synthetic to conventional, biannual rotation

[Bamaro]

Originally Posted By: k24a4
I'm considering switching to conventional PYB for the Summer (May through November) and Synthetic for the Winter (Nov-April) here in Boston. I'm not concerned with wear or the cleaning abilities of the oils, since the OCI will fall comfortably in the 5-7.5k range. My question is whether switching back and forth on a yearly basis will affect any of the engine seals. I can't seem to find a consensus on this issue by searching.

The car in question is 2004 4cyl Honda Accord seeing about a 60/40 split city to highway miles annually. The car has never seen straight conventional oil, save for the factory fill, changed at 4200 miles. The next 40,000 saw Kendall GT1 semi-syn at 5k oci and the last 40,000 PP at 5k OCI.

The Wintertime synthetic use would be for cold start peace of mind.

I have been doing that for a few years. Conventional is fine for all year use but syn in the winter gives you extra needed cold start flow.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: johnachak
Originally Posted By: tig1
And the reason for doing this is????


I dont usually have time to warm up the car in the winter. I put her in gear and take it easy. Until i went with syn in the winter she made noises when i hit the gas for a few minutes (not a pleasant sound either). With the syn it doesnt. Three winters now and shes fine taking off ice cold. The first two werent so nice...
Since the only difference is the full syn, i have to believe that is the difference.


Then why not consider using the synthetic year round with a longer OCI as many of us do? If you are concerned about the money the longer OCI will offset that.

 

[steve20]

my 05 Accord K24 gets 2 1/2 qts PYB + 2 qts PP--all 5-30, all year long. 150K no issues



Steve

 

[whip]

If it was my car, I'd run synthetic and change it once a year, or conventional and change it twice a year. I wouldn't sweat the different oils.

 

[teddyboy]

[/quote]
Then why does Toyota recommend that once you switch to synthetic, you must stay with it? [/quote]

Because it sounds good?