Synthetic oil vs conventional...?

[Old Man Powell]

I changed the old oil in Rooster and put in Valvoline 10W-30 synthetic. i use this in all my vehicles and have always been very happy with it. However, Wondering if I should have stuck with conventional oil. I don;t know if it's conincidence but my oil pressure gage stopped working afterwards. Engine sounds great (except for the annoying leak at the exhaust manifold) and is running nice and strong. It did work briefly but then stopped again. I installed a new sensor and it still is not working.

Anywho, just curious as to what you guys use and recommend. Again, it's the 440-3... has roughly 67k miles.

On a side note, I used to use Rotella in my old Holiday Rambler. It had 90k miles and the oil really helped quiet it down and run better overall. However, I don't see the need to run it in Rooster.

[GONMAD]

Greetings,  I strongly recommend installing an aftermarket mechanical oil pressure gauge. The factory gauges are a compromise at best. It's more comforting to KNOW your oil pressure than to 'hope for the best' otherwise. As far as the synthetic oil is concerned...DEFINITELY use the synthetic! I prefer AMSOIL, Royal Purple or (hard to get Red Wolf). The latter manufactured by Smokey Unick & very hard to find anymore. My Father helped in the original military version of Synthetic oil development in Korea. It would get so cold the Dinosaur oil would freeze up quickly & the aircraft engines could not be serviced. Synthetics will neither freeze or catch fire like the Dino oil will. Also I STRONGLY advise using "Z MAX" in the engine as it is used in EVERY recip aircraft engine flying today. Also use a product called "LUBEGUARD" in your transmission & it comes pre installed in most automatic transmissions today. I use these products in ALL the Cars & trucks I build for people & had NO ill effects...period. Let the buzzkills & naysayers begin with the oral bile they want to spew forth to defer anything NEW to the "BS" file & do some research on the matter & I'll bet you find the right info. Just MY three cents worth Good luck! GONMAD

[Stripe]

On a side note, I used to use Rotella in my old Holiday Rambler.

You put a HAZELNUT SPREAD in your Holiday Rambler!?

That being said, Like Mad says, Synthetic is pretty darn good,  Mad correct me here if'n I'm wrong here, there are high milage synth blends available too..

[TripleJ]

I went with standard rotella for the first oil change. I've always understood diesel formulations are good at cleaning and keeping contaminants in suspension, as diesel engines are very dirty. I don't know when the oil was changed last. It was beyond filthy

I doubt I'll be going with a big dollar synthetic as this thing will be getting an oil change at least once a year regardless of mileage.

[bluebird]

I use regular old dino oil in mine too. Just because because I only put on about 3000 miles in a years time, and change the oil yearly. If I drove it more I'd use synthetic oil. I've been using synthetic oil in my race car, with lucas additive and am more than happy with the results. I only change the oil in it once a year now too. The engine is in much better condition since the change. I bought an old 99 Corvette a few years ago, it has had Mobile 1 in it since new, and it still don't use any oil. I replaced the O rings on the valve covers when I first got the car, as they were leaking. I was amazed how clean this engine was inside. When I was using dino oil in the race car, the bearings would be showing signs of wear, on winter inspection not bad, but more wear than when using synthetic.

[pvoth1111]

I doubt I'll be going with a big dollar synthetic as this thing will be getting an oil change at least once a year regardless of mileage.

yep!

[LJ-TJ]

Well you guys will just LOVE ME. What is the purpose of oil? To Cool and to lubricate. To flush the impurities from the engine. Bottom line is I have never under stood synthetic oils. So you can run them for a million miles. So what your still running the same crud through your engine. I use Rotella-T 15-40 and change my oil and filter every 2,000 miles. As the Fram Man says you can pay me NO or you can pay me LATER.  D:oH!

