Synthetic, for me???

[JasonNagra]

Okay I did a search on a few forums about this question before I posted. Anyway, my 91 S13 has about 128K miles on it. The car has always been a daily driver and has never seen synthetic oil, just regular old GTX 10W-30. Well now that i am the owner of the car I track the car about once a month, and Im pretty sure i push the car harder than the previous owner considering she was an older woman. Anyway what I was wondering was, would it be wise to switch to a full synthetic oil (same weight 10W-30) on an engine with this high milage? The engine is in great condition, and the compression is excellent on all four. I was just wondering if it would hurt anything, because I had been told that an engine that has been saturated in conventional oil its whole life, can hurt the engine if switched to synthetic. This is what I heard and I do not know if its true or not. Sorry about the long post but thanks in advance. Thanks, Jason.

[DuffMan]

My car had similar milage and started consuming oil when I put synthetic in, and it never had before.

Now I use very heavy synthetic oil and it doesnt consume as much, but its probably better not to switch to synth.

[JasonNagra]

Anyone else have any experience??

[JasonNagra]

Also, if i do switch to synthetic, should I start by going with the blend first and then going full synhthetic??

[syco3d]

The previous owners of my car ran Castrol -20w 50 I believe...I change oil as soon as I picked it up and switched to Castrol's full synthetic (Syntec) 5w50. And actually it doesn't consume as much oil as the previos owners stated it did. Maybe because of the different oil...but who knows.

Btw..I bought the car at 164k in late oct. Now at 176k

[JasonNagra]

So basically if I do decide to switch to synthetic then I should only switch to a higher viscosity??

[logo20]

i just switched to 10w-30 synthetic, i have 115k and today I noticed there was a tapping in the valves, and it went away after driving it. a few months ago after I flushed the engine, it did the same thing once, so I might have compression problem. You should be ok with 10w-30, try it, it won't hurt nothing.

[240Driver39]

i switched the car to mobi 1 10w30 at about 108k, doesnt consume oil or nething, no problems

[JasonNagra]

Okay thaks guys for the input.

I was also wondering what is the best (or considered) conventional oil??? Mobil 1, valvline race, quaker state etc??? Thanks guys.

[96SEChick]

Just a little tidbit though--if you change to synthetic, you may find an oil leak or two. My car had 63k when I bought it--not a single noticable leak. About 3 weeks after I bought the car, I changed my oil and put in synthetic. I found 3 oil leaks a week later. Synthetic oil is much "smoother" than conventional oil and can find itself into cracks, crevices, and holes much easier than conventional oil. So, if you do change, don't be surprised if your car starts to leak a bit (or in my case--a lot )

[JasonNagra]

Yea I don't think that the benefits of changing to synthetic are great enough even though the car is driven aggresively to switch. But I still want to know what conventional oil do you guys think is the best???

[andrave]

I read that high mileage cars lose more oil with synthetic. The idea is that its good if you use it from a low mileage, but not good for higher mileage cars, because its slippery and can slide through cracks and seals that regular oil won't. I know with my old escort, I tried synthetic once and lost quite a bit more oil than normal.
I have found the quaker state high mileage 10w30 to be a good winter oil, and in the summer or higher temps I run a little thicker so I don't lose as much.

[syco3d]

Why is everyone so afraid of losing alittle oil??? As long as your not adding a quart less then every 1000mi. what's the big deal? If your having to add oil periodically then you're actually keeping the oil cleaner by replacing the 'dirty' oil with clean.

I drive my 240 hard enough that I'm not going to trust conventional oil to keep my HIGH mileage engine from breaking down. If that means I have to add an extra quart or 2 between oil changes then so be it.

[drift freaq]

there has been much debate here in the past over whats better.
Some old school stick in the muds would tell you there is no benefit to synthetic.
I am an old school stick in the mud that feels there are.
It does have much better viscosity than conventional oil. It also withstands higher engine temps because of this.
I would only recommend a few synthetics though.
1 Amsoil
2 Motul
3 Mobil 1
4 Redline
If you wonder why I put Amsoil at the top its because its the one the is API rated for extended drain intervals. They also sell some of the best oil filters on the market that filter down to less than 1 micron.
Motul is a highly rated Formula 1 and Motorcycle synthetic. Not widely seen here in the states but availible.
Mobil 1 is the brand that of the easy to finds ones is the standout. It comes in right behind Amsoil and Motul.
Redline is not API rated. though it may be now? they have a great trans oil that is synthetic and is real good.
these 4 companies have been around a long time longer than any of the other major oil companies who jumped on the bandwagon due to competition from the 4 above synthetic manufactures.
Yes synthetic may cause oil leaks on higher mileage engines due to what has been stated above. though if you do use it will cut down on engine wear due to superior lubrication qualities.

[JasonNagra]

Dave,

What do you think are the top conventional oils?

[96SEChick]

Originally posted by JasonNagra
Dave,

What do you think are the top conventional oils?

