedies. Tough to convince a customer that just paid upwards of $20 a quart that they'd be better off without it. Lack of maintenance kills engines not off the shelf dino oil.
The new cars use synthetic oil (and often very thin oil) to meet the government regulations for fuel economy.
Look at Roger Penske. He raced indy cars and had Pennzoil as a sponsor. When Mobil 1 started being used by other teams, he lost constantly to a car that had Mobil 1 in it's engine. He could not use it and had to stick with Pennzoil. He finally quit and told Pennzoil to shove it. I worked at a dealership Penske bought, Roger Penske, Jr.
Pennzoil, I was told, made the change to synthetic because of Roger.
Factory Orig:
1967 Buick-Wildcat engine, domed heads, 430 cid, 360 hp, 10.5-1 CR, 121,211K miles as of today! – She put out 155 to 160 per cylinder during recent compression test. Engine base never opened or messed with.
At 75K miles (was single previously): Dual 2” exhaust w/ V-crossover equalizer pipe and Flowmaster Super 44 series mufflers (nice power sound!)
At 106K miles: Head Job, new valves, and timing gear/chain. Lifters and pushrods were in perfect condition... and, are still running perfectly strong today!
Oil Used (2.5 to 3K mile changes): Valvoline 15w-40 Premium Blue Diesel Motor Oil (dino, not syn) w/ 4 oz ZDDP zinc additive for greatly increased barrier protection on all internal parts
Reason I mention: That is same oil and additive I use in my 1985 1 Ton 4WD Chevy Silverado classic truck high performance 350/325 hp engine and the classic twin screw Tollycraft’s 350/255 hp engines.
Works very well for me regarding keeping all my flat tappets, cam lobes, bearings, and cylinder walls in excellent condition...
That’s been my experience for many years... Just Sayen!
I thought thinner oil was required because of the closer tolerances in modern engines due to advanced manufacturing techniques. Could still be fuel economy related I guess. Or more HP. Or the same HP from less fuel, or ... whatever. But what do I know?
Valvoline is made from Ash base crude, look at the can, Ashland Texas. That is the best base for lubricating oil. Look at paraffin base oils like Pennzoil. Those oils are not as good, don't want to start a war but ash base is best.
I can see that anyone using Valvoline and adhering to a strict oil change interval will have outstanding results. That and letting the engine warm a bit before driving off.
Art, that is the best advice ever.
You have nice autos.
If anyone here can start their engine and get all their lines off and underway before there's oil in all parts of their engine I'd be amazed. Idling out of the marina is better for it than just sitting there letting it warm up.