Havoline smart change

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Originally Posted by Villalobos
Another question I've been thinking about, if I wanted to use the same oil in both vehicles, would you go with the 30 or 20. Suburban takes 5w30, Lincoln 5w20. BTW I have decided to go with the himi blend in the smart change box, keeping it mostly the same as I've been doing.

You know how they say "Netflix and chill"... well, I say "5w30 and chill"...‚

Ok.. serious now, i have the 5w30 HiMi blend in the crankcase right now (3.8L, V6, MPFI, CVVT) to the end of the month, then I'm putting in RGT...but I've ran that Havoline many many times and like you, I do 5k mile oci's max. Great price on 6qts of a solid lube. I take 5.5qts so the box is a money saver.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
If it were mine I would not switch with that many miles.

I switched my 4Runner, with 245k miles, to synthetic and it thanked me. I've done this with other vehicles too. But that's just me.
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Originally Posted by ka9mnx
Originally Posted by PimTac
If it were mine I would not switch with that many miles.

I switched my 4Runner, with 245k miles, to synthetic and it thanked me. I've done this with other vehicles too. But that's just me.
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It'll blow any sec ...
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I have switched vehicles up to about 115k miles, worst I got was a little dampness around the rear seal....which dried up in less than one OCI.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
I wouldn't switch to synthetic at 245K. Potential seals issues is my reason to stay with what's worked for so long. Stick with a good conventional


The label says it's compatible.... soooo I guess you are in a pickle.
 
Originally Posted by BLND1
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
I wouldn't switch to synthetic at 245K. Potential seals issues is my reason to stay with what's worked for so long. Stick with a good conventional


The label says it's compatible.... soooo I guess you are in a pickle.

No pickle here.
Compatibility doesn't mean age-weakened seals won't be slowly compromised by synthetic's added cleaning abilities. Might!!!!..... or might not!

The real debate here is why would anyone try to fix an aging vehicle that's not broke, nor in need of repair. Abandoning something's that worked fine for the long lifetime of the vehicle, can open up a can of worms that invite quicker decay.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by BLND1
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
I wouldn't switch to synthetic at 245K. Potential seals issues is my reason to stay with what's worked for so long. Stick with a good conventional


The label says it's compatible.... soooo I guess you are in a pickle.

No pickle here.
Compatibility doesn't mean age-weakened seals won't be slowly compromised by synthetic's added cleaning abilities. Might!!!!..... or might not!

The real debate here is why would anyone try to fix an aging vehicle that's not broke, nor in need of repair. Abandoning something's that worked fine for the long lifetime of the vehicle, can open up a can of worms that invite quicker decay.



The last reply really does not make sense. Unless the OP bought 55 gallon drums of factory fill and only used this for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Formulations change even from the same brand.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by BLND1
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
I wouldn't switch to synthetic at 245K. Potential seals issues is my reason to stay with what's worked for so long. Stick with a good conventional


The label says it's compatible.... soooo I guess you are in a pickle.

No pickle here.
Compatibility doesn't mean age-weakened seals won't be slowly compromised by synthetic's added cleaning abilities. Might!!!!..... or might not!

The real debate here is why would anyone try to fix an aging vehicle that's not broke, nor in need of repair. Abandoning something's that worked fine for the long lifetime of the vehicle, can open up a can of worms that invite quicker decay.


So now you are saying it's NOT the label's claims that determine the effectiveness or applicability of the oil - but some arbitrary standard that you made up?

What if he used a high mileage synthetic oil that is specifically labeled to "help protect older seals?" After all - you've advocated TIRELESSLY that claims made on the label are THE standard by which oils are judged.

So which is it?
 
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Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
I wouldn't switch to synthetic at 245K. Potential seals issues is my reason to stay with what's worked for so long. Stick with a good conventional

It's been 2.5 years and the 4Runner is still thanking me.
 
Originally Posted by BLND1
Originally Posted by bubbatime
You've been running conventional oil for 240,000 miles for 20 years and want to change to synthetic now?? I HIGHLY recommend that you dont do that.

Oh for pete's sake! Stop it. Change to a synthetic. Watch your engine shrug and say "oh, thanks, I guess." It's not going to blow up.


Originally Posted by BLND1
He's used a quality conventional oil at 3,000 mile OCI's for the life of the vehicle. There is NOTHING that switching to a synthetic is going to do to that engine. If he WANTS to use a synthetic, why not?


Yeah I'll go with my years and years experience and having actually completed THOUSANDS of oil changes in that time, you know actual experience. And I've ACTUALLY seen with my own two eyes, what can occur when you dump synthetic oil into an old engine with 250,000 miles. Is it going to blow up? No. Never said it would. But I've seen them smoke like crazy non-stop due to worn out rings and worn out valve guide seals. I'm talking a white smoke screen down the road until the customer was smart enough to follow my advice, dump the synthetic, and go back to what they have always done, which is conventional oil.