I have heard (that means it's not a proven fact) that Valvoline is a good conventional oil, due to the lack of additives (compared to Pennzoil--which is the 100% worst oil to use on your car--I've been told this by many, many mechanics and quite a few friends) so it doesn't gum-up anywhere. I've also been told that Valvoline helps reduce lifter knock/tick.

[kandyflip445]

Um, I was just thinking a little bit and I'd have to do more research on it but I'm pretty sure synthetics have better/more aggressive additives in them. I've read of people that switch from a conventional oil to a synthetic and had thier oil analyzed. They found that the ppm of aluminum and other such materials found in the engine went up. But, after a few changes it dropped back down to a lower level than the conventional oils had. So from that it seems like it was cleaning/removing things that the conventional oil could not contain untill the recommended change interval. This is where I read about it before. They were refering to Redline oil I believe. So try a search on that. That forum has a LOT of good information on oil/filters and such. Check it out.

[whateverjames]

I was losing oil when I switched to synthetic at 130,000 miles. I started using 10w30 and I still had to add oil, but not as much. I didn't like buying a case of Mobil 1 in between oil changes, so I switched to the Valvoline conventional oil (easier on the wallet and you get twice as many quarts, plus the car has 194,000 miles now). I use Mobil 1 in my Blazer (9,000 miles) and I'm getting no leaks, so I'll keep using synthetic in that.

[Red]

I will only use synthetic oil.. 5W30 at 106,000

You do find a lot of leaks tho... Mine was a gusher for a while... All fixd!

[JasonNagra]

What do you guys think about the valvoline higher milage engine oil? It seems like it has a lot of additives in it, which most of you guys look down upon. I geuss in terms of conventional oil that using just regular valvonline is the best, right??

[Hubie]

Stay away from Quaker State and Penzoil. They are both parafin based oil which can leave a waxy sustance behind if the oil itself is overheating. Granted most nissans run pretty cool I'd still stay away from them. I think if you don't drive the crap out of your car, any conventional oil will do, as long as it is changed often.

I recently switched from the normal Mobil to Mobil1 and haven't experienced any ill effects from my 104k engine. I did notice a lot quieter engine. My lifters used to tick and it has stopped after the Mobil1.

However, I did the change on my old VW which also had about 105k but soon after it sprung leaks from all sorts of places. And switching back to regular does nothing, as the damage(cleaning) has already been done.

[burgy240]

I only use sythetics or synthetic blends. I 'm a fan of Mobil 1. Of course it is what you see the most and it is marketed the best but It works well on my cars so far. It does also come in a lot of highend and exotic cars from the factory too. porsche/Benz/etc

[kandyflip445]

Originally posted by JasonNagra
What do you guys think about the valvoline higher milage engine oil? It seems like it has a lot of additives in it, which most of you guys look down upon. I geuss in terms of conventional oil that using just regular valvonline is the best, right??

Additives aren't bad they are good. When you see little metal stuff coming out when you change the oil(exageration) you know that the oil is doing it's job of keeping the harmful comtaminates suspended in the oil thereby letting you get rid of them by changing your oil, and this is only one type of additive. The higher milage would probably be good for your car because it most likely has some cleaning agents and some conditioning additives in it.

[andrave]

metal shavings in your oil are bad, sign the engine is going poop.

[JasonNagra]

In terms of just CONVENTIONAL oil, would you guys say that valvoline or mobil is better? Thanks, Jason.

PS ~ keep in mnd this car is taken to the track about once a month and oil is changed along with original Nissan filter every 2500 miles.

[Hubie]

Don't know what this means, but when I used Castrol GTX I noticed that it got dark faster than when I used regular Mobil. It was the same when I tried out both of their synthetic lines. I think it has something to do with being able to suspend more contaminants and or for a longer period of time. I've never tried Valvoline but imagine it would be one of better conventional oils out there.

This may be silly but do you guys go around sniffing the new oils that they get to compare with another brand. I've noticed that some smell more like burning oil while other just don't really have a smell. I just remembered...I live in Houston and was driving past an oil/gas refinery and it smelled exactly like the bottle of Shell oil that I used in my sister's car. Hahaha.... I think this oficially makes me a car nut. Literally...

[JasonNagra]

Originally posted by JasonNagra
In terms of just CONVENTIONAL oil, would you guys say that valvoline or mobil is better? Thanks, Jason.

PS ~ keep in mnd this car is taken to the track about once a month and oil is changed along with original Nissan filter every 2500 miles.

Anyone else??

[logo20]

I still think you should try synthetic oil. if you encounter any problem-which I strongly doubt-just go with any conventional oil(they all pretty much the same) or valvoline high mileage.

edit: with synthetic you'll have to change it every 5-6000 miles, or even more. you'll just love it.

[JasonNagra]

Well if i do switch, what weight should I use, the same old 10W-30??

[logo20]

well it depend on the brand you get. I'm using 10w-30 mobil 1 because it's one of the most popular and you can get it anywhere, walmart has the best prices. redline has 10w-40, it's really your choice.
I'm gonna get redline mt-90 transmission fluid. you might consider that too.