how is synthetic "thinner" than any other oil? say comparing a 5w30 conventional and 5w30 sythetic? theres a reason they are both 5w30. if you think your car is going to leak because you go from a conventional to a synthetic... well... im sorry but youre retardedif you havent ever run a synthetic in your car, and im sure your fairly high in miles...use a semi-synthetic first. this will get the seals used to a thinner oil and when you use that a couple times then go to full synthetic. thats how i am doing it with my car to ensure im not getting any leaks. im a synthetic junkie tho...
One central argument between car enthusiasts and on Internet car forums alike is what oil is better for your car, synthetic or conventional. Before synthetic oils became available for regular automobiles, the argument centered solely on brand types and weight. But now, with the advent of these synthetics all over the market, what is truly the best choice for your engine? Let’s explore both of these worlds to find out.
Conventional oil is rated according to a SAE system. This scale is used so that you know what type of oil is best for your car given the environmental conditions (temperature, city driving, etc.) of where you live. The first number, for example on 10W30 motor oil, is 10 followed by a “W". This “W" indicates that the number before it is the viscosity rating of the oil. The lower this number, the better the oil is for colder climates. The higher the number, the better it is for hotter driving conditions.
Synthetic oils, on the other hand (before their commercial release) were used in many military vehicles and fighter jets. Airlines also use synthetics in their engines. The synthetic oil has been designed not to break down as quickly and can tolerate extremities in temperature and weather (hot to cold).
One of the major differences between conventional and synthetic oils is that synthetics are treated with more additives that protect your engine for a longer amount of time before you have to change it. And, while we don’t want to get into all the molecular chemistry involved in the making of these oils, we should mention that they also last longer in hotter conditions and won’t “gel" in colder ones, like conventional oil. In other words, synthetics have more additives, which greatly protect the car from viscosity breakdown. They are designed to withstand temperature extremes. It may be safe to say that extreme driving conditions call for the use of synthetics.
On the financial side of the matter, synthetics cost a whole lot more up to three or four times as much as regular conventional oil. But, the wonderful thing is that you don’t have to change your oil every 3,000 miles recommended with conventional oil use. In fact, you may not have to change it until well after 25,000 and up to 50,000 miles as long as the oil filter is changed every 10,000 miles. So, the cost at first might scare consumers away, but the long-term benefits of synthetic oil use are substantial.
However, you will still have to be responsible for your car’s maintenance check-up every 3,000 miles or so. With regular oil-changes, you are automatically checking over the car for other problems (or if you don’t an inspection mechanic does). It might help you find a problem that could be dealt with, that could’ve gone unchecked. Also, you’ll want to check the synthetic oil every now and then to be sure that it isn’t contaminated and/or that there isn’t any moisture build-up.
With normal everyday driving, perhaps conventional oils work best for you. You aren’t driving in extreme conditions and you swear allegiance to regular oil. That may be fine. Synthetic oil cannot really offer you anything that conventional oil cannot under normal operating conditions. However, the definition of extreme driving states that if you do a lot of short driving (two to twenty miles) daily, it’s hard on your car. And, specialists agree that this constitutes extreme driving due to the faster breakdown of the structure of conventional oil.
Another major reason that many are choosing the synthetic route is that it contains fewer impurities impurities that can cause your engine harm, perhaps to the point of premature engine wear. With conventional oil, there’s no way to totally rid, filter or clean the impurities from the natural elements. That’s another reason why synthetic oils do not have to be changed as much even in extreme driving conditions.
You’ll want to be careful however, if you do decide that you want to give synthetic oils a try. If you’ve been driving your 1983 Ford Thunderbird for years using 10W30, you may not want to switch using your conventional oil brand.
