# Do you or don't you run synthetic oils?



## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

Certainly not ringing the boxing bell but am curious to know why you DO and/or why you all DON'T run synthetic oils in your vehicles. Please feel free to include spouse vehicle(s) and/or boats.

This is just an opinion seeking thread. Feel free to voice your opinion and share any related material that backs your reasoning.

Thanks!

ATX


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## louie870 (Apr 20, 2011)

2005 Tundra. I run Amsoil oil and filter and change every 10k miles. I have to add oil in between oil change because my truck will burn a little but its one less oil change I have to do, plus the oil is better. Toyota says every 5k.


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

2006 F250 6.0
2010 Chevy Camaro 

Run Mobil 1 in the Camaro, because I like it and it is what Chevy specify for the Camaro. Run Mobil 1 in ever gas engine I own, even run Mobil 1 in my Yamaha F225. Run Rotella Syn in all my passenger diesels, personal and work. To put it as simple as possible, synthetic works better in high pressure oil systems.


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## sqwaby (Aug 4, 2005)

I run mobil 1 in my Tundra. The viscosity is more stable in high temps and doesn't thicken on cold mornings like regular oils. I can't say I get any better MPG as some people claim.


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## Gr8_Outdoorsman (Jun 2, 2007)

Amsoil in the bike and Mobil 1 in the Jeep and fiancee's truck..... Have always had really good luck and have never seen a gummed up engine that ran synthetics. Not saying that they don't exist, just haven't personally seen them. Have seen a lot of gummed up engines that ran non-synthetics.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

I dont run synthetic oils. They may hold up longer than dino oil or so the manufacturer claims but that is a false economy. The number on reason to change oil is because it is designed with detergents to absorb and collect carbon from the combustion process. This carbon is the main wear ingredient in your engine. Why would you want to leave oil in your engine full of carbon for an extended period of time? Sure the oil may be good but if its full of carbon particles sanding away at your engine what are you gaining by leaving it in there?


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## gerstoy (Jan 4, 2007)

2010 Tundra 4.6L

Mfg. specified oil is 0W-20 so I have to run full synthetic. I think Toyota is making 0W-20 the required oil for all their vehicles.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

Holly **** 0w-20? My wifes mustang gt called for 5w-20 and it was like water pouring it in.


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## louie870 (Apr 20, 2011)

Bottomsup said:


> I dont run synthetic oils. They may hold up longer than dino oil or so the manufacturer claims but that is a false economy. The number on reason to change oil is because it is designed with detergents to absorb and collect carbon from the combustion process. This carbon is the main wear ingredient in your engine. Why would you want to leave oil in your engine full of carbon for an extended period of time? Sure the oil may be good but if its full of carbon particles sanding away at your engine what are you gaining by leaving it in there?


Thats why I buy quality filters from Amsoil.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

louie870 said:


> Thats why I buy quality filters from Amsoil.


Thats the problem. No matter the brand of oil filter it can only filter down to around 40 microns without restricting flow to the engine. Now if you add a bypass filter you can filter most of the damaging carbon particles down to around 10 micron. BTW I read where a guy did a study on many all oil filter brands where he cut them apart to see what was quality and what was not. Fram was the worst and Motorcraft, Amsoil and a few others were the best. Not sure who makes Motorcraft but I bet they make a Amsoil as well. You can save money using the Motorcraft and have a top of the line filter.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

Amsoil rates their top of the line filter 98 percent efficiency at 20 micron. Thats very good if it really does so but it better have a bypass. In their own chart they show GM, Chrysler and Ford pretty close with Honda and Toyota being only around 50 percent at 20 micron. Check out rubiconowners.com for cutaway pics of many filters. Hastings appears to be the best constructed filter with Donaldson being pretty good also. Apparently Donaldson makes the filters for Amsoil.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

depends on what motorcraft filters but many of them are made by racor. sometimes the difference is an anti-drain back valve on the spin on filters by motorcraft. many of the other brand of spin ons dont have them which is why theres engine damage.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

Food for thought. Reply from Blackstone Labs posted on Bob the oil guys forum.

"Theoretically, Switching to a better oil filter would reduce insolubles. However, we dont normally see much difference between the various oil filters that are on the market so I couldnt tell you which one to try. If you wanted to switch to another brand it certainly wont hurt anything. Fortunately your levels of insolubles arent really a problem. We dont get to concerned about them unless we see 0.6 percent and higher. Beyond that, its possible to get into an oil starvation issue where the filter is too clogged to work. Thats when we see the excess wear."

Blackstone Labs

"Either the Fram or the more expensive filters should work just fine. We dont see a whole lot of difference between them. See you in another 5000 miles."

Blackstone Labs

They said the same about Synthetic vs Dino oil. They felt it really did not matter concerning wear and that Dino was better in some cases.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

some fram filters are made by racor.


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## JimG (May 2, 2005)

Mobil One in my cars (all German, it's factory specified). In my 99 Dodge I run dino (Rotella or equal), and change every 6k. Mopar filter.


