[bob camire]

Have any of you ever felt superstitious about usng synthetic oil ? As i am writing i'm thinking what macho guy would admit to it?


anyhow..i have heard things like ...this person uses synthetic oil in his motor coach and it develops a knock....and me personally...one of my gmc trucks got its first free oil change on gm..they put mobil one init...i swear ..i was looking at the oil gauge while driving one day and the pressure drops to 0 !..thats right non existent..the truck continues to run just fine..i feel..if shes gonna blow, itll be on gm right? somedays i wonder if i ever want to put mobil 1 delvac in my [email protected]@#$$ .. just dont know

 

[ArrBee]

Personally I think that synthetics are a waste of money, they're just WAYYYyyy OUT THERE beyond the knee of the diminishing returns curve. Sure, they're "better", but there is a realistic limit to how much better does any good. This will draw some flak, which is ok. My plan is to stick with RotellaT 15W/40 and to change it when the DIC indicates there is 20% oil life left. I believe that there is adequate margin at the 0% left point, I'm just buying a little more - I'm already off the curve, this is a peace of mind thing that I can't cost justify

 

[problemchild]

I put 535,000 miles on a grand am with valvoline dino oil. Changed it every 4500-6500 miles.

 

[403turbo]

Yeah, Arrbee has a point.......kinda

Syn oils are better, lube better, wear less, last longer, but cost more. The real deal with syn oils is this, if you are willing to be a gear head and get your oil analyised you can run syns a lot longer. They provide better protection across a wider range of operating conditions. And if run longer the costs even out with Dino oils


I run Delvac year round because my truck goes from -20 (last week) to 100 degrees bumper to bumper traffic, (big blackout)


I have answered several posts that make the same point Arrbee is making here. Running a quality dino oil and changing when the light comes on is not a bad thing. Truck will run many miles with that method. Then there are the "type A" folks who want the best regardless.


There are very few of us that "need" syn oils. Heavy....HEAVY haulers, drag racers, and those who don't want to settle.


After all thats why we bought these trucks, they aren't perfect but they are the best overall package.


Will dino oils do the job..........yes


Are syns better................yes


For some thats reason enough

 

[Tsckey]

Seems like the moral here is if you don't want to run synthetics ... don't. You don't have to explain yourself. I like the idea of a little extra protection, so I do.

TC

 

[bob camire]

Guys, thanks for the great input. Its always interesting to see how others view things. Matt, like you where i live in the north, its of concern in the real cold like last week when it was sub zero. I like the thought of a synthetic for better flow rate in the cold. I understand its added protection in the heat also, and with a turbo, it must just about fry that oil in the summer when i pull 9000 ls regularly. Will give it some serious thought...thanks for all

 

[dirty old man]

I feel that there are 2 compelling reasons to run synthetic oil in a turbo diesel.


The first is that you can get a low {5W} viscosity for freer cold flow and still have good film strength and protection at high temps. Amsoil charts show their 5W-30 synthetic to wear less on the 4 ball wear test at high temps and pressures than any of the 15W40 dino oils.


The 2nd reason is the turbo itself, a good synthetic like Amsoil or Mobil 1 {Delvac} will not coke the bearings in the turbo nearly as much as dino when you have a slip of mind and shut down too quickly with a hot turbo.


Extended drain interval is a nice side effect. I'm using the Amsoil dual remote filter setup, one large full flow and one huge bypass. There is a petcock to draw a sample for anaysis and I intend to use this feature.