Conventional oils have solvents that stick to gaskets and seals and often cause them to swell a certain way. These gaskets and seals have been used to the same oil for years and the switch to any other type of oil (whether it is to a different conventional oil brand, or an upgrade to a synthetic) may be harmful. The oil you change (or upgrade to) will also have solvents and additives, different from the original. So in other terms, the changing of oils could result in oil leaks and/or a once small oil leak becoming bigger due to the reaction the seals and gaskets will have to the change (not because of the oil itself). If you think that this might be the case for you (i.e. if you have an older car using conventional oil), it’s recommended that you not try synthetic oil until you have an engine (or new car) with relatively virgin gaskets and seals that will be able to acclimate much more easily to the chemical changes of the newer type of oil.
It’s easy to see that that fanfare for one or the other is an argument that has really been explored. It’s best for you to decide what will fit your personal needs. If you have an older car, you may want to wait until you upgrade. However, if you have a newer car, the benefits of synthetic oils are easily seen. Again, it’s solely dependent upon you and the conditions where you drive. Synthetics are shown to provide their best protection above 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Most people do not drive their cars this hot. However, many do drive in cities, where driving times are considered to be more of a “stop-and-go" nature, which may be considered “extreme" in many circumstances. When the time comes for you to make a decision, at least you’ll be informed of the differences of each. And, until that time, no matter what, keep up that automotive pride!
Michael Walker is a freelance author providing tips and hints on engine related topics such as JDM motors, used import engines and engine swaps. His articles are a valuable source of information for the auto enthusiast.
Source: searchwarp.com
Synthetic Oil Explained
Whether it's evil stuff or good stuff depends on who you talk to. And a lot of what you hear from backyard mechanics is rumor and myth. Myth # 1 is the claim that you don't have to change Synthetic oil as often as regular motor oil. Remember when Mobil 1 said you could go 25,000 miles between oil changes with synthetic oil? Notice they haven't said that for a good number of years? Keep that thought on the back burner for now... Myth #2 is that synthetic oil causes oil leaks. In this article I'm going to try to dispell these myths for you with the cold hard facts about the differences and similarities between dino vs. synthetic oil.
Let's talk first about what "dino" oil is (Dino is short for Dinosaur, which is when it started forming). Dino oil is created from something called "Base Stock". Base stock what the oil companies get after they have processed the crude oil that comes from the ground. From there, additives are combined with the Base Stock, to create our motor oil. There are 7 main additives which include anti-foaming agents, anti-corrosion, etc, etc. At the molecular level, dino oil contains molecules of varying sizes. Imagine the floor of a gymnasium covered with basketballs, baseballs, volleyballs, and beach balls. Now imagine that all those different size "balls" are moving around, flowing past the floor. Every time a ball surface contacts the floor surface, the ball absorbs heat from the floor. That is how oil removes heat from your engine components, from surface to surface contact.
Now imagine the same gymnasium floor covered in uniformly sized golf balls. Smaller, more uniform molecules can absorb more heat from a surface, because there are more of them AND they have a larger surface to volume ratio which means they have more surface area contact. That's what synthetic oil is. A man-made "Base Stock", where all the molecules are the same size, and smaller than those in dino oil. Better heat transfer, better lubricating properties, and a lot wider temperature range without breakdown, are now obtained.
Myth #1 debunked
Oil does not break down under normal use. This is true of both dino and synth oil and is also the reason why you take oil to the Recycling Center and not the trash dump. So if oil itself doesn't ever degrade, why do we have to change it? The answer is twofold: additives and contamination. It will probably surprise you to learn that synthetic oil has all the same additives that dino oil has! The additives in oil DO break down, which is part of what necessitates oil changes. The other reason for regular oil changes is that with use, motor oil becomes contaminated (dirt, water, acids, etc). Using synthetic oil does not protect against either of these problems, which is why you CANNOT go further between oil changes when running a synthetic. You should still change your synthetic oil at the same intervals as you do with dino oil. Anyone want to guess how many claims Mobil 1 had to pay to people that were going 25,000 miles between changes?