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## gray gost (Jul 8, 2010)

run pensoil 20-50 in all vehicles I have owned in last 30 years. tow boat about every other weekend. every truck had over 100000 miles with no issues. change every 5000 miles


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## TheGoose (Jan 22, 2006)

I figure that since I don't run synthetic fuel why should I run synthetic oil? 

I put in whatever's on sale ( mainstream oil ). In my PSD the oil actually actuates the injectors under high pressure so it's a little different and I use Rotella.


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## live2fish247 (Jul 31, 2007)

2011 Dodge 6.7l Cummins 
I run Rotella triple protection because it meets factory requirements for the 6.7 and its what I've always used in my diesels. I change the oil when my truck tells me to.lol I check the oil every 500 miles or so over 3,000 and its always looked good. I've never really paid it much mind. I did the same thing for 6 years on my Duramax and never had an issue. I want to keep this Dodge for as long as possible so I really am curious if I need to be running something different.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

TheGoose said:


> I figure that since I don't run synthetic fuel why should I run synthetic oil?
> 
> I put in whatever's on sale ( mainstream oil ). In my PSD the oil actually actuates the injectors under high pressure so it's a little different and I use Rotella.


I'm with you. I don't keep trucks beyond 90-100k so I just don't see the point. The cost difference is absurd. I change oil at manufacturers specs because I keep an extended warranty. I will not be denied a warranty claim based on oil change intervals.

And i may get flamed for this but out of curiosity, does anyone else find the MLM scheme AMS oil uses a little fishy? Seems a little too much like Amway and Advocare. Even kinda mirror them in their seemingly too good to be true claims. Like just I won't get coffee at Starbucks, I will not put synthetic oil in a daily driver pickup truck.


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## monkeyman1 (Dec 30, 2007)

i only have passenger/personal cars and don't run synthetic because i believe it to be overkill for most people and most driving conditions. i change at regular intervals, which is all that i should ever need to do.


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## joker25 (Aug 18, 2010)

Royal Purple syn here. Change every 7000 miles or so, could probably go longer (10k) but I don't know, I just cant bring my self to go 10k miles or more before getting oil changed.


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## Colorado (Jun 24, 2009)

The State was running Ams oil and Ams oil filter in police vehicles with 15K changes. Think Ams oil contract guaranteed engine rebuilds if failure occurred. Never heard about a failure and they had to add about a quart or so in between.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

ATX 4x4 said:


> I'm with you. I don't keep trucks beyond 90-100k so I just don't see the point. The cost difference is absurd. I change oil at manufacturers specs because I keep an extended warranty. I will not be denied a warranty claim based on oil change intervals.
> 
> And i may get flamed for this but out of curiosity, does anyone else find the MLM scheme AMS oil uses a little fishy? Seems a little too much like Amway and Advocare. Even kinda mirror them in their seemingly too good to be true claims. Like just I won't get coffee at Starbucks, I will not put synthetic oil in a daily driver pickup truck.


Wow someone on hear agrees with me. Its all snake oil sales tactics!


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

Bottomsup said:


> Wow someone on hear agrees with me. Its all snake oil sales tactics!


Here! **** I can't spell dawg sheet!


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

TheGoose said:


> I figure that since I don't run synthetic fuel why should I run synthetic oil?
> 
> I put in whatever's on sale ( mainstream oil ). In my PSD the oil actually actuates the injectors under high pressure so it's a little different and I use Rotella.


Hey Goose, are you talking about the International 7.3? If so be sure to change the oil in the HPOP reservoir when you change your crankcase oil. There is about a quart in there that does not mix very well with the rest of the crankcase oil. It will make your pump and injectors live longer.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

live2fish247 said:


> 2011 Dodge 6.7l Cummins
> I run Rotella triple protection because it meets factory requirements for the 6.7 and its what I've always used in my diesels. I change the oil when my truck tells me to.lol I check the oil every 500 miles or so over 3,000 and its always looked good. I've never really paid it much mind. I did the same thing for 6 years on my Duramax and never had an issue. I want to keep this Dodge for as long as possible so I really am curious if I need to be running something different.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2


If you get rid of that EGR valve your oil and engine will thank you. Go back and rub your finger inside your exhaust pipe. Feel the gritty slurry on your finger. You dont want that **** going back into your engine intake.


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## TheGoose (Jan 22, 2006)

It's a 6.0 Powerstroke. I'm not sure what reservoir you are talking about, I pull the plug and drain it all.

The EGR is on the list. Maybe sooner than later.



Bottomsup said:


> Hey Goose, are you talking about the International 7.3? If so be sure to change the oil in the HPOP reservoir when you change your crankcase oil. There is about a quart in there that does not mix very well with the rest of the crankcase oil. It will make your pump and injectors live longer.





