Synthetic Oil?

[TG]

Is anyone running synthetic oil in their H2? I plan to keep my H2 for quite some time and wonder if the synthetic will help the engine last longer with less maintanice problems. I have more than 70% oil life left(w/1500 miles) before my first change, would it be wise to go ahead and change it a little early, say at 50% oil life left, since it still has factory oil in it? Thanks!

[MAC]

I have never use synthetic oil before, and I never had any problem with any engine in any car in 20+ years of driving. Sure, lots of things go wrong and needed repair, but never the engine, which made me think the engine is the strongest part of a car. I see these late night infomercial on TV, selling gas addictives and promising all sort of miracles, then I read in car magazines telling me these are useless and stay away from them. There are people who will put Premium gas in vehicles recommended regular gas, and I have seen reports and interviews saying it is a total waste to do that. TV reporters also have reported that expensive big brands gas came from exact same wholesale refinery as the cheap gas, research showed they are exactly the same gas from the tubes, yet I know people pay lots more for bigger branded gas.

Naturally I am confused and I want my Hummer to live a long and happy life.
If synthetic oil is so good, why auto maker do not recommend it? Can you please tell me what are the proven benefits of synthetic oil that you yourself have experienced. Not just better or good for engine, but something solid, real and can be noticed. Faster? more MPG? more HP? Quieter?

[AC5ZO]

I have been using Mobile 1 in all of my engines for the past ten years. I have a 92 GMC Sierra with 75K miles including a lot of offroad (even one pass thru the Baja 1000 as a chase truck) That engine does not use a drop of oil and the truck runs like new. I had similar success with a Toyota SR5 chase truck and a Pontiac Bonneville that I also owned. I just got my H2 and the dealer told me that he would recommend Mobile 1.

I think that it is good to do the first oil change early, but I use regular oil for the first 5000 miles or so. I believe that this gives the engine a chance to wear in nicely. The Mobile 1 is so good that there is little wear after putting it in. (Mobile does not say that this wear in is necessary, by the way.)

I have used Amsoil in the past with good results also. I know that there are other good synthetics out there, but I have had such good luck with the Mobile 1 that I haven't bothered to look around or research it further.

[Klaus]

Having traded in a Corvette for my H2, I am well stocked in Mobil 1 oil. All later model Corvettes are required to use synthetic oil.

I just changed my oil using Mobil 1 5w-30 and a Mobil 1 synthetic oil filter.

Wal-Mart occasionally has Mobil 1 on sale in 5 quart jugs for around $17-$18. When I catch the sale, I stock up.

AutoZone carries the Mobil 1 oil filters.


Klaus

[Dan]

I use synthetics as well. Even my 25hp lawn tractor gets Mobil 1.

The process I use with my new cars is:

1. drive 1000 miles on factory oil
2. oil change, use regular oil
3. drive 3000 miles
4. oil change, switch to synthetic from then on

I like to do a 1000 mile change. That first part of break in creates the most amount of particulate material in the oil. Another 3000 on regular oil for more break in.

There are may arguments about this, mainly whether synthetics will allow an engine to break in correctly if used initially.
I think it depends on the engine, its tolerances, mechanisms, and materials used.

As mentioned, the Vettes come with synthetic from the factory so I would continue to use that only. My Honda came with regular oil, so I followed my plan above.

From the tons of material I've read about this, it seems there is no definite plan. A lot of it boils down to personal preferences & beliefs.

- Dan

[Hummie2]

How do you really know your synthetic is really living up to its claims? I have 100k on a 93 Z71 with a 350 and been on Penzoil 15-40 all its life. It does not use oil and still passes emissions test with flying colors. I fully expect 200k out of it. The reason I ask this question is because I used to mechanic for a company where we ran a fleet of trucks, both gas and diesel. We did lube oil anaylsis every 90 days on everything except our few pick ups. We tried synthetics (Mobil) for about 18 months in a test group and weren't pleased. Chrome and iron content was almost always high ,sometimes at critical levels, indicating high ring and cylinder wear. The trucks were serviced on the same intervals as the rest of our fleet, on regular oil, which rarely would come back with a bad report. We finally switched away from synthetics all to gather. We couldn't justify the additional expenses. I firmly believe in oil anaylsis as a maintenance tool, but it , like oil changes, has to be preformed on a regular interval to be of any value. I have been made aware of air filtration and coolant leaks months before I would have known a problem existed by trace amount of contaminates in the oil, made evident by anaylsis.
Just my $.02 worth, thanks.

Don

[This message was edited by Hummie2 on November 25, 2002 at 07:01 AM.]

[TG]

Is anyone running synthetic oil in their H2? I plan to keep my H2 for quite some time and wonder if the synthetic will help the engine last longer with less maintanice problems. I have more than 70% oil life left(w/1500 miles) before my first change, would it be wise to go ahead and change it a little early, say at 50% oil life left, since it still has factory oil in it? Thanks!

[Klaus]

The biggest advantage of synthetic oil is that it can handle much more heat than conventional oil can.

Late model Corvettes require synthetic oil because they do not have oil coolers, and the oil can run quite hot under performance conditions. Conventional oil will actually "gum up" in the Corvette under extreme conditions.

Synthetic oil also flows much better when cold.

There is a lot of difference between synthetic oil and various additives for sale. The Corvette comes from the factory filled with Mobil 1, and the owners manual states that synthetic oil is required. However, the manual also states to not use any additives.

The cost is not that much more, so I intend to use Mobil 1 in the H2.

Klaus

[buddy]

I agreed. I've used Mobile 1 and Royal Purple in all my vehicles. I changed from Mobile 1 to Royal Purple in a 01 Z06 due to oil burning issues. The oil burning was reduced, but probably not because of changing brands. Both are excellent.

You just need to get a 4-5 thousand miles on first before switching to synthetic.

buddy