When/If to go synthetic?

[Y-TRY]

Since I'm all about asking general advice today, and trying to get discussions going that many can learn from......



What's the deal with synthetic oil? Good, bad, ugly indifferent?

How long should you run your engine on conventional before switching?

What about with turbos or superchargers? I'd think, with the extreme heat seen on these types of engines, good lubing without losing viscousity would be good. But I've never heard a turbo manufacturer recomment synthetic oil.

And what about those 'super-lubricants' like DuraLube and such? Didn't one of them get sued for false representation?

Me, I've never ran synthetic in my engines. I know not to break-in an engine on the stuff, but have never felt comfortable enough with synthetic to risk anything by switching over.

[SStrokerAce]

You can break in a motor on synthetic if it's a roller cammed motor. If you are doing a flat tappet motor you should ad some GM EOS additive and run dino oil for the break in.

Personally I run dino oil thru the motor on the warm up and break in cycles and then drain it and go to a new filter. Doing this twice is a good idea as it helps get the ARP assembly lube out of the oil the first few times. Then I step right up to synthetic, Mobil 1 being a good ole standby for me.

This goes for NA, Supercharged and Turbo motors. The boosted applications benefit a lot from the synthetic oils the most due to the higher heat they see.

A good synthetic can go 7000-8000 miles before changes in street motors that are run really hard. I've tried the German Castrol that everyone raves about in my LS1 and have run Mobil 1 in everything i've ever had and i really preffer the M1. Once you tear down a motor that's run hard for a long period of time the benefits of synthetic lubricant can be seen clear as day. It's probably the cheapest insurance you can get for a motor, especially one that you have spent thousands of dollars on.

Bret

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Bret,

What do you think of Mobil 1 Extended Performance? I switched from regular Mobil 1 to the EP on my last oil change, because I figured the extra additives and cleaning agents would only be helping things. I won't run it anywhere near the 15k mile mark, as I change my oil every 4 months or so, regardless of mileage (usually only in the 1500-2000k mark). I realize this is premature changes, but I'm very anal when it comes to my cars. I also use K&N long oil filters.

Y-TRY,

I don't know any specifics, but pretty much everyone I know runs Synthetic in their performance cars, regardless of N/A or boosted. The only problems I've heard of is higher mileage cars that have been running dino, sometimes will develop leaks when switching to a synthetic because it's thinner, and works it's way through some of the sludge buildups from the dinos.

[SStrokerAce]

Bret,

What do you think of Mobil 1 Extended Performance? I switched from regular Mobil 1 to the EP on my last oil change, because I figured the extra additives and cleaning agents would only be helping things. I won't run it anywhere near the 15k mile mark, as I change my oil every 4 months or so, regardless of mileage (usually only in the 1500-2000k mark). I realize this is premature changes, but I'm very anal when it comes to my cars. I also use K&N long oil filters.

I just dropped it in my LS1 a week or two ago. Doesn't look like it's going to hurt anything since I'm already going 8,000miles between changes and I'll probably keep it at that length.

I either use AC Delco filters (usually for break in, but they are fine on a daily driver as well) or K&N or M1 filters. I too like the long K&N's on SBC/LT1's where I can fit them in. The more filter area the better.

My father and I have probably been running M1 for 20 years or more now and the only motor that had a issue was a motor I ran for 4 years and it finally broke a rod bolt which was no fault of the oil, but that motor looked spectacular inside the motor, showing very little wear for the 84,000 miles on it. I also make sure to drop it in his cars because unless I get under the cars and change the oil, it's not getting changed! You would figure more from a automotive engineer who drives a C5 everyday. Maybe because I'm the engine builder I have a little more simpathy for the motors.

Bret

[LowBuckX]

And what about those 'super-lubricants' like DuraLube and such? Didn't one of them get sued for false representation?

The only one I can vouch for is DuraLube. All be it an extream test bed it worked very well.

A Top Fuel team calls my area home and a few of my friends have worked for them. At one point duralube was a minor sponcer for many teams.
Anyway Before duralube after 1 pass the bearing shells where black burnt scuffed garbage.
After Duralube the shells looked new after 1 pass but still where changed before next pass... take that for what its worth

[RaceMan]

M-1 is the best you can get , We run it in everything we've had without a problem , I have been told by some very good engine builders to break a engine in on something else. we've talked to some of the engineers at Mobil and they have told me some big time racers that are sponsored by other oil companies put m-1 in there bottles so they don't get in trouble and for Ralphs comment it does leak more than others atleast from what i've seen

[myclone]

M1 for anything that sees boost or is flogged at the track. Castrol GTX for the drivers/beater vehicles.

[shep]

The only additive I have any experiance with is ER. We ran it in a go kart making 16hp using a 5hp block. After hot laps they drained the oil and forgot to put it back in before the next race. They had ran 1oz of ER to 13oz of oil. With no oil in the motor it ran 13 laps and then stuck the piston. After taking it back to the pits the motor was free so they restarted it and ran in up and down the pits still with no oil. They couldn't see anything wrong until they shut it off and went to drain the oil. After tearing the motor apart the only problem was the piston was scuffed, all the bearings and the crank were fine.