Ciemny

Hey everyone,

I am about to do an oil change on the car (01 Protege,1.6L, 48 500K on it). Wondering if I should switch to synthetic oil and WHAT IF ANY are the benefits of this. Don't mind using regular pertolium stuff, but heard that synthetic is better for a variety of reasons I can't remember at the moment. Any sugestions or ideas would be greatly apreciated.

Ciemny.

zerocover

Sytnthetic protects better and has better cold starts + it lasts longer 5k instead of 3.
There are alot of reasons to have synth do a search.

I dont even question synthetic, I just use it and recomend it.

Ciemny

Another question, why would a change to synthetic cost so much, or at least more than dino juice. I know sunthetic costs more but a regular change is 24 where I am, a synth change is 40 to 60$. Dunno waht the difference really is.

zerocover

The diffrence is that synthetic is $5 a quart while the normal stuff can is $2.
The guys doing the change just pass there extra cost along. Usually the cheap oil is pumped from a big drum hanging above the garage and is some wierd no name brand while the synthetic comes in individual bottles and is usually mobil one.

Rusty

Change the oil on time and the engine won't last any longer with synth unless you race a lot.
Stand clear, fifty or so people will now either disagree or add their opinions (or tell you to do a search).

Couldn't find that "beating a dead horse" emoticon to insert here.

eric1234

Couldn't help but chime in here to add my $0.02....

I recently (at 90,000 miles on my '01 Pro) made the change to synthetic. Main reason was to extend service intervals. Previously had been doing cheap oil every 3,000 miles.

Now, Mobil 1 Extended Service 15,000 miles at 15,000 miles.

I got tired of laying under the car every 4 to 6 weeks to change the damned oil. I was always a cheapskate, and skeptical of leaving the oil in for such extended periods.

I read an article, and here is the "nickel summary":

"standard" oils use polymers to enhance the viscosity when the oil gets warm, and the synthetics do not. These polymers get broken and sheared by the engine in use, and thus the oil's high temperature viscosity degrades. Replacement gives you new polymers, and thus improves the protection.

The other purpose of motor oil is to absorb the corrosive combustion by products. The synthetics have more of these inhibitors since they are intended for extended service intervals.

Of course, there are lots of opinions out there, and lots of facts that might say only go to 10,000 or 7,000, or whatever. I forget where I got that article, but it certainly was interesting. Mobil 1, Redline, or other manufacturers of the synthetic stuff will provide lots of info. Of course, it's sometimes difficult to sort the information from the propoganda...

Good luck,
Eric

Rusty

I'm curious, does it take any longer for your synthetic to turn dark on the dipstick than it does for petrolium oil?
Maybe I'll finally be a reluctant convert.

eric1234

No, it does not take any longer for the synthetic to turn darker.

From the information I've read, the physical appearance is NOT an indication of the oil's ability to lubricate or absorb combustion contaminants.

Some people go to the extreme of determining the proper change interval via testing of the oil. Such oil testing is apparently quite common in the aircraft field, where engine reliability and efficient cost of operation are both very important.

I will admit that I'm also a reluctant convert. But after 5 years and 98,000 miles of "the old way" I figure I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain...

zerocover

Did anyone do an oil analysis? Im very interested to see what mine will say. I know they can tell you how good your oil still is and how much abuse the engine has taken over time.

My main reason for synth is that it runs better cold so the engine is instantly lubricated instead of the engine needing to heat up. So you can get in turn the car on and go and yould be prefectly fine. (My father likes to do that whenever he takes my car, I always let it heat up anyway.) You should look at normal oil in the cold its like honey, synth always flows right.

Ciemny

I finally did a an oil change and had a semi synthetic blend put in. I know some pleople say that it is **** and full synthetic is better, but just wanted to see how long it lasts. I know that semi has at most 10% synthetic in it?? correct me if I am wrong on this.

Clarkbug

I think that the amount of synthetic in an oil depends on the brand...

I havent ever used them myself (I just use dino juice, but am considering the switch) only with the idea that "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link". So, your blend can be pretty good depending on the dino base stock. I would just go cheap and all dino, or spend the extra cash on the full synthetic.

And if you really want to see people get into it over oil, head over to www.bobistheoilguy.com and see what they have to say....

wizteknet

I've just recently aquired a 99 protege, dont think the previous owner ever used synthetic, they did keep good oil change records I did notice a better performance thou minor increase just going to a walmart synthetic brand, using the fram extra guard filter my oil has stayed clear for the current 1000 miles. Guess everyone recommends mobile synthetic I take it, I thought castro made some of the best oil's since thats what I drove a camry 88 on just plain castro for 15yrs without ever a problem.

Omron

By the way if your going to use the Mobil 1 Extended Version make sure you use a damn good filter. buddy of mine had problems with dirt and crap in the oil cause the filter copped out.

But i have heard good reviews about the Mobil1 Extended , to bad its not here in Canada