Bottomsup said:


> If you get rid of that EGR valve your oil and engine will thank you. Go back and rub your finger inside your exhaust pipe. Feel the gritty slurry on your finger. You dont want that **** going back into your engine intake.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

IDK on the 6.0. On the 7.3 the reservoir is up front and has a allen head plug on top that you remove and suck the oil out. No way to drain it. I just helped a friend replace his HPOP and do an egr delete on his 6.0. What a pain in the arse that was. Egr delete is a must IMO on any diesel for long life and cleaner oil. Engines last longer, get better mileage, pollute less per mile and need less frequent oil changes which equals less carbon foot print. Our dumb *** government and epa cant understand that diesels with no emission bs on them will pollute less per mile driven than with it. They only look at per gallon levels but they get their tax money per gallon. There are no EGR valves on diesels in Europe.


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## sand storm (Mar 15, 2012)

Mobil 1 in the following vehicles I own: F150,Expedition,Mustang GT, F150(1969) ranch truck, Kawaskaki Mule 3010......all running,no oil consumption,no engine problems....have for 30 years....yes Mobil 1 has been around for a long time.....run 5000 miles between oil changes.


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## NaClH2O (May 25, 2004)

My dad and I bought trucks about a month apart back in 2002 and we did a lot of research at the time on oil and filters. What we found was that the quality of the filter was the biggest thing that people seemed to ignore and the standard Fram filters were complete junk. Our research also indicated that the life of synthetic oil was a lot longer and didn't break down like dino oil could if you went longer than you should or happened to drive in some extreme conditions. I consider hauling anything - a boat, a camper, an RV, whatever - in traffic during a south Texas summer to be extreme conditions. A lot of people liked Amsoil, but it was expensive and not easy to get. So, I went with Mobil 1, both oil and filter. My dad chose Pennzoil full synthetic oil and the Mobil 1 filter. I liked that I could get close to double the mileage out of the synthetic before I needed to change it. This was extremely important at the time because I was driving 120 miles round trip each day for work, through Houston. With regular oil, I would have been changing it at least once a month. I usually changed the oil around 8500 miles and the oil looked like what I expected when I changed it, similar to what I had seen in previous vehicles with regular oil after 5000 miles. The one time I did change it early (around 5000 miles), the oil was still very clear, telling me it had plenty of life left in it. With that routine, I got 130,000 miles without a single motor issue before I traded it in on a new truck. I only did the long driving for work for the first year, but kept up the same oil change interval. I'm sold on synthetic oil. Also, a friend got run up on a curb in his car and it punched a hole in his oil pan, only he didn't know this at the time and drove the 10-15 minutes home. When he took it to the mechanic, he found very little internal damage to the engine and said that the synthetic oil he was using probably saved him from having the motor seize up on him.

On my new truck, a 2012 Tundra, I went with the Toyota maintenance plan. They call for 10,000 mile oil changes and use synthetic oil. We'll see how it holds up, I only have 5200 on it so far.


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## TheGoose (Jan 22, 2006)

The funny thing is that my uncle never changed his oil ( he did add ) and he went 200,000 miles without an _internal _engine problem. Of course, it did use a little oil !


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

Also, a friend got run up on a curb in his car and it punched a hole in his oil pan, only he didn't know this at the time and drove the 10-15 minutes home. When he took it to the mechanic, he found very little internal damage to the engine and said that the synthetic oil he was using probably saved him from having the motor seize up on him.

I call BS on this one. If the engine had hydraulic lifters which most do it would have never made it home. Maybe the hole in the pan was small and it didnt loose all of its oil.


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

TheGoose said:


> The funny thing is that my uncle never changed his oil ( he did add ) and he went 200,000 miles without an _internal _engine problem. Of course, it did use a little oil !


that's funny. I have a _*crazy*_ ex-"step" uncle that does that. He's a weird bird for sure. We all think he's completely nuts but he's a millionaire and doesn't care. He buys new trucks/cars and will drive them anywhere from 30-70k before trading em in on the next new one. Note that he never changes the oil or filter.

He usually keeps vehicles about 2 years. When asked why he doesn't change the oil he said "If it breaks down, I'll just go buy a new one."

I couldn't tell you if he has to add any but that story always gets brought up at family reunions. He simply trades em in when he's sick of em. He insists he's never had an issue related to not changing the oil.

Being that he's not mechanically inclined in the least bit, I'd seriously doubt he adds any oil. He's in his 70s and claims he has done this his entire adult life as his money is old family money and is never ending. Sure wish I had that kind of cash!!


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

Bottomsup said:


> Also, a friend got run up on a curb in his car and it punched a hole in his oil pan, only he didn't know this at the time and drove the 10-15 minutes home. When he took it to the mechanic, he found very little internal damage to the engine and said that the *synthetic oil he was using probably saved him* from having the motor seize up on him.
> 
> I call BS on this one. If the engine had hydraulic lifters which most do it would have never made it home. Maybe the hole in the pan was small and it didnt loose all of its oil.


That mechanic must have been his AMS oil supplier.

Edit to add: IDK why the angry face is there...


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