And I've also seen engines with a minor oil leak turn into Exon Valdez leakers that bleed synthetic oil from the valve covers and rear main seal at an alarming rate. Are most cars fine with a change? Sure. Can you just say "oh for Pete's sake, it will be fine" 100% of the time? No, you cannot. My EXPERIENCE says no. Perhaps as much as 20% or more of the high mileage cars on the road would have an "adverse reaction" to dumping synthetic in them.

When you have ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, feel free to come back and try to refute that. You cant.

Not to mention the OP lives in Ohio. Its not that cold. He doesn't need the cold start benefit of synthetic oil. There is no benefit for him to change now. If he lived in the great white north, then yeah, it might be worth giving synthetic oil a shot to see what happens.
 
The reality is this debate is happening mainly in the USA … where when you see "synthetic" lubes for these prices … realize they can meet Dexos 1.2 with a mix of GrpIII/GrpII, so nobody is about to pour ester based synthetic into a motor
 
Refute what? I can't refute random anecdotes from an Internet "expert" jiffy lube tech about engines suddenly dumping oil because a switch to synthetic.

As I said (and you quoted) - OP has performed regular 3,000 mile oil changes with a name brand conventional oil (which has likely been a syn-blend for several years now). The engine has not been neglected - it's highly unlikely that switching to group III synthetic is going to do anything to THAT engine.

How is that a radical assumption?
 
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In my OP, I gave my reasoning for the switch in oil, and the input I was looking for. The Havoline smart change box is available in conventional. I don't think a high mileage synthetic blend motor oil will harm my engine.
 
Originally Posted by Villalobos
In my OP, I gave my reasoning for the switch in oil, and the input I was looking for. The Havoline smart change box is available in conventional. I don't think a high mileage synthetic blend motor oil will harm my engine.

Of course it won't. Any appropriately rated oil with a proper grade will not harm any engine.
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by Villalobos
In my OP, I gave my reasoning for the switch in oil, and the input I was looking for. The Havoline smart change box is available in conventional. I don't think a high mileage synthetic blend motor oil will harm my engine.

Of course it won't. Any appropriately rated oil with a proper grade will not harm any engine.


It's the seals everyone's concerned about.
 
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by Villalobos
In my OP, I gave my reasoning for the switch in oil, and the input I was looking for. The Havoline smart change box is available in conventional. I don't think a high mileage synthetic blend motor oil will harm my engine.

Of course it won't. Any appropriately rated oil with a proper grade will not harm any engine.


It's the seals everyone's concerned about.


It literally doesn't matter. For the last Several YEARS it's highly likely that the "conventional" OP was using was in fact already a groupII/GroupIII blend, even if not in name. How is adding a little more groupIII to an existing blend going to make a significant difference to the seals?
 
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by Villalobos
In my OP, I gave my reasoning for the switch in oil, and the input I was looking for. The Havoline smart change box is available in conventional. I don't think a high mileage synthetic blend motor oil will harm my engine.

Of course it won't. Any appropriately rated oil with a proper grade will not harm any engine.


It's the seals everyone's concerned about.

This is one of those internet myths that won't die. As kschachn pointed out, no API rated lube is inherently "bad" per se for oil seals. None. Zip. Zilch. It is however possible that a switch to a lube with better detergency or solvency can clean away sludge that is plugging a failing seal, but that's hardly the oils fault. You can't blame the oil for doing what it was designed to do but so often the oil does get the blame for what was really a mechanical problem/bad seal.

I often say don't fix what ain't broken and in most cases that's true..if conventional's been treating you right and there's no compelling reason to change, stick with conventional. But that's not to say a switch to another brand or formula couldn't bring an upgrade in quality or performance. Like moving from a vanilla formula to a HiMi for the added seal conditioners, detergency and antiwear additives when you've got 6 figures on the clock.

And fwiw, I go back and forth between HiMi and vanilla formulas all the time. I have Havoline SB HiMi in there now and I plan to run RGT 5w30 next... without hesitation.
 
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Seals concerns are not a myth and nobody is blaming oils for seal concerns.

Nobody here knows the condition of the OP's seals. If weakness is occurring, switching to a synthetic likely won't help them.

Again, quit trying to fix something that works just fine for 245K.

Geesch!
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Seals concerns are not a myth and nobody is blaming oils for seal concerns.

Nobody here knows the condition of the OP's seals. If weakness is occurring, switching to a synthetic likely won't help them.

Again, quit trying to fix something that works just fine for 245K.

Geesch!




I agree. It has been said many times that switching oils will cause no problems and I can agree to some extent with that. If one runs a engine on conventional for 60 k and decided to switch there may not be a problem. Each case will be different though.

In this case, running a engine for almost a quarter of a million miles on conventional and then going to synthetic makes no sense. It's tempting fate IMO. It is also tempting Murphy's Law. I wouldn't do it.
 
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