F_150 UGA

Thinking of using Castol Syntec in my 02 F-150 4x4 5.4 lt.
Wanted some opinons.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 27-Apr-02 AT 02:40 AM (EST)]I had an old Toyota, a '77 with 180k miles, and I thought I'd try using Castrol Syntec in it to see if that might help it at all. I've been a user of Mobil 1 synthetic oil since 1980 and knew synthetic oil was good stuff.

Well, the Toyota didn't work well with the Castrol Syntec. It seemed to labor with that oil, the oil smelled strange, and I soon dumped it and started using the waste Mobil 1 that I drained out of my Mustang. The Toyota seemed to love that! Rev'ed better, started easier.

Bottom line, based on my experience, I don't recommend Castrol Syntec.

As I understand it, Castrol Syntec is mineral oil that has been 'hydroprocessed'. It seemed thicker than either standard mineral oil, or synthetic oil. In my opinion, you'd be better off with a blend of good mineral oil and synthetic oil made from PAO, ester, and such.

EDIT: Whoops, I just read your post again. You've got a modern engine. Absolutely do not use Castrol Syntec, and don't use mineral oil. Use a quality synthetic. I prefer Mobil 1 that I can buy at WalMart for $17.88 for 5 quarts. You'll want either 5W-30 or 0W-30. If it isn't on their shelf, ask a manager to carry it. I did and within a week, they had stocked the 5 quart jugs. I think I saw that Quaker State had a synthetic oil, too. I'll do some web searching to find out about that.

Regards,

 

To disagree with my friend Paul feel free to use any oil you want. Conventional, syntec, mobil 1 or whatever floats your boat. Conventional oil will provide more protection than you will ever need IMO. Also doesn't your motor call for 5w-20? I'm sure it does. I would use it at least till it is out of warranty. I used Motorcraft Synth blend 5w-20 in my 02 V8 Explorer with great results. I used it because it was the only 5w-20 I could find. Other than amSOIL I don't know of a full synthetic in 5w-20.

 

I searched the Quaker State web site and couldn't determine how they made their oil. There was no MSDS to be found. Both Castrol and Mobil make their MSDS available for viewing and I did a comparison. Mobil had better viscosity, pumping viscosity, and flash point values, sometime by large margins. The pumping viscosity value was dramatically different, bearing out my impression that Syntec was thicker and harder to crank.

Stab is a practical guy and I value his opinion. Synthetic is more than twice the price of straight mineral oil and may be overkill. But I am very sincere when I say; don't use Syntec. If you do, you'll notice the difference.

Best regards,

 

Hey F-150, Check out OUR thread from April 26th (dino/synth). Give me 10,000 miles and we'll hopefully have you an answer!
See you 'round.
Brian A

 

I looked up castrol.com and it only contained dumbed down information. So I did a web search and found a better link for [link:www.castrolauto.com/products/productpage1.asp?product_category=1&product_id=4#f act|Syntec]
It does say that Syntec is "full synthetic" and is API rated SL, CD/CF.
My opinion, a petroleum oil rated API SL,CF/CH-4 would probably equal or exceede the wear protection and extended drain intervals of Syntec or any other synthetic with the same rating. With the exception that the synthetic has the advantage of lower pour point.

 

Please protect your warranty by using 5W20. This will probably limit your choice of brand and type. I did not see 5w20 on the Syntec website.

 

Castrol Syntec is NOT a full synthetic no matter how they choose to advertise and decieve us. Actually, it might be depending on what definition you use for the word "synthetic." Castrol Syntec was reformulated in late 98. Before Syntec was reformulated, it was actually a full synthetic using a full synthetic base stock with PAO's just like Mobil 1 and 90% of the synthetics out there. Once Syntec was reformulated in late 98, it was known that Syntec did not contain any PAO's. In fact, Syntec uses a Group III base stock which is a hydrocracked highly refined mineral oil with some synthetic additives. This is no secret, because Mobil immediately sued Castrol in court over whether Castrol could rightfully call this new reformulation of Syntec, a full synthetic as they still advertise. If the base stock was a highly refined Group III base oil, then how could Castrol rightfully and legally call it a full synthetic? Unfortunately, Mobil lost the lawsuit because of how the term "full synthetic" is defined by the API or SAE(can't remember which one). A full synthetic motor oil is defined on it's ability to perform, not by what it's made or composed of. The scam here, is that if a company takes a cheapa$$ dino oil, hydrocrack it, add a few synthetic additives, and it ends up meeting the minimum specifications of how a synthetic oil is supposed to perform, then the manufacturer is allowed by this vague and deceptive definition to sell and market thier oil as a "full synthetic!!!" If you guys like Castrol Syntec, that's fine because it's a good oil. But don't expect it to be a full synthetic oil composed of Diethers(Redline), or PAO's(Mobil 1, Amsoil, etc....)because it's not. Castrol Syntec sells for $4 a quart around here, therefore if you would like an oil that is marketed as a full synthetic, yet is not a full synthetic, then you have many choices that cost a lot less. There was a controversy on thsi topic over on LS1 about 2-3 years ago over the Syntec issue, and Castrol not only threatened a lawsuit against a couple individuals
not to mention Amsoil as well, but they also forced them to remove those articles that "exposed" the truth about Castrol Syntec.

2002 True Blue SVT Lightning
-all stock and will stay stock