I run synthetic because I wanted to run an HDEO. I've only read of 10W-30 conventional HDEO's, but have never seen them. So, wanting the zinc and phosphorous that HDEO's like Rotella offer, but not wanting the '15W' of the 15W-40, I went with 5W-40 Rotella-T Synthetic. Wow, I thought Castrol GTX was cleaning my engine good... this stuff gets black in 600 miles. A few short OCI's with this and I'll run it 6k+ with no worries.
__________________ 1986 F-150 5.0 EFI XLT Lariat 4x4 NP435/NP208/9" 3.50
"Custom Exhaust" and leaf spring overloads
31x10.50 15" Nothing special, but it's a damn good truck.
In my experience after proper break in switching to synthetic hasn't caused leaks. But it has on engines with 50k or more them. One was a 94 Grand Cherokee. Ran real slick but used to much oil between changes and developed leaks. 86 6.9 diesel F250. Same issues. 99 Honda at maybe 7.5k no issues. 05 F250 6.0 diesel at about 12k no issues. The exception is my 97 7.3 diesel. Went to synthetic when I bought it with 73k on it. Uses no oil to speak of and have had no leaks other than what was leaking at the time. Nothing that can't be easily fixed. O-rings and such. Extended oil changes I believe for these smaller engines shouldn't be recommended. I have never done so and never will. But that's a personal choice. If your going to extended intervals do yourself a favor and get a test kit or two and have a lab check them at normal intervals. Just for peace of mind. My 2 cents.
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Pete in San Ramon
2005 F250 6.0 Lariat 4x4 CC Short bed (stock)
1997 F250 7.3 XLT 4X4 Reg. cab (stock)
1986 F250 6.9 XLT Gone but not forgotten
I tried synthetic Havoline in my 94 Taurus 3.8L at about 75K miles & 99 Ranger 4.0L with about 50K miles without any problems.
On the Ranger I got 1.8-2.2 better all highwy mpg, (24.7) to the same destination, using the same gas, from the same staton & pump, on several runs over a two year period, so I'm confident of the highway mpg claim, BUT never could measure better city/urban mpg using the synthetic!!!!
So I'm back to using regular Havoline in the specified weight in both vehicles.
Recently made the same all highwy road trip in the 94 Taurus, with the specified 5W-30 dino Havoline deposit shield recipe in it & turned 30.3 mpg & the Taurus now has > 105K on it.
It's EPA highway mpg was rated at 28mpg!!!!
Never made the run while I had the Havoline synthetic in it, so I don't have an all highway mpg comparison for it, between using dino & synthetic, but even with 105K on it & using BP E10 & dino Havoline crankcase lube, it turned 2 mpg better highway than it is rated for!!!!
Anyway, most of my driving is city/urban & seeing as how I never could measure a mpg difference on either vehicle while using synthetic, I'm back to using the dino Havoline in the specified weight, changed every 6 months regardless of mileage, which is usually in the 3-4K mile range & always Motorcraft filters.
SO, in my case, if most of my driving was highway I'd choose synthetic, but since most of my driving is city/urban & I can't measure any increase in mpg in that scenario, I choose to use dino Havoline!!!!
Everyones equiptment, driving styles, weather conditions, ect are likely to be different, so no one formula of lube or OCI is likely to fit.
As has been said, if we choose extended OCI's, it's best to have UOA's done to establish a safe run & be sure to use an ol filter designed for extended drain intervials & if anything changes, do another set of UOA's.
The reason I don't choose to do UOA's is that for less money I can just change the oil & filter on time as scheduled myself & know for sure that things are ok!!!!!
Some thoughts for pondering.
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99 Ranger 4dr 4x2 4.0L 5spd auto 3.55L/S Payload pkg2 tow pkg
Details are trifles but trifles make perfection & perfection is no trifle
(Ben Franklin)
Our signature is a sign of a job completed autograph your work with excellence
I have used syn in almost every engine I own from RC to my 460, chainsaws etc since 1980.
I keep good records on all my vehicles. All my vehicles came with dino oil in the pan. And after enough time to get to the "next oil change" I changed to syn. In all cases I never noticed a significant increase in mileage. By this I mean anything that is more than the usual "noise" level of changes in traffic, weather, driving style etc. There probably is some increase, all the lab tests in magazines say so, but it is usually pretty small and hard to pin down outside of the "noise".
My mileage on all my log books, of all my cars since 1980, show a "noise" difference of between 2mpg(truck) and 10mpg(some of my cars) depending on how I was driving etc that tankful, whatever oil I had in the pan. So a 1mpg increase from syn gets lost.
For a significant and noticable increase you need something with good mileage already. My reasoning is... Most lab testing shows maybe a 2-5% improvement in mileage. On a 10mpg truck, you will probably not be able to tell. On a 30mpg car, the difference will be a few mpg, maybe.
I buy syn for extended temperature extremes, towing, longer drain periods(The manual "Normal" or a little more) and psychological bippy, but don't expect to see real mileage gains I can point at.
An engine in good shape, i. e. not leaking or burning oil will do fine with syn. If you already have a leak, syn will just leak faster because it is usually thin and it will cost more.
