Matt Beazer <teseract@moparhowto.com> wrote:
> What's the general consensus on how well the 318 handles being
> switched to synthetic oil at 100k+ miles? My '94 has 134k on it, no
> real leaks, no oil being burned, excellent oil pressure, at least as
> far as you can trust the stock gauge. The only thing approaching a
> leak is a slow leeching from the valve cover gaskets that will be
> fixed shortly, but it's barely enough to make the top rail of the
> heads damp. It's just the standard hardening of the rubber gaskets
> from hundreds of heat cycles, which I'll fix when I get around to
> buying new gaskets.
I can't speak to switching over a high mileage engine, but I do
have some high mileage engines which I haven't switched over, if that
tells you where I stand. :-) Oil is really pretty good these days,
and synthetic is way overkill for most operating conditions. If you'd
like to extend your oil change intervals or have an extra reserve of
protection, then synthetic may make sense for you. Synthetic may make
the most sense for the folks who rely on oil analysis reports to
determine oil change interval as opposed to a certain mileage or oil
changes. Usually though, its the additive package which tends to
break down first as opposed to the base oil.
I switched my '96 Dak over to Mobil 1 at about 10,000 miles. It
was my first new vehicle, I purchased it new, and basically wanted the
the best for it. Plus, I bracket raced it weekly and felt the
additional expense of the synthetic made sense for maximum protection.
I will probably continue to use synthetic in that engine simply
because that is all it has gotten since 10K. All of my other engines
though I use regular dino juice. As long as you replace the oil
before it is used up, I'm not really going to realize a tangible
benefit from the synthetic. (Sure, it might free up a couple of
horsepower, like I'm going to notice that.) :-) Since there's no
real benefit to synthetic the way I drive those vehicles and there's a
very real possibility of the synthetic eating away the old deposits
and creating more projects for me to work on, its kind've a no-brainer
for me to stick with the old stuff, especially since it is so much
cheaper. The only engine I might consider switching over to synthetic
is the 440 in my Barracuda. Its only got a few thousand miles on it
since the previous owner rebuilt it so it shouldn't have any leaks,
and I redid the entire top end a few years ago. (The transmission on
the other hand, is a territory-marker.) ;-) That motor is a bit
of a beast and generates a lot of heat, so synthetic may provide me
with an extra buffer and be less likely to wear out as quick as dino
oil would. My engine oil temp in that car routinely runs 230 degrees,
which is probably higher than it should be for maximum oil life and
engine protection. (The oil temp sensor is in the pan, so its got to
be even higher in the engine itself.)
So anyhoo, the cliff notes version of my opinion is synthetic is
probably not worth the extra expense and potential hassle of plugging
leaks as long as the vehicle is properly maintained and driven
relatively "normally".
> Yes, I know that synthetic oil doesn't cause leaks, it just uncovers
> ones that already existed but were plugged by crud that gets eaten out
> by the detergents in the oil. Still, no leaks right now makes me
> happy, heh.
Yep, plus if you think about it - is a leak that is plugged by oil
really a leak? What's the difference between a layer of oil buildup
and a gasket? :-) Its kinda like self-installed RTV... ;-)
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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