Hey Folks,

So I have been pondering changing oil for my Ford F-150 89. Some friends are saying go synthetic becuase of its age and others swear by natural motor oil. But noone can give me any real hard facts on why to use one over the other?

Anyone want to take me to school?

 

I've heard switching to synthetics in mid-life can cause problems with gaskets and seals as they are already saturated with naturals.

Sorry no hard facts here except what you already know; they cause less wear & tear, get better mileage, go longer between changes, don't break down like naturals, tolerate high heat better, and cost three times as much.

Given the age of your engine, I'd be using a high milage formula. They have additives to help your seals and gaskets, and only cost a quarter more.

Popa Tim

 

You know what gets me? Is my friend and his dad say that all oil is the same. NOPE! On horsepower tv they use Royal Purple synthetic in their camaro and made 10 extra hp. I thought that was hard to believe until they showed me the dyno charts. That's a pretty good improvement over people that say oil is oil. Which reminds me I have to change mine soon.

 

I fail to believe that he oil alone made 10hp, did they happen to install a k&n on that episode as well?

 

10hp is a lot for just oil. I'm skeptical as well.

If you switch to synthetic with a lot of miles on the motor, there's a chance that it will start leaking. The seals get gunked up with the stuff in dino oil, and the synthetic cleans out the gunk. Sometimes the gunk is stopping the engine from leaking, but that's not the oil's fault.

If you plan on keeping the truck for a long time (100k or more), then it might be worth the switch to synthetic.

 

Unless the air filter that was replaced was clogged, a K&N will not make that difference in HP either....

 

I dunno fella's maybe they lied or something but they only went on the dyno to prove that royal purple does reduce friction and disapate heat to improve engine performance. I guess you can't believe everything on tv these days.

 

bobistheoilguy.com

 

OK, Maybe this is a gettinga little off topic.

How many of you use Synthetic Oil?

Why did you change to Syntheric.

From what I understand Synthetic should be better performance, cleaner and more protecting.

Downfalls, cleans motor and possibly the seals (which on an older engine might need the deposits to hold it together)


Comments?

 

Synthetics will cost you more, even with the supposed extended oil changes. I have tried synthetics (Castrol) and the oil, after several changes, was still getting dark at the 3k mile mark. I never saw an increase in mileage so it didn't seem to be doing any better.

I run Castrol in everything I own, that runs gas. I have never had an oil related break down, even with vehicles that have 180k and 160k miles. My father has used Castrol and on his 1983 Ranger 2.8 liter was able to get 260k miles and was still running when it was wrecked. It didn't start burning oil till the 200k mile mark.

The big thing with oil is if it is changed at the correct intervals even the cheapest of oils will do their job. Your name brand conventional oils are good to about 3k miles, cheaper oils maybe 2500, depends on who is bottling it.

I tried Royal Purple, did as the distributor said with an enging that had some miles on it, 80k Chevy 350 in a 93 Z-71. I changed the oil at 1000 miles then at 2k and then let the 3rd oil change run to 5k miles. The oil was shot at 3500.

If you run synthetic my advice is stay the he!! away from Royal Purple. The stuff is crap!

 

Just because YOU think the oil is 'shot' doesn't mean it's not doing its job. You can't look at it, rub it between your fingers, and decide whether it will work in your motor or not.

 

Andym, you are correct you can't "look" at an oil to tell when one is getting weak but you can have it analyzed. Also, when oil pressure drops 10 to 20 psi lower than it ever has been or ever was afterwards it doesn't say much. This was after about 3300 miles. The truck continued to perform to 150k miles when I sold it.

Either way, this is my opinion and the opinion of the particular distributor I purchased the oil from (going to remain nameless as RP is a supporter of this site and don't want to get anyone in trouble). Even with testing the used oil, it is still open to opinions as to whether the oil is still usable or not.

Even still I will not run an oil after it turns dark, even though it is said to retain it's protective qualities. The oil is dark from heat, carbon and impurities. It is time to change it! So say-th me so say-th the flock (me myself & I)

Just take my opinion as what it is worth, right to me and probably wrong to 90% of every one else. You know the saying about opinions and donkeys.

 

I have a 95 f-150 5.7L using syn since purchase at 66000.
Now have 225000 still runs strong with no valve noise at start up no matter how cold.
was using castrol with my favorite fram filter till i read in the oil lube form.

I only use 10/30 mobile with napa gold filter.
I can't tell ya the chemical composition but,I sure hated that valve noise
Before.

I would rather pay more now than later
Luck to ya

 

Summerizing:

Synthetic offers long oil changes - maybe!
Quieter engine
Possible Better performance

To change from natural to synthetic is their a process? or can you simply at oil chnage time do a flish and replace with syntheritc?

 

I saw that episode of HP TV and they got the gain in Hp after changing ALL the fluids to synthetic, (engine, tranny, rear axle) not just the engine oil. Afterwards I wondered how much a 4x4 would improve if the xfer case were also changed to synthetic but since Royal Purple is expensive I never invested to find out.

Lastly, I beleive the HP gain was 8 hp, not 10, but I could be remembering wrong as us old farts tend to do. :-)

Popa Tim