Re: what would synthetic do for my '89

From: Jon Steiger (stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu)
Date: Thu Mar 16 2000 - 18:37:37 EST


On Thu, 16 Mar 2000, Mike Curtis wrote:

> I have an '89 Dakota with a 3.9 and i was just
> wondering what kind of a difference it would make if i
> started using synthetic oil instead of regular oil.
> i've heard it gives you better compresion, but how
> much of a difference does it make, and whats the price
> difference between synthetic and regular oil. anyway,
> if you could give me some more info on it i would
> appreciate it.

   Basically, synthetic oil will reduce friction over dino oil, and
it has some other redeeming values like being able to withstand the
heat better, it will last longer before breaking down, etc. If you
are a normal driver, it probably wouldn't make much difference if
you are good about changing your oil and filter every 3k.

  I don't remember; is this info in the oil faq? Does anyone have
a URL to the faq?

  One caveat about using synthetic oil in older engines though is
that sometimes deposits of your old oil can be blocking leaks. Some
people have switched to synthetics on high mileage engines only to
discover that their engine now leaks because the synthetic stuff ate
away those deposits and leaked out the newly revealed openings. :-)

  There is definitely a big price difference. Dino oil appears to
hover right around $1/qt whereas synthetic is about $4-5/qt. Speaking
of which, does anyone know how to get synthetic cheaper? Specifically,
Mobil 1? Wal-mart had some 5 qt containers once for about $15 each,
which was great, since it saved me about $5 per oil change, but they
don't carry them any more. Does anyone know if it is possible to get
Mobil 1 in 5 gallon pails, or 55 gallon drums, or anywhere in-between?
If so, where? (How about regular dino oil?)

                                              -Jon-

  .--- jon@dakota-truck.net -- or -- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------.
  | Jon Steiger * AOPA, DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA * RP-SEL |
  | '92 Ram 150 4x4 V8, '96 Dakota V8, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly 447 |
  `---------------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'



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