I've been using the MC 5W-20 synthetic blend in my Expedition since day one and will continue using it in her. An interesting note, however. I decided to try the MC syn-blend in my girlfriend's minivan last oil change. Her engine calls for 5W-30. In the past, I've used standard dino oil when I've changed her oil. I check our oil levels weekly (try to, at least). Mine always is within the limits. When I checked hers, she was down a quart only 2 weeks after the change. Her engine never burned any oil between changes, so this suprised me. I added a quart of standard dino to replace the lost quart, and, knock on wood, her level is within limits now. Could this have been a freak thing? Are there some engines that do not "like" synthetic oils? Her engine is a 3.3L Chrysler V-6 with 67,000 miles and owner's manual says any type of oil is fine to use, as long as it is 5W-30. Guess I'll switch back to dino next time for her.
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Tag
2002 Expedition XLT 4x4 5.4L
Sport Appearance Package
124,000+ miles
I've been using the MC 5W-20 synthetic blend in my Expedition since day one and will continue using it in her. An interesting note, however. I decided to try the MC syn-blend in my girlfriend's minivan last oil change. Her engine calls for 5W-30. In the past, I've used standard dino oil when I've changed her oil. I check our oil levels weekly (try to, at least). Mine always is within the limits. When I checked hers, she was down a quart only 2 weeks after the change. Her engine never burned any oil between changes, so this suprised me. I added a quart of standard dino to replace the lost quart, and, knock on wood, her level is within limits now. Could this have been a freak thing? Are there some engines that do not "like" synthetic oils? Her engine is a 3.3L Chrysler V-6 with 67,000 miles and owner's manual says any type of oil is fine to use, as long as it is 5W-30. Guess I'll switch back to dino next time for her.
It's not unusual to see a spike in consumption during the first OCI after the switch. It usually settles back to where it was.
It's not unusual to see a spike in consumption during the first OCI after the switch. It usually settles back to where it was.
Ok, thanks. I checked it again yesterday and she was down a quart again. She's due for an oil change this weekend, so we'll see what happens afterwards. My Expy was still at the full mark.
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Tag
2002 Expedition XLT 4x4 5.4L
Sport Appearance Package
124,000+ miles
For what it is worth, I have a 03 Ranger 4.0. I switched from MC syn blend to royal purple, then to Castrol syn tec. The switch to Castrol caused my lifters to sound off every time I started it. i changed the oil filter thinking the check valve was faulty, yet after a new Wix, the lifter clatter continued. I drove the truck for 1K miles more and decided to change from Castrol back to MC syn blend. Since I changed my oil, the lifter clatter disappeared. I don't know what to make of this, but the lifter clatter seems to be related to the synthetic oil Castrol.
I did some research and thinking about it when I replaced the 5.8 L in my 95 F250. Crate Motorcraft engine, factory re manufactured.
Two things helped me make the decision to NOT use synthetic. One was a fleet maint guy (for a state) saying as long as it had the appropriate API rating they would buy it in bulk..... and there was no oil related failures in the fleet, ever. Which makes sense, some people never change the oil, or even look at the dipstick. If the engine fails under those conditions, it ain't the oil's fault.
The second came from a good friend (trains Mopar techs) and what he said was the 'additive package' is the key to the quality of the oil.... and that will 'wear out', deplete or whatever regardless of the base stock is (syn or dyno).
So I used Motocraft 5w 30 at 3k intervals. Sold that truck yesterday, 70K on the motor. Uses no oil between changes and I would bet strong money that it would easily run 200K (or more) and never have a problem, even if the changes were extended. The truck will rust away long before that engine quits.
For mileage, I would think a couple pounds more air in the tires would make a bigger difference than synthetic oil.
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2001 SD 7.3L PSD S-Crew Long Bed
As a follow-up to my previous posts. I changed the oil in my girlfriend's Chrysler minivan 3 weekends ago and went back to standard dino oil (auto parts store had a deal on the oil & filter I have always used in the past in her engine & couldn't pass the deal up). As of this morning, her oil level is still at the full mark - haven't had to add any in the 3 weeks. Interesting. But, my Expy is due, so headed to get my MC 5W-20 SynBlend and FL-820S filter today.
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Tag
2002 Expedition XLT 4x4 5.4L
Sport Appearance Package
124,000+ miles
If API SM synthetics from major oil companies really increased gas mileage by 0.5 mpg over API SM conventional of the same SAE grade, city or highway, all the auto makers doing business in the US would require it due to CAFE regs. They dont because it doesnt.
The reason European automakers specify synthetic is to extend drain intervals, because oil changes at the dealer during the warranty are included in the price of the car. For example, BMW goes up to two years or 15,000 miles on BMW Long Life rated synthetics, not just any Mobil One, Syntec, etc.
Hi,
Do any of you guys have any experience with running Amsoil Synthetic in a 6.0 powerstroke? I have an 05 6.0 PSD with 112,000 miles on it and would like to switch to the synthetic. Any input would be greatly apprecitated. Thanks
Hi,
Do any of you guys have any experience with running Amsoil Synthetic in a 6.0 powerstroke? I have an 05 6.0 PSD with 112,000 miles on it and would like to switch to the synthetic. Any input would be greatly apprecitated. Thanks
That's all I run in mine. I have used it since the first oil change. I am just shy of 90,000 miles today. That are a lot of opposing opinions on this site when it comes to Amsoil. I like it, others don't.
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