Bob's Oil 101 university

[Huggyd]

So I went and printed of all the info then processed to read the whole thing sitting on the sofa.
I did learn a lot about oil, for sure. Bob never really comes out and says that one oil is necessarily better then the next but from my reading he seems to point out that in colder climates or even just in general that a Synthetic oil is much better.

"Since the synthetic oil thickens less on shutdown your startup will be easier and so will the stress on your engine. This is perhaps the best thing the synthetic class has over the mineral based oils." (Chapter 4)
"It would be more correct to think that oil thickens when it cools to room temperature and THIS is the problem. In fact this is the problem. It is said that 90 percent of engine wear occurs at startup. If we are interested in engine longevity then we should concentrate our attention at reducing engine wear at startup. (Chapter 1)

Would it then make sense to run synthetic in the winter months and then in the spring change out to a thinner mineral base? I would be inclined to run a high mileage oil as my Ranger 3.0L is up to ~180,000km and the wife G5 is ~140,000km.

Any any thoughts on switch back and forth like this???

 

[Quattro Pete]

I would not continuously switch between synthetic and mineral. You would be constantly mixing up different chemistries, add pack technologies, etc.

How many kilometers do you put on this truck per year?

 

[Huggyd]

this is a rough number but per year about 35,000km maybe 40

 

[SOHCman]

There is no reason to switch back and forth, the synthetic will provide better "cold" startup protection both winter and summer. An 80 degree engine on an 80 degree day i still cold compared to a 190 degree operating temp.

Sounds like you want a synthetic high milage oil, Mobil-1 high milage, and Penzoil ultra-platinum high milage are both top of the line, and there are many more.

 

[Nick1994]

Unless you're leaking oil or burning oil, there's no need for a high mileage oil, but it certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Run synthetic year round, being in Canada, if it were me I'd be running 0w30 for 15,000 km

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Use synthetic year around and avoid the hassle. No sense thinking something to death.

 

[ccap41]

Believe it or not, I've thought about this same exact thing here in the midwest where the last 3 weeks the highs were in the teens-20's and in the summer we'll have days around 100. That's quite the swing and the better cold flow won't be utilized on those hot summer days like it was just last week when I was starting my car in single digit weather.

Unless you're on the tighter side for money though it really doesn't seem necessary to flip flop that often though and if you are then a synthetic also doesn't seem necessary.

 

[05LGTLtd]

Technically, two oils that meet a given Xw-XX standard should be pretty close to each other in cold start except at extreme cold where a synthetic should (?) have an advantage. Simply stating that synthetic is better is quite a blanket statement.

Need to have more details about two oils to know for sure. Redline full synthetic and Havoline conventional are both offered in 5w30, for instance. Also euro spec 5w-30's are going to run on the top of the range. With proper VII either synthetic or conventional base can have excellent VI's. Synthetics need less VII's as they have a higher VI to start with. Another confusing factor is that most conventionals (SN) have some group III in the mix now.

Synthetic oils generally are better products. They handle higher temps better, and will flow at more extreme low temps. But in short , you're most likely better of with 0w-XX than switching from say a 5w30 conventioal to a 5w-30 synthetic. All 0w-XX oils are synthetics as far as I know.

Do I think synthetics are better, yes. They tend to have a better add back, better high temp stability and lower pour points. But for any two selected oils , conventional vs synthetic, you may not see any real advantage for the cost. Lots of homework to do to ensure you're getting the 'best' oil for your conditions while protecting our engine. In reality most cars will go 200-300k with anything in the sump.

Also I don't think Bob wrote the Oil 101, but could be mistaken.

 

[Brasileno]

Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd

Also I don't think Bob wrote the Oil 101, but could be mistaken.


My first thought as well.

AEHaas

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Most wear may occurs at startup - but its likely NOT due to oil viscosity unless you are experiencing many ungaraged starts under -25C. The OLD school packages don't work too well when to oil is cold.

Synthetic is such a blanketed category its meaningless in North America. Most are petro/mineral based and most are not technically synthesized; and we are not saying that synthetics are without compromises. Synthetic on the label in no way makes an oil automatically passable or good.

Just look for a good oil. I found my Holy Grail ... for now

 

[ccap41]

This may help out a smiggen with what ARCO just said.

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/biggest-myth-warming-car-winter-164138459.html

 

[BrocLuno]

Most oils on offer now that any of us would consider are syn blends. So just bite the bullet and by a blend. Maxlife is getting good marks as a reasonable all around oil and it definitely a syn blend (red bottle). Motorcraft is too.

If you want to go all synthetic, you need to be looking at Pennz Ultra or QSUD or similar and the price point is much higher. Is it worth it... Maybe, maybe not. How do you drive the vehicle?

 

[Oregoonian]

Synthetic motor oils are made with more pure, more stable base oils that typically outperform conventionally refined products in areas of low and high-temperature endurance, fuel economy, shear stability.....and the ability to extend drain intervals.

These benefits can well justify slight premium paid for synthetics, especially for those with high performance engines or those driving under adverse conditions.

With the high mileage your vehicles experience, IMO using synthetics is the way to go. Forget a HM oil unless your vehicles leaks or uses large amounts of oil. Use a top-tier filter (such as Fram Ultra), and go to an extended OCI (15000km +/-.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Huggyd
So I went and printed of all the info then processed to read the whole thing sitting on the sofa.
I did learn a lot about oil, for sure. Bob never really comes out and says that one oil is necessarily better then the next but from my reading he seems to point out that in colder climates or even just in general that a Synthetic oil is much better.

"Since the synthetic oil thickens less on shutdown your startup will be easier and so will the stress on your engine. This is perhaps the best thing the synthetic class has over the mineral based oils." (Chapter 4)
"It would be more correct to think that oil thickens when it cools to room temperature and THIS is the problem. In fact this is the problem. It is said that 90 percent of engine wear occurs at startup. If we are interested in engine longevity then we should concentrate our attention at reducing engine wear at startup. (Chapter 1)

Would it then make sense to run synthetic in the winter months and then in the spring change out to a thinner mineral base? I would be inclined to run a high mileage oil as my Ranger 3.0L is up to ~180,000km and the wife G5 is ~140,000km.

Any any thoughts on switch back and forth like this???


Find a synthetic oil that you like that meets mfg specs. and stick with it year round. If you're worried about cold starts get an oil pan heater, a block heater, and a pre-luber. Other than that I don't think there's much more you can do to protect your engine from cold start wear.

 

[Solarent]

I'm not volunteering, but maybe we should look at drafting a new version of the Oil 101. There's some stuff in there that maybe wasn't explained very precisely or doesn't apply as much with current technology.

 

[CT8]

Oil 101 is terrible.

 

[tig1]

Using a quality synthetic oil in a sound engine is always the better choice for several reasons.

 

[Huggyd]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Oil 101 is terrible.



really....
I was reading good info in there, or so I thought.

so if I wanted to switch back to a conventional oil base from a synthetic is there something that I should be doing?

 

[aquariuscsm]

I don't understand how a mineral based grp III synth oil can tolerate heat better than a "regular" mineral based oil. If they're both mineral based from the same crude,won't the heat tolerance be the same? I understand the better cold fluidity since it's refined to a further step,but saying it handles heat better I just don't understand.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I don't understand how a mineral based grp III synth oil can tolerate heat better than a "regular" mineral based oil. If they're both mineral based from the same crude,won't the heat tolerance be the same? I understand the better cold fluidity since it's refined to a further step,but saying it handles heat better I just don't understand.
It is more refined. Remember todays "conventional" oils aren't like the oils in the 1970s. They are more like syn oils and todays syn oils are different.