Does synthetic oil make oil usage worse?
05-18-2007, 03:22 PM
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synthetic is generally thinner oil than its dino-oil counterpart of the same weight. If it's thinner, it'll slip into smaller crevices.
So it hypothetically would consume more oil.
But I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably too marginal to make a difference.
So it hypothetically would consume more oil.
But I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably too marginal to make a difference.
05-18-2007, 10:48 PM
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3.4 camaro is correct in the fact that it will slip into smaller crevices. The oil particles themselves in synthetic are smaller than in conventional. Is your car burning oil or does it just seem to disapeer. If its burning oil you may want to have it compression tested to see if the seals are still good. If it just seems to disapeer then you may want to check your rear main. Alot of LS1's seem to have small leeks from the main rear especially if they've ever been rebuilt or even opened up. But getting back to the point synthetic may leak a bit more but its not going to be substantially more. Good luck
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05-19-2007, 05:31 AM
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The particals are smaller but they hold together better. Modern synthetic oil is designed to have smaller particles so it can get into tighter areas to lubricate. But the downfall of it is it can leak out of smaller openings in the engine. Conventional and synthetic are both graded so that similer weights both carry the same characteristics its just that the synthetic is able to get into tighter areas but therefore can be burned off more easily. I've never heard "Group III based on dino oil". I've heard of DOT 3 in brake fluid but not in oil unless I'm just having a brain fart. Could you fill me in on this.
05-19-2007, 12:08 PM
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quick search from http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html
In the late 1990s, Castrol started selling an oil made from Group III base oil and called it SynTec Full Synthetic. Mobil sued Castrol, asserting that this oil was not synthetic, but simply a highly refined petroleum oil, and therefore it was false advertising to call it synthetic. In 1999, Mobil lost their lawsuit. It was decided that the word "synthetic" was a marketing term and referred to properties, not to production methods or ingredients. Castrol continues to make SynTec out of Group III base oils, that is highly purified mineral oil with most all of the cockroach bits removed.
Shortly after Mobil lost their lawsuit, most oil companies started reformulating their synthetic oils to use Group III base stocks instead of PAOs or diester stocks as their primary component. Most of the "synthetic oil" you can buy today is actually mostly made of this highly-distilled and purified dino-juice called Group III oil. Group III base oils cost about half as much as the synthetics. By using a blend of mostly Group III oils and a smaller amount of "true" synthetics, the oil companies can produce a product that has nearly the same properties as the "true" synthetics, and nearly the same cost as the Group III oil. The much more expensive traditional synthetics are now available in their pure forms only in more expensive and harder to obtain oils. To the best of my knowledge, Delvac-1, AMSOil, Redline, and Motul 5100 are the only oils made from pure traditional synthetics.
In the late 1990s, Castrol started selling an oil made from Group III base oil and called it SynTec Full Synthetic. Mobil sued Castrol, asserting that this oil was not synthetic, but simply a highly refined petroleum oil, and therefore it was false advertising to call it synthetic. In 1999, Mobil lost their lawsuit. It was decided that the word "synthetic" was a marketing term and referred to properties, not to production methods or ingredients. Castrol continues to make SynTec out of Group III base oils, that is highly purified mineral oil with most all of the cockroach bits removed.
Shortly after Mobil lost their lawsuit, most oil companies started reformulating their synthetic oils to use Group III base stocks instead of PAOs or diester stocks as their primary component. Most of the "synthetic oil" you can buy today is actually mostly made of this highly-distilled and purified dino-juice called Group III oil. Group III base oils cost about half as much as the synthetics. By using a blend of mostly Group III oils and a smaller amount of "true" synthetics, the oil companies can produce a product that has nearly the same properties as the "true" synthetics, and nearly the same cost as the Group III oil. The much more expensive traditional synthetics are now available in their pure forms only in more expensive and harder to obtain oils. To the best of my knowledge, Delvac-1, AMSOil, Redline, and Motul 5100 are the only oils made from pure traditional synthetics.
05-19-2007, 12:42 PM
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I do know that I had 2 LT1 f-bodies that did not leak until I made the mistake of putting Mobil 1 in them! Don't think they used any more, it just leaked out on my driveway. 5 years later those cars are long gone, but I still have that oil! 