Synthetic drain offf

[RalphPWood]

I have a book written by Leslie R. Sachs a Harvard graduate with 5 degrees from 3 universities and James S. Bennett who has driven, repaired, rebuilt, bought sold and counsulted on a wide variety of used cars. He holds an advanced degree in management and is an expert motorcyclist. The book is "Cheap Wheels".
Under Synthetic Oils it says:
"Synthetics flow so well that they do not always stick to the engine parts when the engine is turned off, like regular oil will. SAE 5 w-30 synthetic flows far better than regular SAE 5 w - 30. This means that for a period of time when you start the car there is no lubrication on some parts of the engine because the synthetic oil has flowed away from some engine parts. The older the engine the easier it is for the oil to flow away. We don't recommend synthetic oils."
This got me thinking. I have a 1987 Camry 4 cylinder that runs smooth and doesn't use oil. It has 168,000 miles with no problems. I left it sitting for a week while I was on vacation. I ordinarily drive it 6 days a week. It was obvious that as the starter turned over the engine the compression was uneven. It smoothed out as soon as it started. Would it be a good test if I drained the synthetic and put in a good conventional oil and tried it again on my next vacation which is this month. Will the conventional oil stay in the rings better? The car had 116,000 mi on it when I bought it. I need to get over 200,000 on it. I know the history of the car. Bought it from a friend for $600.00.

Ralph

 

[JohnBrowning]

Well if you realy wanted to try it go for it. The prefered Dino'd are as follows: Chevron Supreme 10W30, Pennzoil 10W30, Delvac 1300 15W40, Delo 400 15W40, Havoline 10W30 and Schaffers 10W30 and 5W30. I listed them in random order. These have all showed consistent results and some good to decent numbers. The best value so far is Chevron Supreme at Walmart for $1 a quart. I would not trust a 5W30 conventional oil in my car. Most have been shown to shear badly and rather quickly! The 10W30's have all tested realy well.

[ August 06, 2003, 10:30 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

 

[HOndaGuy]

keep the synthetic. Run what you have been running. I think most of the time, the more you change your brand of oil, the more you end up having additive clashing.

 

[unDummy]

5 degrees in what?? If chemical/petro/mech engineering isn't listed, then as far as I'm concerned, they're just blabbering.
An advanced degree in management doesn't make anyone an oil specialist.

Let them prove their statements.

 

[jsharp]

quote:

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Originally posted by unDummy:
5 degrees in what?? If chemical/petro/mech engineering isn't listed, then as far as I'm concerned, they're just blabbering.
An advanced degree in management doesn't make anyone an oil specialist.

Let them prove their statements.

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Agreed. How much more film thickness does he think dino oil has in a plain bearing with .003" clearance?

Bonus rhetorical question - How does this kind of thing get started when the conclusions don't even pass the common sense test?? Extending his theory, sludge would be best because it really "sticks" to surfaces...

[ August 06, 2003, 11:56 PM: Message edited by: jsharp ]

 

[NutBuster]

It has been my experience that synthetic oils "burn" more between changes in my car. I have read that synths have more of a tendency to "climb" higher into the cylinder bore, exposing it to more of the combustion cycle than conventional oil. I have also wondered if it's slippery enough to find its way through my valve guide seals faster than conventionals.

As for sticking to metal surfaces...I think that would make an interesting test. take an eyedropper and a plate of steel placed at a 45 degree angle...the two droplets could race each other to the bottom! If one of them craps out and doesn't make it, that would mean it's obviosly got more "cling".

**** , I should have been a scientist.