Myth #2 debunked
Synthetic oil causing oil leaks is another commonly spread myth. The truth of the matter is that if all your engine seals and gaskets are in good condition, synthetic oil will NOT leak in your engine. The myth started because on occasion, an engine will leak with synthetic oil, but not dino oil. The reason for this is that the smaller molecules of the synthetic are able to get past very small crevices, where the larger molecules of dino oil cannot. But this does not mean that the synthetic oil has caused the leak, it simply has "discovered" an infant leak, and regardless of what oil you are running, this infant leak will eventually grow to a size that will allow dino oil to occupy and pass also. Synthetic oil has not been shown to deteriorate engine seals or gaskets. It is not some evil solvent that will break down sealant, or anything like that. Like was said earlier, it is just a man-made base stock, that is uniform and smaller in molecule size than dino oil. Nothing more, nothing less.
ADVANTAGES OF RUNNING SYNTHETIC OIL in AIRCOOLED ENGINES
So if you are asking yourself "What's the point of running synthetic oil, if you can't change it less often?" Here's your answer in a nutshell.
Since synthetic oil has better heat transfer qualities than dino oil, your internal engine temperatures will be lower. Things like bearings, especially, will not operate at as high of a temperature as a result. The wider range of temperatures that synthetic oil can withstand is well suited for the air-cooled VW engine. With head temperatures normally between 300-350 degrees, synthetic will not breakdown while lubricating the valvetrain components at the heads. The better lubricating properties of synthetic in general will lead to a longer engine life as well. On average, when synthetic oil is run in an air-cooled VW engine, head temperatures stay the same, but engine oil temps reduce by anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees. This is in engines that have all the correct cooling tin in place, and are not suffering from overheating to begin with. Important note: Do not run synthetic to fix a hot running engine. Find the real reason it's running hot, and fix it!
Another benefit is that since synthetic oil is man-made, it can be tailored to suit a wider range of needs. Synthetic oil is now being made is such weights as 5w50, and 0w30, weights that are not possible to achieve with dino oils.
At Aircooled.Net we recommend that you run synthetic oils in all cases, with one exception: you should continue to run dino oil (and change it every 1k miles) if your car still has the stock oiling system.
In transmissions we can not praise synthetics enough; RUN IT, especially if you live somewhere that gets cold (under 30F/0C).
There is one thing I need to clarify though -- if you are not running an oil filter, there really is no point to using synthetic since your oil is going to become contaminated very quickly. Your engine will still benefit somewhat from it, but due to the higher cost of synthetic oil, the gain of running it before it becomes contaminated is negligible. Oil change intervals range from 1000-3000 miles in the VW engine with a strainer (not a filter). VWoM (Mexico) recommends 1k mile intervals on non-filtered engines; keep this in mind for your pride and joy! But on the flip side, the stock VW engine only takes 2.5 qts anyways, it's not going to break you if you do want to run synthetic!
Source: Eric Allred, Aircooled.Net Guest Writer
It's not the "thinner myth" that can cause leaks. Conventional oil creates a layer of buildup inside the engine. Synthetic cleans that out. On older engines that build up can help seal old gaskets and seals. Running synthetic through can clean that out and cause it to leakhow is synthetic "thinner" than any other oil? say comparing a 5w30 conventional and 5w30 sythetic? theres a reason they are both 5w30. if you think your car is going to leak because you go from a conventional to a synthetic... well... im sorry but youre retarded
I can vouch for the Engine Retore too. I used it once and am planning to use it again the next time I change my oil. I did a compression test about two weeks ago and my motor is running strong at 216K miles.Im at 128.xxx miles and ive always used mobil 1 untill i started working at pepboys and now i run royal purple and never had a problem with it as far as leaks or anything. Also i dont think having a vtec motor matters either some people say that vtec burns ouil like crazy but i always check my oil and its at the exact same place from when i first did the oil change. I would also recommend dumping in a can of engine restore the 4cyl formula of course i personally think it works and i did a compression test before i used it and im going to do another one to see if it does restore compression.