synthetic back to regular?

[SketchyRollin564]

so i finished the KA swap, and i had to buy all new fluids, but my mom needed the car back like ASAP so i was in a rush, and accidentally bought synthetic (idk how i didnt see the words "synthetic"

anyways the car hasnt really had much miles with this oil, i only drove it for like 20 minutes, and let it idle for like 30 the next day (yesterday), because im having issues with the transmission right now (shifters not sealing it, so smoke is coming out)

anyways i heard synthetic isnt good for older engines, so i donit wanna take the risk

but ive also heard, once you put syntehtic, you shouldnt switch back... is this true? why?

[tramp_drift240]

so. synthetic back to conventional oil.

yeah you can switch back. you just cant mix like. between changes. like if you start running low on oil, add in conventional into synthetic. but you can swap back.

i dunno about that synthetic oil being bad for old engines or whatever. sounds like a load of crap to me, i ran synthetic in my 180k+ SOHC. since then, ive been running pennzoil conventional since i rebuilt a KADE, conventional is better for the break in period.

but, yes. you can switch back to conventional oil whenever you decide to do an oil change.

[ScrapMetal]

IMO all that crap is just myth. Oil is oil, as long as your engine has the correct amount, you should be fine. I still think synthetic is better than conventional though. I use Mobil-1 10W30 in my 1998 KA with 80K miles, and I've been doing so for the past year with no problems whatsoever.

Good luck with that trans, hope you get it fixed soon.

[tramp_drift240]

oil is oil, but theyre made up differently.

conventional oil doesnt have the extra slick and long life stuff that synthetic has. conventional should be changed like. every 3k miles or something, but synthetic can go around 5 or 6k miles between changes.

[marlin29311]

you should change your oil when it's dirty, not at a specific time. Synthetic or Dino, an oil change is meant to put fresh oil in, where the dirty oil is in need of replacing.

That said, newer synthetics are designed to withstand more of the crap than a Dino oil...

I recall a discussion I had with my service department that said that once you go synth, you shouldn't go back as it will affect your warranty (how much truth is there is unknown) but it would also seem to me that if you are on one type of oil to just stick with it and keep going. I beleve there are synths designed for high mileage engines now too...

http://www.mobil.com/USA-Engli...l.asp

[BearTrap]

I worked in oil shops through high school and college. From what the Valvoline reps told me: The benefit of synthetics and semi-synthetics is that they are molecularly altered from the natural conventional stuff. The alteration is that the oil molecules are actually smaller in synthetic oils. That's why all the extremely tight clearance engines (like the Italian and high end Japanese race engines) require synthetic oils, with smaller molecules to get in the bearings and other spaces that the large molecule conventionals cant get.

This also explains why if you put fully synthetic oil in an old engine you will find all the oil leaks that the conventional oils cant get into. On the other side of the coin, I wouldn't put conventional oil in my Ferrari Enzo.

Putting synthetic in an older engines (with not as tight clearances and possible gasket gaps) is fine as long as it's the same viscosity as recommended. You might get some leaks though; but as long as your level is fine, you should be good.

[SketchyRollin564]

i should mention, i accidentally put a little too much oil

like above the H on the dipstick

[goldfish]

i should mention, i accidentally put a little too much oil

like above the H on the dipstick

Did that the other day, was pouring from a 5 quart jug into the wife's G20. I opened the drain plug for about 3 seconds and retested the level. A little too much oil wont hurt, but I really lost track.... I had over half a quart extra, close to 3/4 quarts over capacity

Oh, I've also switched back and forth on a car from synthetic to conventional a couple times. Actually doing that with the 240... I had synthetic in it, but going to try using cheaper conventional until I figure out my oil leak problems :/

[homeslicej2]

lol H? Do you mean F for full? You should drain the excess oil out. Too much oil can lead to foaming (which reduces the oil's ability to function properly) and increased crankcase pressure, which can increase blowby and in extremes, blow out oil seals. If you put in just a little too much it should be fine, but you should drain the excess nonetheless. Switching between syn and conv. is not an issue. Any quality syn. oil will state on the bottle that it is fully compatible with conventionals (Mobil 1 states this for ex.) Yes, you run the risk of more leaks, but synthetic protects your engine better, can run extended drain intervals (depending on it's group classification), and keeps your engine cleaner, esp. since it doesn't gel or sludge as soon as conv does (bc it handles higher temps). For a DD that doesn't get driven hard all the time, conv is fine. I use full synthetic in all of my cars though out of preference. My .02

[hazer396]

lol i know a guy who for got to pour in oil after rebuilding his lawnmowers engine...loudest **** ive ever heard

[clss240]

changhing your oil only when it looks dirty isnt really the greatest idea. blow containing fuel etc will contaminate any oil and prevent it from lubricating the way its desinged too 3k seems to be to be a good number in miles before needing an oil change.

also changing back from- synthetic wont hurt a thing.

[MastaYu]

The main ingredient difference between convetional and fully synthetic oil is that the fully snythetic has a less sulfur content.

[Razi]

I run synthetic on my engine and it's fine.Unless your engine is sludged up badly, running synthetic won't hurt.If it's sludged up badly, it might loosen up and clog your oil pick-up.

[tramp_drift240]

^ if its sludged up badly from using conventional, use some "engine oil system cleaner" stuff. i know NTB uses this stuff and it works really damn well.

so well, when it comes time for a customer to get an oil change, their oil still looks new.