[tiinytina]

While I use Mobile 1 in all my daily drivers... I use regular oil in Gone.  My toyota 1998 nearly 400K miles has always had Mobile 1 every 5k with filter, the oil fill port is as new, no blackening owned her since new.  Lexus bought at 34K miles serviced "by dealer" the oil fill port is blackened inside, it has had Mobile 1 since bought it 130K on her runs as new.  Saturn Ion3 same thing Mobile 1 going on 300k bought with 36K.  All get oil and filter every 5K miles as most are long distance not inner city etc driving.  That said... was warned off changing to synthetic in an older engine like the Chevy 454 with 65K on it.  Reason being the synthetics may be too clean, it may remove deposits which would be leaks otherwise in an older engine.

I used one of those add to the oil before you change it, liquifies impurities etc in my first Toyota truck.. Removed a ton of gunk from the oil pan etc.. I was impressed... until I blew my front oil seal... $15 dollar part $400 to replace it.

On Gone I usually use Valvoline truck heavy duty 10W-30, 8-9 quarts, Fram one filter, every year.. we do a bit over 2K on her. 

Tina

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I know this is a dead horse already beaten, but in my opinion, if you change your oil like you should, regular oil, even the cheap stuff from Walmart, is just as good as synthetic.  You should change your oil, even with synthetic, EVERY 3000 miles, period.  Its not just the viscosity of the oil breaking down you have to worry about, its the contaminates, the moisture, the carbon, and the microscopic dirt and metal particles that are floating around in the oil over time.  The hype that you can just change your filter every 3000 miles is just hype.  Stick to the cheaper stuff, change your oil and filter every 3K, and you'll have a little more money in your wallet without bending to the deceit of erroneous marketing. 

On the other hand, synthetic gear lube is pretty awesome stuff.  Change out your differential lube with synthetic, and you won't have to worry about it again for at least 100K miles.

Kev

[cncsparky]

Actually Kevin, I save money by using synthetics.  Ran the numbers.  By extending the drain intervals, no need to change as often.  Frequent, unneeded oil changes are irresponsible.  Contaminated oil by 3K miles is a myth of erroneous marketing by oil companies looking to sell MORE oil.  How is exended drain intervals (ie consuming less oil over the life of a vehicle) a good marketing strategy for a company that sells oil?  Hm?

[Wbago]

Praps i should change mine then lol . .. got no clue on when an oil change has been done on the Bago, and my jag has done 17,000 miles since i bought it, and ive never even checked that lol

[Oz]

I used to do the 3,000 mile thing until reading up and finding the same thing that cncsparky did.  Like Tina, I started doing it at 5,000 miles with conventional oil and filter change, and that seemed to be the good number.   Only going by visual and smell, that was the point when the oil would be going from brown to black without any burnt smell and no signs of metal flakes or contamination.  I've been doing that ever since (about 10 years).  I noticed that the Chevy dealer nearby has gone to 5,000 mile intervals on the cars they service.

[cncsparky]

Oil analysis kits are not very expensive if you want to know the condition of your oil.  My guess is even a good quality conventional oil at 3K still has plenty of life left in it.  You and I can't tell just by looking at it (unless of course it is milky colored or has chunks in it, but that is a whole other problem). And speculating that your oil is bad only leads to premature changes and more out of pocket $$. 

IMO, more important than conventional or synthetic, is the oil correct for the application.  Most of our engines here on this forum are older with flat tappet camshafts.  Modern oils have removed an important ingredient, ZDDP, for the sake of emissions.  That additive, zinc phosphate, cushions the area between a lifter and cam lobe.  We need to be using an oil with the additive put back in.  Several oils are now being marketed for 'classic' vehicles that are intended for our applications. 

For more info, google "flat tappet cam failures".  Lots of reading.

[Froggy1936]

Comment: Haveing replaced Rod & Main bearings on my 1977 Chev 350 @ 80 K The old bearings showed NO WEAR  Other than the shine was gone they looked like they just came out of the box ! Also upon tearing apart the replacement 1995 5.7 Chev eng. that had 240K on it Those bearings looked almost new also The only part that was worn out were the cam bearings No2 was worn through to the steel backing . This is caused by allowing the engine to start before full circulation and pressure are obtained ! Even tho this engine had a oil press connection on the fuel pump relay . I do not know the history of oil or changes on either engine  Frank