Synthetic or regular oil?

[Z15]

Use oil additives at your own risk as you have no idea what is in them. There is no reason to use any additives with modern oils, actually the additives may lead to possible engine failure.

Aftermarket engine oil supplements are “treatments” advertised to enhance an oil’s properties. Manufacturers claim these treatments reduce friction, noise and wear; maintain higher lubricity and break down sludge and varnish, protecting the engine components. Many products advertise materials like Teflon, molybdenum or graphite; however, most fail to mention that they contain chlorine, which can be highly corrosive when mixed with water. Chlorinated paraffins were once used as extreme pressure (EP) additives in lubricants, but the practice has been discontinued in most passenger vehicle lubricants due to the corrosive side effects. These chlorinated compounds are used due to their low cost and ability to provide EP properties, but they readily react with water and combustion by-products to form acidic materials that promote corrosion of engine components and bearings.

 

[timjohnson22]

Synthetic is the way to go

 

[BWdiver]

Mobile 1 in my 05 Z71 since new with no problems and I still change it at 4,000 miles, good oil is cheap insurance.

I use no additional snake oil additives. royal purpal in rest of drivetrain.

 

[Coolade07]

ive used full synth ever since i hit 9000k on my 07. changed it between 3-4k miles religiously. i dont like driving the truck down til the oil monitor reads 0 because the oil is jus too dirty by that time.

i say go full synth.

if you have friends in the auto biz...use them wisely.

ive been spending $15 on full synth oil and labor each oil change w/ free tire rotation.

 

[FijiRob]

I run Royal Purple and am very pleased. In fact, i went 10k on my last oil change interval and decided to send the oil to a lab to see how well it held up and how well my engine was wearing.

The lab result came back perfect! The oil had maintained its viscosity and none of the levels were out of line. My engine is in top notch condition. The lab recommended continued oil change intervals at 10k.

 

[OklabyGodhoma]

Before I retired I spent many years as a Quality Assurance Manager for a military "Motor Pool". Oil use and consumption were always a great concern of vehicles put to the hardest usage. During routine maintenance we tested the oil utilizing an instrument that measured the amount of carbon and impurities in the oil. This is the optimal way of determining if oil indeed does need to be changed. Most people are not going to put out $2200.00 for such an instrument. Other ways of determining when oil should be changed is by actual hours of run time via the use of a "Hobbs Meter", or by mileage.

I have run Mobil 1 since it was first made available for public use; yes the military had it first for a great number of years. I have had a Volov 244 with 286,000 miles with NO oil usage as well as an S-10 with 261,000 miles again with NO oil usage. Currently both of my vehicles (Volvo S70 and 2007 Yukon XL) use Mobil 1 only. NO I do not receive money from Mobil (wish I did) but can attest to how well it works. Unlike parafin based oil synthetics do NOT break down from wear nor do they change viscosity and the "boiling point" is almost 400 degrees greater than "normal" oils.

From my Oct 4, 2009 posting in a simular thread.

Now for what you want to know. Your type of driving plays a great part in how often you change your oil, if you are using Mobil 1 a good rule of thumb is if most of your miles are from city (stop and go) then change your oil and filter every 10,000 miles. On the other hand if your miles are mostly highway then every 15,000 miles for oil and filter. I have personally tested Mobil 1 in a lab after 15,000 miles and found that if I were to filter the oil through a 6 micron filter I could put the oil right back in the vehicle. Remember, the carbon from combustion and other impurities are suspended in the oil and this causes your wear.

Also I use only WIX filters, more filter media and constructed so the flow thru utilizes all of the filter. I urge anyone to take the time to cut filters apart after they were used with a hacksaw and you can see exactly what I mean.

I do wish there was a way to specify the type of oil in use for the DCM to be more accurate....but lets face it, everyone here can do basic math.

---------- Post added at 11:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 PM ----------

From my post two days ago in another thread.

Yes you can change to synthetic oil even on a high milage vehicle. Key things to remember:

1) Do your first change of synthetic after 4000 miles and be prepared for lots of dirty oil to come out.
2) Pay attention for any leaks to suddenly show up. Remember lots of oils out there are parafin based (wax) that leave potential leaks plugged with wax. When synthetic is introduced it starts removing that wax buildup and leaks may appear.
3) Depending on the number of miles on your vehicle you may either want to opt for a thicker viscosity of synthetic or use a "high milage" synthetic.
4) Whatever synthetic you choose feel at ease at extending your milage between changes significantly. Please see my earlier post in this thread about personal history and lab testing.

Enjoy and don't be at all suprised if after 1 - 2 thousand miles that your vehicle seems to have more pep.

 

[acainindy]

I have been using Royal Purple since 2009 and I am very happy with it. I use the Royal purple filter too.

 

[OklabyGodhoma]

Royal Purple has a good rep....never disected one of their filters.

 

[stepjl]

Mobil #1 Syn is #1!!!!!!!

I have been running Mobil #1 SYN since I first learned about it in 1984 while working at a Mobil service station when I was a kid. There are MANY brands on syn oil now on the market, but I am a loyal Mobil #1 user. Use syn over conv oil no matter what brand. Amsoil I've read is the best $ can buy, but cost more. I run mine till it gets dirty... 4,000 to 6,000 miles. Anytime in that time frame when "I feel like it". You can run it longer as some on here have stated, but I would not go past the GM timeframe listed in your owners manual if you are under warrenty. Also, if you are going to run longer, I would still change out the filter/add a QT if going to do this every 5,000 miles or so. Mobil has a special Mobil #1 that says on the jug it is for EXTENDED use of around 15,000 miles.

 

[01HDtahoeNJN]

just hit over 100,000 milesi want to switch to synthetic but my uncle has a (1995 tahoe at 180,000 miles eith no prob on regular.) But I need this thing to last forever love it to much! What do you all think?