You're welcome! It is a good site. Alot of the Mazda 6 tech forum members recommended that site to me. It's a great source of info.

 

so what is the real benifit of moving to synthetic oil? and for those of you changing to it, what is your reasoning behind it?
is it cheaper, last longer? clean better, dispose of easier?

 

taste better, less filling - - taste better, less filling......can someone bottom line this thread? what is the consensus on synthetic oil that will meet specs?

 

I am not an oil genious in any way, I just have personal preferences on what I use just like some people only drive Fords or drink certain beer.

I stumbled upon Amsoil at a Snowmobile show about 6 years ago and attended their seminar. Since that day I have used their synthetic oil in my cars, 2 cycle oil in my snowmobiles & lawn equiptment. If you get their catalog they have every lube known to man, cleaners and so on (and they probably even make a synthetic shampoo)

The fact that everyone posting here is maintaining their vehicle so well and changing the oil at regular intervals or better and concerned about what they put in their cars, that it shouldn't matter what synthetic or regular oil you use......

Mike

 

My step dad said he like Moble 1 so I tried it. After an embarrassing story, I accidentally drove my 95 Stang 120 miles at about 80 mph with no oil (after using moble 1 for a while). My temperature gauge did not go above its normal driving position. I re-filled the oil and drove the car 100,000 more miles and no problems. I don't think it would have made the complete trip if I had been using conventional oil.

 

The Mobil 1 website has a section on the advantages of synthetic:

Mobil 1 Site

You can also check out this site as well:

Bob Is The Oil Guy Site

 

Bob is the oil guy has great used oil analysis (UOA) for different engines and oil. It is a great resource for this information.

A bit of advice, which applies to any online forum, is that some posters there like to post their opinion which is sometimes in direct contradiction to fact. I slugged out a battle over there over the merits of Motorcraft 5w-20 oil with people who refused to use it despite multiple, consistent UOA results that proved that the Motorcraft 5w-20 is a great oil.

In a nut shell, they contended that the 5w-20 was introduced for gas mileage, not wear, and they refused to use it because "it was just too gosh darned thin for a V8 or V10." It's true that 5w-20 was introduced for gas mileage, but its wear characteristcs have proved to be phenomenal. Becareful to stick to the facts and not to preconceived opinion. For an oil product, reviewing the facts on a UAO sheet is the best that you can do.

Ugh, can you tell I'm still bitter about this?

 

hey i want to start by sayin this is a great forum and i have got a lot of usefull info ,but after reading the first mentioned thread and many articles one said it the best so if you are interested and like me ,uneducated about motor oil check out www.boss302.com/oil.htm it makes total sense and is 100%backable!!!, btw I LOVE THIS CAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just found a full synthetic with the correct viscosity (5W-20), and it meets the specifications outlined in the Owners Manual (API, WSS-M2C930-A). It is called SYNTEC, and it is made by Castrol. I think this is the one for me - it should allow me to stay within the confines of the warranty without much guesswork. Here is a link to the Castrol site:

Castrol SYNTEC

 

People who know...trust Valvoline. My family has always been a Ford/Valvoline family. The MaxxLife is keeping my 89 Taurus running pretty darn good, i was gonna use their synthetic (not Maxxlife obviously, just valvoline Syntec) for my new Stang. Anybody have any opinions on that?

 

I'm just going to use a good quality conventional motor oil - I doubt the car will notice the difference and should probably last as long.

 

Here's the breakdown.... (info from my uncle who works for a major oil distributor in the country and completely unbiased)

Change your factory oil after 500 to 1000 miles from 5-20 to Mobile1 0-20. (Mobile1 has not yet made 5-20, thats why they recommend 0-20 right now)

Use a high grade oil filter like Mobile1 or K&N.

If you hear from some old fart mechanic that an engine needs the standard oil for at least 5000 miles, tell him that these aren't 60's and 70's muscle cars. Todays engines are built to spec, which means highly precise robots manufacture these engines to within .001 of an inch. There isn't, if any, a whole lot of milling going on in there.

I changed my oil to Mobile1 0-20 with a K&N at 800 miles and can feel a slight difference just with an oil change.

...and those are the facts ma'am!!!

 

also, synthetic oil rises to the top of the engine instantly at startup, giving it instant lubrication. Where a standard oil is delayed, making the engine move on its own and grinding for a brief moment, yet those brief moments add over the years.....

hmmmmmmm lemme think

 

I agree, changing oil at shorter intervals than recommended is just a waste of time and money. Ford recommends 5K miles oil+filter cange intervals. If you use a high quality oil like the Mobil 1 you could probably go with longer intervals. Most european car manufacturers have 18,5K miles :shock: oil cange intervals, for example Porsche, when using Mobil 1.

I will not go 18,5K but changing oil at less then 5K just don't make sense IMO.

 

I have been happy with quaker state full synthetic because Quaker State guarantees your engine with a 10-year/250,000 mile limited warranty, even if you change your own oil.

http://www.quakerstate.com/pages/products/...llsynthetic.asp

 

I agree, changing oil at shorter intervals than recommended is just a waste of time and money. Ford recommends 5K miles oil+filter cange intervals. If you use a high quality oil like the Mobil 1 you could probably go with longer intervals. Most european car manufacturers have 18,5K miles :shock: oil cange intervals, for example Porsche, when using Mobil 1.

I will not go 18,5K but changing oil at less then 5K just don't make sense IMO. [/b][/quote]
I agree. I will be changing the oil for the first time at about 2750 miles this week and will be switching to Mobil1. IMO, which is not professional so take it with a grain of salt, Mobil1 should allow me to double or triple the manufacturer's recommended interval. I'll start at double, send the oil off for analysis, and go from there. Guess everyone can expect to hear from me in about 10k miles, so probably summer

Jason

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much does it cost to have an oil analysis done ? And also - what kinds of things to they look for, and what do they end up telling you ? Do they tell you something that gives you confidence to have a larger mileage interval between oil changes ? This stuff is so new to me - I have not heard of this kind of thing being done before.

 

This is straight from the Valvoline People...

"Thanks for using Valvoline products. Recommend changing over to a
synthetic oil after engine break in period is over with. Usually this is
about 3,000 miles."

Sounds simple enough.

 

thats one i've never heard before. would you mind posting where you got the info and mabey explain how this happens.

 

thats one i've never heard before. would you mind posting where you got the info and mabey explain how this happens. [/b][/quote]
I wish I understood the science behind it, but my uncle has been in the business for forever and I took his word for it.