Oil Question: Fred?

[cweberj30t]

I go to Firestone for any general maintenance including oil changes. They use Kendall brand oil and I read in one of your posts that their synthetic 5W-40 stacks up pretty good against other synthetics, which is what I've been using. I was told by someone that using a syn-blend can be better for higher mileage cars (I have 85k currently) because of the detergents they use in dino oil compared to synthetic. I'm getting my oil changed here in a couple of days and was wondering if I should stick to synthetic or maybe go every other oil change with syn-blend. My oil is really clean after 3000 miles with the synthetic. Any thoughts?

[PalmerWMD]

Syn blends are often good to clean out things.But unless your engine is dirty the normal Kendall 5w-40 will do a great job keeping it clean, by simply breaking down less.

Simplified Rule of thumb: Blends and Dinos are good at cleaning, Syns are good at not making stuff dirty in the first place.

(There a lot of exceptions to this, but it would be too much typing right now for me)

You can run a couple of fills with blends if you like(Valvoline Durablend is excellent, in 10w-40 especially) if you want, but the Kendall Syn 5w-40 is a strong oil, with the summer coming up, probably not a bad idea.

Call ahead to make sure they have it in stock, cuz sometimes they dont.

Fred..

[cweberj30t]

Thanks for the quick response Fred. I know it hasn't always seen synthetics, since after all it is a '93. I noticed when I switched to synthetic, the oil was much cleaner after 3k miles. I'm wondering if it's cleaner since it's not actually cleaning carbon deposits. I'm just thinking that they full syn isn't cleaning the system as well, but probably protecting it better. Would I be correct saying that? Also, is the Kendall blend pretty good detergent wise or is durablend superior. Thanks in advance for your insight.

[PalmerWMD]

Durablend is better at cleaning.

85k isnt all that high.If the Durablend gets dark quickly within a couple days running you know its getting darker from picking up what another oil has left behind.

Either is a perfectly valid choice for you.

Fred...

[VA99Q45]

Fred,

Which of these oils would you pick if the oil get change every 3k miles or 90 days?

Mobil 1 5w30Mobil 1 10W30Castro GTX 5W30Castro GTX 10W30

Thanks

[cweberj30t]

I can tell there is some deposits when I look in the head and wanted to see if I could clean it up a little bit. What are your thoughts on motorvac systems? Is it worth it or would you suggest running a quart of ATF in there for a couple hundred miles. I used seafoam not too long ago and couldn't notice much of a difference. I know some people swear by BG 44k, which I haven't used. I used the seafoam in the heads and the gas tank, didn't do the vacuum off the brake booster since I didn't want to replace O2 sensors and plugs at the time. Wow I'm rambling. I guess I'm asking what would be your first choice in cleaning engine deposits (that was easy). Thanks again in advance.

[PalmerWMD]

1)What are your thoughts on motorvac systems? Is it worth it 2)or would you suggest running a quart of ATF in there 3)for a couple hundred miles. 4)I used seafoam not too long ago and couldn't notice much of a difference. 5)I know some people swear by BG 44k, which I haven't used. I used the seafoam in the heads and the gas tank, didn't do the vacuum off the brake booster since I didn't want to replace O2 sensors and plugs at the time.

1) Like it, just like envirolusion and Bilstein, cleans the lower gallery's, is real safe too.2)yes3) NO, for 1 hours worth of idling <only>4)SF goes after varnish not sludge, so it might be a good thing but only depending on the nature of your deposits5)Not the right application for your problem.

Fred..