Not a MC question about oil....

[Condor]

So I'm looking to go synthetic in my 2006 Titan with 73,000 miles on the odo. I'm going with Mobile One, but they make 3 different types. One's extended performance up to 15K between changes, and one's made for cars with over 75,000 on them with a few more trick additives tossed in for the seals etc., and the 3rd is a synthetic for newer cars. So which one do I need to pick up from Walmart tomorrow, considering the Titan is getting close to that 75K mark??? They're all the same price. Whatcha think...??

[blue mtn. jim]

Hey Condor, I have used synthetic oil in everything I own. I always used Mobil One because they where into it way before anybody else jumped on the wagon. All air cooled V twin bikes suffer from heat and brake down of the oil, and the rear cylinda gets the heat from the front one also so it needs all the help it can get. I used that as a example, for my studies I found out that it takes at least 400 degreeses before getting hot, where fossil oil boils at 212 or so. Synthetic oil never really breaks down, it just gets dirty from carbon. I think you would be more then safe if your engine needs 10w 30w, but use synthetic instead. My 2007 Camry used 0w 30w, what in the heck is 0w ? Take care Jim

[spike13]

as long as they are full synthetic shouldn't really matter all will be great for your motor do however watch the first couple changes for early filth synthetic does a great job cleaning the inside of your motor

[Peder_y2k]

A true synthetic also will find any miniscule leak point and leave the engine. Start with the basic, then if leaks develop, change to the stuff with the additives for old worn engines like yours.

 

 

FWIW, true sythetics will break down from high heat and revert to a highly corrosive acid that eats iron and aluminum fast. Not very likely that your engine could produce those temps such as 1200 dgrees F. Higest temp a car/truck engine can generate in cranckcase is about 400*F, so you're safe. Just don't use it in jet engines like you Lear Jet has.

 

 

The first widely available true synthetc is AMSOIL, and they have a great product line including auto tranny fluid and gear oils that Mobil 1 does not have.

 

 

I still use dino oil....Shell Rotella T in my mc's and Mobil 1 in my newer car engines.

 

 

There are also a host of phony synthetics out there, Castrol for one. These are simply highly refined dino oil.

 

-Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

[RandyR]

I use Mobil 1 regular synthetic in my Mercury Marquis. It now has 80,000 miles and I went with the 75,000+ mile oil on the last the oil change.

 

I suspect at 73,000 miles its a flip of the coin. I waited until the first change over 75k before I used the 75k+ oil. I didn't use the extended mileage oil.

[djh3]

My wifes Durango is an 02 and I have pretty much ran it on Roshfrans. Early on when I first got it it had like 40K on it I used Quakerstate Syn. I was working at a race shop and we got it free. Thats how I came upon this Roshfrans stuff. A shop where a friend was working was clearing out the wharehouse and had like 15 cases of it. So the truck now has 130K+ on it and is fine. Not so much as a valve cover leak.

I dont know about the 15K between oil changes. I would probably still be changing a filter at 5K. If the "extra addatives" make you feel warm and fuzzy go with it. I would certainly think any of the oils you mentioned will be fine. Yea and I dont understand the 0w20 oil either. Something to do with the epa and friction, gas mpg and all that jazz.

[skydoc_17]

Most of the damage that takes place in your engine happens when you "cold start" your

motor. To combat this wear, oil manufacturers combine oils with different viscosities. (rates of flow) So, a 10W/30 oil flows like a 10 weight when you start up your engine in the morning, and flows like a 30 weight when the engine is at operating temperature.

This means that a 0W/30 oil flows like water at start up, (With water being the baseline, (0) and flows like 30 weight at operating temps.

Earl

[GeorgeS]

I use Mob 1 in everything. for the last 10 years. Get it at Costco, when they have the $10 OFF sales per case.

Usually about every 3 months, wife grabs one, when its on sale, so I always have a case of it on the shelf.

[RandyR]

If you go for the extended mileage oil, be sure to get one of the high mileage triple protection filters also.

 

If I was driving 50,000 miles a year like I did at one time, thats what I'd do. But I'm currently only putting 8-9k miles a year on my car and the 15k oil would only need to be changed every 2 years based on mileage alone. I'm not sure 2 year oil changes would be a good idea.

 

Some of the long-haul truckers may want to chime in, but I believe many of them are using high-mileage oil and VERY large high quality filters to go much further between oil changes than the average automobile would. Truck Fleets keep good maintenance records and wouldn't do that if it wasn't cost effective.

[greg_in_london]

There seems to be some misunderstanding about multigrade oils here. Oils are graded by viscosity.

 

0 - grade oil is a thinner oil than 20 - grade, which is in turn thinner than 40 - grade.

 

All oils get thinner as they get warmer and thicker as they get holder.

 

Multigrade oils thin less as they get hotter (and thicken less as they get colder, if you prefer it that way around. The W is used in the description to reflect early marketing that it was a 'winter' oil, but it makes the designation easier to read, so it has stuck.

 

20W-40 is as thin as a 20 - grade oil when cold, but has only thinned as much as a 40 grade oil when hot.

10W-40 is likewise as thin as a 10 grade oil when cold and also no thinner than a 40 grade oil when hot.

0W-40, 10W-40, 20W-40 and straight 40 weight oil are therefore all the same thickness when hot.

0W does not mean that the oil has no viscosity - it is still relatively thick when cold and, like blood, is certainly thicker than water. If people want numbers for this I'm sure I can find some, but as the units are centistokes, the numbers are pretty meaningless to most of us.

 

I've never noticed any tendency for synthetic oils to leak more than mineral ones and can see no reason why that should be the case. I'm afraid I'd write that off as a myth too unless anyone has any hard and fast evidence to back it up. (Synthetic oils are produced from gloopy long chain mineral oils using a 'hydro-crack process' which shortens them to give chains of predictable length and greater consistency, but not Houdini-like qualities.)