ARTICLE: Synthetic oil vs Mineral oil

[kirantp]

My service advisor asked me to go for Synthetic oic when I took my ANHC for 2nd service. He said it will make the engine smoother and will also increase the mileage.

Can anybody tell me whether I should stick to Synthetic going forward for my ANHC? Also appreciate if you can share your experience after running your ANHC on synthetic.

Cheers,
KTP

[Sn1p3r]

^kirantp: The time fixed service interval did not see my car run more than 4k when I went in for 3rd service. I think if you have good mileage and rake in more in the coming years then synthetic is the way to go. I will do so as I get my car serviced next time i.e., 11k km. I am on 9115 as we speak. Its been 1year 4 days

Minerals helps better run-in. I think a car engine gets totally run-in at 10k. Cheers!

[Monaro CV8]

Originally Posted by sriturl

As I remember, the recommended oil change interval for a mineral oil as recommended by Maruti in the manual is 10K kms. It is a normal ploy by most MASSs to say that you need to change oil every 5K kms. While it is a good practice considering the quality of Servo which Maruti uses, recommendation by Maruti as in the manual is 10K for oil change.

For synthetics, typically people say that you can double the oil change interval. So theritically it should be 20K kms, or atleast 15K. If they filled Synth at 1K, you can safely go to 20K service. My personal opinion though.

Having said that, I change mineral at 7.5K with Delvac MX. If I use Synth, I may go to 15K, which I am thinking this time. I am due for 50K service for my swift.

Having 4 diesel cars in the stable, I am convinced that the synthetic oils would be changed around 15k and semi synthetics around 7.5k .

[chevelle]

Does it make sense to switch to synthetic oil for a 1998 camry with a little over 200000 kms?

from start it uses mineral oi. now i am thinking of putting a synthetic oil. should i or should i not?

please advice.

[sgiitk]

@chevelle; You have done 200k, so why bother now. A thinner oil (synth) may even start an oil burning problem.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@chevelle; You have done 200k, so why bother now. A thinner oil (synth) may even start an oil burning problem.

Not true. Synthetic oils of the matching grade are not thinner.

Chevelle, If your car is healthy you can use synthetic. Healthy means no oil leaks, no excessive oil burning, no excessive sludge buildup. In case of excessive sludge buildup the synthetics might dislodge/dissolve the sludge which could otherwise be masking weak seals/gaskets in such a high mileage engine. In case of leaks or oil burning its not worthwhile to put synthetic in.

Does it make sense to put synthetic in your car? I don't know since the engine is quite old. If i were you, i'd probably put in semi synth instead of synth in this case and see how it goes.

[kirantp]

Sn1p3r,

Thanks for your inputs. I got my 2nd service done 2 months ago and that was when I went in for synthetic oil. My reading is 4K as of today and my 3rd service is due in Aug'11 or 10K whichever is earlier. So still have 2 more months to go and am planning to do another 4K atleast by then. Let me observe how the engine performs till then while running on Synthetic.

Cheers,
KTP

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@chevelle; You have done 200k, so why bother now. A thinner oil (synth) may even start an oil burning problem.

Originally Posted by Sankar

Chevelle, If your car is healthy you can use synthetic. Healthy means no oil leaks, no excessive oil burning, no excessive sludge buildup. In case of excessive sludge buildup the synthetics might dislodge/dissolve the sludge which could otherwise be masking weak seals/gaskets in such a high mileage engine. In case of leaks or oil burning its not worthwhile to put synthetic in.

Does it make sense to put synthetic in your car? I don't know since the engine is quite old. If i were you, i'd probably put in semi synth instead of synth in this case and see how it goes.

Thanks for your inputs.

I changed the oil today and kept it mineral. There is no sludge & oil leaks as of now neither is excessive oil burning. So it is running good. I thought if i switch to synthetic, i would have to change gaskets and other stuff too which will be expensive. I would rather do the regular oil change at 4000 kms- 5000 kms rather than do synthetic. I am not sure how such an old engine would respond to synthetic after being fed mineral oil all its life.

Before the oil change, the engine noise of more because of valve cover and engine mount, everything is back to being silent like it was before after oil change. Also did tire rotation, so all is well.

