Conventional oil or synthetic? whats your poison and why? My opinion about synthetic is that its over priced snake oil. They say you can run longer between oil changes on s-oil. Well I think theres going to be same amount of dirt and carbon in the oil wether it be S-oil or C-oil. doesnt matter if you run 200 hours or 500 hours. Thus, I use the cheaper "old school' 15-40 and change oil every 200 hours. Which I actually order by the pallet from my local wal-mart for 37.50 canadian per 5 gallon pail. Which is less than half price for the Shell or Esso equivilant. Theres a local farmer, has alot of big diesel engines on his farm, Cat, Cummins, John Deere. He switched to all synthetic oil about 8 years ago. He also seems to do alot more crankshaft jobs then anybody else does. That 5-40 or 10-40 synthetic just turns to **** after too long.
Now i understand these new engines need the synthetic oil because the high heat requirements, my new 09' dodge cummins needs that 25 dollar per gallon CJ-4 15-40 which is ludracris!
All i know? Synthetic oil all the molecules are the same size. So if you have a leak it will leak well. Conventional oil has different size molecules. So it offers some clotting ability, to slow or stop a leak.
Conventional oil will begin to breakdown after a certain period of time, depending on the conditions it is used in. The oil will start to lose its lubricating ability as this happens. Synthetic oil will get the same junk in it that regular oil will, but synthetic will last longer before breaking down. It is specially engineered to maintain its molecular structure for a longer period of time than conventional oil. You still have to change it obviously, but it can allow for longer intervals. One other thing is that synthetics can sometimes provide slightly better lubrication for your motor/tranny/final drives/rear end. Some people experience a small gain in fuel mileage after switching to synthetics in their trucks/cars.
Oils Who's ever oil you like to use or several get their product booklet with some of the explanations of the two oils. An example of the difference is my 93 dodge transfer case wanted 5w/30 engine oil in it I used the syn 5w.30 shortly after the factory oil was in there for a few months and drained it when I sold it in 98 with 278,000 kms on it it needed new bearings but other then that the Getrag was still a good X-f case.I have been using syn since 1986.
Iv'e had engines last forever on synthetic. I have an old 88 F150 with 375000 miles on it and when I bought it in 96 I started running synthetic in it everywhere Still runs great and not had any engine problems.
I run synthetics in everything I own but my PowerStroke trucks. Those two use oil too much in a combo of burning and leaking where it isn't economical. I double the recommended oil change interval for dino oil and have had no problems whatsoever. I had a Ford Escort I ran synthetic in for 204,000 miles without doing anything to but replacing an ignition module. The body fell apart around the engine otherwise I think it would have gone double that. It had the same oil pressure and got the same fuel mileage as when it was new when I sold it. I switched after doing some research and seeing engines torn down after running synthetic. Engines running under extreme conditions still had the honing marks on them after thousands of hours service. The synthetic oils also perform better under temperature extremes, flowing better when extremely cold and retaining viscosity better at extreme high temps. I'm sold on them.
oils We use Shell 0-40 synthetic in winter,Rotella 15-40 in summer.No problems with this set-up as of yet,but do regular oil sampling.Had a 99 Dodge with the Cummins engine and had 285,000 kms. when I traded it.Probably more like 325,000kms. if all the idling time was included.Ran synthetic from the first winter after watching the oil pressure guage read 0 psi longer than I thought it should with the 15-40 conventional oil at start-up.The power steering and transmission were switched to Amsoil synthetic,the diffs to Shell synthetic gear oil.Like two different trucks after especially when the temperature was in the -30's. Dominion
At how many hours do people usually change the oil when using synthetic?
Syn are not snake oils there are a lot better the dinos, but that doesn't mean they are the best choice. I run them in my personal vehicles, but that don't mean I would in my iron. That isn't true you can use any CJ-4 oil. You can even use CI-4, but I wouldn't on a regular basis. Long term it could damage the DPF. You can safety go a little longer then the recanended change interval, but really extending then should only be do per a Oil Analysis. This post was made by a guy that knows his stuff. Sorry if the links don't work. Head hurt yet?:drinkup
Wells theres more it was just to long
Not sure about heavy equipment. But we run synthetic in our VW TDIs and do 10k oil changes. Europe has up to 30k oil changes on their diesels autos.
Haha great signature merbston, maybe you should add Then vs Than as well.