Only Synthetic?

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Okay, knowing the vast amount of knowledge of members here, I need everyone's help to solve a heated debate.

I am currently arguing with someone about the fact that a car which says to ONLY use synthetic motor oil, MUST ONLY use synthetic -- and no dino or blends.

I will not state which side I am taking, just to eliminate any claims of favoritism en light of me being a BITOG member.

Please help solve this argument!
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
If it says to only use Synthetic
I would


...So would I.
 
If it specifies synthetic it's because they have long oil change intervals. Like Toyota with their 10k oil changes on 0w20 synthetic. You could easily use Pennzoil conventional 5w20 in place if you shorten the run to 5k or so. The engine doesn't have a synthetic oil sensor or anything crazy.

Conventionals provide very similar protection to synthetic, they just need changed more frequently.
 
You could, but it might not do what you want...


Depends on car as well. If it works hard, it might be a good idea...
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
If it specifies synthetic it's because they have long oil change intervals. Like Toyota with their 10k oil changes on 0w20 synthetic. You could easily use Pennzoil conventional 5w20 in place if you shorten the run to 5k or so. The engine doesn't have a synthetic oil sensor or anything crazy.

Conventionals provide very similar protection to synthetic, they just need changed more frequently.


Not true. My Corvette specifies only synthetic and they specify it because of oil temperatures, which conventional can't withstand. It saved them from installing an oil cooler.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
If it specifies synthetic it's because they have long oil change intervals. Like Toyota with their 10k oil changes on 0w20 synthetic. You could easily use Pennzoil conventional 5w20 in place if you shorten the run to 5k or so. The engine doesn't have a synthetic oil sensor or anything crazy.

Conventionals provide very similar protection to synthetic, they just need changed more frequently.




I agree with this. You could use conventional and reduce your OCI accordingly, but I wouldn't advise it. If I had a vehicle that said to use synthetic, I'd use synthetic.
 
Originally Posted By: lugNutz
I am currently arguing with someone about the fact that a car which says to ONLY use synthetic motor oil, MUST ONLY use synthetic -- and no dino or blends.

I'm going to be marginally contrary, at least with respect to the word "must." I wouldn't play around much during the warranty period, of course. But, let's take a bit of an older German car, for example (not something really high performance like an AMG, M car, or Porsche, nor something requiring low SAPS oils, but still calling for something in the neighborhood of GC or M1 0w-40). Given the right climate, one might be able to use a 15w-40 HDEO (which gives sufficient HTHS if it's a warm climate) or even a 5w-30 or 10w-30 in a cooler climate and it's not driven hard.

In those cases, I suggest it would be possible, but one would have to be making a very informed decision and cut OCIs appropriately. I don't think it would be cost effective or sensible, though. So, basically, I'd say one could, but why bother?
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
lugNutz said:
I don't think it would be cost effective or sensible, though. So, basically, I'd say one could, but why bother?


Likewise...

I wouldn't argue against syn...and while dino may be a suitable alternative, why would anyone switch when syn is readily available and costs virtually the same...?

It's a moot point, an exercise with nothing to be gained in the argument or in the practice.

Just do it.
 
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I would use synthetic. For that matter if a car specified synthetic blend, I'd use synthetic blend. Ford kinda does that but not really, they recommend 5w20 a lot and their 5w20 is a synthetic blend, but you could still use conventional. Also I think some oils like 0w20 are basically only a synthetic/synthetic blend, no conventional. For that matter, I'm not sure I've seen a 0w40 that was conventional.
 
Utilitarian, mass-produced automobiles typically do not need so-called "full=syn" or boutique syn oil, IMO. for Any national brand name conventional oil that are approved for ILSAC GF-5/API SN grading, technically speaking, already is a semi-syn (blended with GpII+ base oils).

Syn only for specific applications that factory calls for them, or for those who have deep, deep pockets: extra bragging rights.

Q.
 
Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner
Not true. My Corvette specifies only synthetic and they specify it because of oil temperatures, which conventional can't withstand. It saved them from installing an oil cooler.


Well, now you actually can use a synthetic blend (since 2011), because dexos1 supersedes 4718M.

Question is, for the same price, would you rather use something like Pennzoil dexos blend (50% syn), or Walmart's Supertech synthetic (which claims 4718M but not dexos)

That said, I'd probably continue to use synthetic anyway, and so would you, probably.

The synthetic blends of today are superior to most full synthetics of 5-10 years ago.

In a European car, I'd probably still go for synthetic, and even if not, it is often possible to get a full syn for the price of dino with all the sales that go on.
 
If it says to use full synthetic, that's what I would use. They likely have a reason for mandating it.

That said, I just noticed today that the manual for my truck says to use:

"Motorcraft SAE 5W-20 Premium Synthetic Blend Motor Oil (US)"
"Motorcraft SAE 5W-20 Super Premium Motor Oil (Canada)"

But it has a notation. The notation is 3 pages later and reads:

8. Use of synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil is not mandatory. Engine oil need only meet the requirements of Ford specification WSS-M2C153–H and the API Certification mark.

I would look at the manual close for a similar note.
 
I am curious if the owner's manual really states that it requires "synthetic" or does it state the oil must meet a specific standard?

For example, on my Audi, they recommended 0W40/ACEA A3, which only came in synthetic.
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
I wouldn't argue against syn...and while dino may be a suitable alternative, why would anyone switch when syn is readily available and costs virtually the same...?

If I lived in the boonies in this province and never got to or even near the cities and there were no Imperial Oil distributor nearby (or distributor of other approved lubes), and I had such a vehicle, yes, I could see using something a bit different. But even here, if one were far from the cities, it would be hard to not find an Imperial Oil distributor for M1 0w-40, or, at the very least, a place that sold Rotella synthetic 5w-40.

Even in the far north of this province, there is an actual SOPUS distributor with Pennzoil/Quaker State rights (for approved lubes), not to mention Imperial Oil for Mobil branded approved lubes. Given Castrol's market penetration in this province, even GC shouldn't be a stretch to find. I've seen more stores stock the product than those that don't, honestly, and that includes small parts places and Walmart.
 
Synthetic or not, really doesn't matter per se, its all about what spec your oil must meet. For example, dexos1 currently means its going to be a synth-blend or full-syn, although tomorrow someone could come out with a dino conventional that can still meet dexos1, who knows, it could happen, for example if PYB was just a bit better on deposits and NOACK, etc., it might qualify, in the future.
 
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