Should I bother sticking with synthetic oil?
05-01-2010, 07:45 AM
#21
TECH Enthusiast
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: NW burbs of Chicago
Posts: 510
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have the great fortune of recieveing my mother and father's cars when they are done with them. They are well maintained and in excellent condition. They of course always change oil at recomended. They use dino.
They are not sports cars.
They never see high rpm's.
They never run at high speed.
They are not LSxx engines.
I always put full synthetic in my LS1.
It gets hard use, the synthetic gives me a little piece of mind that I've gone the extra step.
They are not sports cars.
They never see high rpm's.
They never run at high speed.
They are not LSxx engines.
I always put full synthetic in my LS1.
It gets hard use, the synthetic gives me a little piece of mind that I've gone the extra step.
05-01-2010, 12:20 PM
#23
It will run just fine on conventional. Unless you're really pushing the engine to extremes (in terms of rpm/WOT operation, tons of miles/time between changes, or severe temperature conditions....like cold starts well below 0°F), conventional is just fine. Your factory fill was conventional, it won't hurt a thing.
I use synthetic because I don't like to be bothered with oil changes every 3 mon./3k miles.
I use synthetic because I don't like to be bothered with oil changes every 3 mon./3k miles.
We run conventional in just about everything around here unless the customer requests otherwise. One of the owners did some oil analysis tests a while back and the results were pretty surprising. A lot of the big name synthetics didn't prove to be worth the money.
Short intervals using synthetic is a waste of money. PP is a good oil, but if you're just going to change at 2k or whatever, there's not much point.
Since oil changes at short intervals is simply for entertainment purposes, if you want cheaper entertainment go to any name brand conventional oil. Neither you nor your car will know the difference.
Since oil changes at short intervals is simply for entertainment purposes, if you want cheaper entertainment go to any name brand conventional oil. Neither you nor your car will know the difference.
Guys, if you are changing your oil every 3,000 miles or don't fall under the harsh conditions, you don't need synthetic. I change my oil about 5,000 - 7,000 miles and fall under harsh conditions. We have bad winters and scortching summers, were are in the high desert, so I run Penzoil Platinum 5w-30. There have been numerous studies on this stuff. One in particular I liked was the taxi cab one in New York. They took some crazy amount of cabs from this company and put full synthetic in half of them and then the cheapest bargain brand in the other half. They waited 100,000 miles, meanwhile the cabs saw hard conditions, brutal stop and go traffic, long highway trips out to the country ect... After the 100,000 miles were over they tore down the engines of all the cars and did full inspections on bearings piston rings ect... What they found was that there was no difference in wear on any of the engines. I believe that a few of the engines that did have wear had such unbelievably small differences that it could barley be recognized.
05-01-2010, 01:26 PM
#24
^^^bingo! People fall to easy for whatever someone else says is true. 3k oil changes are a must say the oil change houses. Why? Because they want your business. Synthetic is a must? Nah. When the manufacture says 3k oil changes are a waste, how come no one listens?
Hell, off road construction equipment is some of the most abused equipment, and they still run conventional oils.
Hell, off road construction equipment is some of the most abused equipment, and they still run conventional oils.
05-01-2010, 03:57 PM
#28
10 Second Club
iTrader: (6)
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Tecumseh, MI
Posts: 273
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I use Mobil 1 Full synthetic and go at least 5k and usually no more than 6k.
05-01-2010, 05:03 PM
#29
LS1Tech Administrator
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Schiller Park, IL Member: #317
Posts: 32,289
Likes: 0
Received 1,722 Likes
on
1,235 Posts
05-01-2010, 07:20 PM
#30
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Barboursville, WV
Posts: 610
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can switch back and forth no problem...I have done it many many times.
05-02-2010, 07:42 PM
#33
TECH Addict
iTrader: (75)
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: South Jersey (15 miles from Atlantic City)
Posts: 2,167
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
.....and the factory fill for the LS1 F-bodies was conventional (unless you ordered the synthetic fill package from SLP).
Corvette has been receiving a synthetic factory fill since the LT1 introduction in 1992; but the F-bodies never did.
I've had 4 LSXs spanned over 10+ years time, and I've always used synthetic too..... but that's only because I've fit into the "severe" category for one reason or another. If I was doing 3mon/3k changes with basic daily driver operation, I would not waste money on synthetic.
Corvette has been receiving a synthetic factory fill since the LT1 introduction in 1992; but the F-bodies never did.
I've had 4 LSXs spanned over 10+ years time, and I've always used synthetic too..... but that's only because I've fit into the "severe" category for one reason or another. If I was doing 3mon/3k changes with basic daily driver operation, I would not waste money on synthetic.
05-03-2010, 04:42 PM
#37
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: LS1Tech.com
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
05-03-2010, 06:25 PM
#38
my old 00' Z28 i ran castrol GTX 10W-30 and never had any oil issues, consumption or anything. car ran fine.
i now have a 02' Z28 that i run castrol syntec 5w-40. Been running it for the last 3.5-4 years and no issues either. i try to do an oil change every 4k miles, but i hardly ever drive my car, hell i almost came just a bit over 1 year because i didnt even hit 4k, and then changed my oil. i plan on switching to castrol syntec 5w-30.
i now have a 02' Z28 that i run castrol syntec 5w-40. Been running it for the last 3.5-4 years and no issues either. i try to do an oil change every 4k miles, but i hardly ever drive my car, hell i almost came just a bit over 1 year because i didnt even hit 4k, and then changed my oil. i plan on switching to castrol syntec 5w-30.