Thanks again.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

I am not aware of any study/data on the above but can say with conviction that there is a remarkable difference in the engine performance when you switch over from mineral to synthetic oil. I switched over from regular MGO to Mobil 1 (5W 50) for my Esteem at around 20K kms and my engine is butter smooth.

Thanks! My first paid service is due in another few days and the Helix HX5 is out of stock in all Shell stations. They have only Helix Ultra at present @ Rs 1050.00 per litre. But since my usage is only around 5k KM per year, I am loathe to fill costly synthetic oil and throw it away at half life next year! That is the half life for HX5 too, but then it costs only Rs 950.00 for 4 litres, so it is OK!

But at least I have that choice since mine is Alto LXi! If I had the Alto K10, there will be no choice but to go for synthetic. Though I think they have a lower priced synthetic MGO for the newer engines.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Thanks! My first paid service is due in another few days and the Helix HX5 is out of stock in all Shell stations. They have only Helix Ultra at present @ Rs 1050.00 per litre. But since my usage is only around 5k KM per year, I am loathe to fill costly synthetic oil and throw it away at half life next year!

This could be a ploy to liquidate SHU stocks @ dealer prices. Forget buying oils from Shell pumps. They are always more expensive and nearly always have old stock. You could try your luck at the Shell distributor. Don't go in for synthetic only because these fellows have no stock of HX5.

Cheers!

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Thanks! My first paid service is due in another few days and the Helix HX5 is out of stock in all Shell stations. They have only Helix Ultra at present @ Rs 1050.00 per litre. But since my usage is only around 5k KM per year, I am loathe to fill costly synthetic oil and throw it away at half life next year! That is the half life for HX5 too, but then it costs only Rs 950.00 for 4 litres, so it is OK!

But at least I have that choice since mine is Alto LXi! If I had the Alto K10, there will be no choice but to go for synthetic. Though I think they have a lower priced synthetic MGO for the newer engines.

I agree with your viewpoint. In my case, my Esteem does less than 10K per year and still I go in for Mobil 1 synthetic oil as I am quite impressed with the butter smooth drive I get from it. Having said that, if you are not too finnicky like me, close your eyes and go in for the regular oil.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

I agree with your viewpoint. In my case, my Esteem does less than 10K per year and still I go in for Mobil 1 synthetic oil as I am quite impressed with the butter smooth drive I get from it. Having said that, if you are not too finnicky like me, close your eyes and go in for the regular oil.

That is what I plan to do this year, as my odo reading is just about 10K KM! May be I will try synthetic when it is near the 20K mark, like you did!

But this HX5 (15W40, API SL) is much, much better than the MGO. I have been using it from the first service onwards and am very happy with it.

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by kirantp

Sn1p3r,

Thanks for your inputs. I got my 2nd service done 2 months ago and that was when I went in for synthetic oil. My reading is 4K as of today and my 3rd service is due in Aug'11 or 10K whichever is earlier. So still have 2 more months to go and am planning to do another 4K atleast by then. Let me observe how the engine performs till then while running on Synthetic.

Cheers,
KTP

Kiran, here is my reasoning between synth and mineral oils.
For every oil, there is a time elapse. say in 1 year you need to change oil irrespective of number of kms.(this number may vary, but just using as example)
Assuming oil change for mineral is 10K, and synth is 20K, I would say if you are not running more than 10K in an year, then putting synth would be waste, since you anyway need to change it. If you running is 15-20K then synth may make sense.

[Sn1p3r]

^ agreed. My annual mileage is approx 10k and thus I still am using Honda mineral. It is better to have an oil change than to use an old expensive oil. Cheers!

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Thanks! My first paid service is due in another few days and the Helix HX5 is out of stock in all Shell stations. They have only Helix Ultra at present @ Rs 1050.00 per litre. But since my usage is only around 5k KM per year, I am loathe to fill costly synthetic oil and throw it away at half life next year! That is the half life for HX5 too, but then it costs only Rs 950.00 for 4 litres, so it is OK!

But at least I have that choice since mine is Alto LXi! If I had the Alto K10, there will be no choice but to go for synthetic. Though I think they have a lower priced synthetic MGO for the newer engines.

Any plans of trying a different oil ?

My uncle recently filled 'Total Quartz 5000' 15W40 in his Alto and he personally finds it much better than MGO.

Should be worth a try.