Switching to synthetic oil at 114,000 miles?

[toolazyforalogin]

So I want to start changing my oil on both my 2011 and 2007 Legacy sedans. I am planning on buying ramps, chocks etc - I switched to synthetic in my 2011 at 22,000 miles and I'm almost at 30,000 miles. So I figured I would change the oil to my 2007 also since it's time. Can I (and do you recommend) switching to synthetic to the car at 114,000 miles? If so, I was going to use an OEM filter and also was thinking about putting in Mobil 1 - now I see there is a 10w-40 Mobil 1 for high mileage cars so I'm assuming I would go that route. This car is only driven about 5-7 miles per day now and would need oil changed by date as opposed to mileage. I figure I would change the oil twice a year instead of every 3 months.

 

Thoughts/ideas? The changing of the oil seems to be pretty standard other than trying not to burn your hand when swapping the filter.

[apexi]

You can switch to synthetic, but I'm not sure I would recommend it.

 

There's a few different reasons why I would run a synthetic oil. The first reason I would run synthetic is if i I had an engine that was hard on oil, synthetic can take more of a beating than conventional oil. Thing is, our NA motors aren't very hard on oil.

 

Second reason I would run a synthetic oil is if I wanted to extend the length of my oil change interval, in regard to mileage and not time. But if you're only doing about 5-7 miles per day, you're not racking up a lot of miles. Conventional can do a 6 month oil change interval no problem, so I don't think you would have to switch to a synthetic to go from 3 months to 6 months.

 

At the same time, there isn't a huge price difference between conventional and synthetic in my opinion. I recently got a 5qt jug of mobil 1 at walmart for a friends car (acura, requires a HTO-06 oil), and paid $24.xx. I think these days a 5qt jug of conventional oil runs you about $13 or so, so you figure if your car doesn't consume any oil and you don't need to top off, that's only an extra $20 or so per year on oil to run synthetic.

 

I think the most important thing for you to do on a car only driven 5-7 miles per day is to try to take the car on the highway for 10+ minutes or so with the engine at operating temperature. If you do a lot of short trips, the engine really never has a chance to burn off condensation that gets in the oil. It's not the end of the world if you're unable to do that, but condensation would be more of my concern than synthetic vs conventional oil. If you do decide to run synthetic, you will be fine running any kind of synthetic, don't feel like you have to get a high mileage oil.

[wurkenman]

I run synthetic in everything I own that takes oil. I personally use Amsoil and have for 20 plus years. You can switch to syn oil any time. Every synthetic I have ever encountered will mix with regular oil, so no worries there. One thing to consider is however. If your engine is not tightly sealed, meaning all good gaskets, the synthetic oil WILL find a way out. You might develop a few small oil leaks or drops under your car. This just means you need some maint to do.

[idiot4hire]

I use rotella and I burn no oil. Keep Mobil 1 out of that car

[JJr]

I totally agree with what idiot said!!

[amptramp]

I have no idea what oil they put in my car (I got it on July 20 this year), but its next fill will be Pennzoil Platinum. Synthetics used to have a problem with the polyalphaolefins shrinking seals and causing leaks. They found out soon enough, if they added esters, it would swell the seals, so they got into a balancing act between seal shrinking and swelling agents. Once they got to the API-SN generation of oil, they added a surplus of seal swelling agents along with more detergent. You can read all about the API classifications here:

 

http://www.oilspecifications.org/api_eolcs.php

 

Dino oils haven't stood still, either. The modern dino oils would have been considered equivalent to a synthetic from about ten years ago. About the only thing you can't get in dino is a 0W-XX oil - the viscosity improvers are not there yet.

 

Note also that Rotella is only up to API-SM and it may never be avaialble in an API-SN, although it certainly has the detergent package. The oil classification timeline is here:

 

http://www.pqiamerica.com/apiserviceclass.htm

 

In most cases, 10W-XX oils are now considered obsolete. The bulk of the wear comes about at startup and no one has ever made an engine oil that is too thin on startup - not even the 0W-XX oils. 5W-20 and 0W-20 are now common specs, but the XW-20 oils are designed to allow the manufacturere to quote the best mileage for the vehicle. They are not necessarily the best for longevity and 0W-20 oils show non-lionear usage events where there may be no oil usage for several thousand miles then lose a quart within 500 miles then not use any more oil for several thousand more miles. It has been suggested that this is due to ring gaps lining up as they tend to turn slowly over the life of the engine.

[rob-2]

You can switch back and forth these days.

 

Put some T6 in there and see if you burn. If you do switch back.

[Max Capacity]

Good info in some of the post above. Don't over think this. All oils must meet the DOT spec's. I used Fram filters for years and never had a bearing problem.

 

You'll be fine with just about any oil that is cheap and any name brand filter. As apexi, try to take the car for a highway once a week or so.

 

You really need to get the moisture out of there.

[amptramp]

If you want a quick comparison of oil filters, check the hyperlinks to the left of each filter shown here:

 

http://minimopar.net/oilfilters/index.html

 

One parameter that is missing from their analysis is the relief valve blowoff pressure. Other than that, it is a pretty good analysis. BTW, I use NAPA Gold filters made by Wix for the family car (was a Suzuki Esteem wagon, is now a Legacy wagon, but I have not changed the oil on it yet) and regular NAPA filters for the Miata, which sees a lot fewer miles.

[KartRacerBoy]

I'd be leery of switching to synthetic after so many miles. I switched to Mobil 1 on a 10 yr old 80k mile Volvo 850. I'd owned the car a month and there were zero leaks, yet after I went to Mobil 1, it started dripping and after a year it leaked a quart after 250 miles. And I had switched by to dino oil within a week of putting in the Mobil 1. My brother in law had the same experience on a BMW he bought used. Put Mobil 1 in it and it immediately started leaking oil. The old seals don't like synthetic.

 

I don't know if other synthetics are like Mobil 1, but I would NOT do the switch if I were you.

[rob-2]

I'd be leery of switching to synthetic after so many miles. I switched to Mobil 1 on a 10 yr old 80k mile Volvo 850. I'd owned the car a month and there were zero leaks, yet after I went to Mobil 1, it started dripping and after a year it leaked a quart after 250 miles. And I had switched by to dino oil within a week of putting in the Mobil 1. My brother in law had the same experience on a BMW he bought used. Put Mobil 1 in it and it immediately started leaking oil. The old seals don't like synthetic.

 

I don't know if other synthetics are like Mobil 1, but I would do the switch if I were you.

 

Mobil 1 isn't very 'good' syn but it is well marketed. If you must run m1 get there Extended Performance - wouldn't use it in a turbo'd car. I didn't have any problems with the m1 euro blend 0-40 in the LGT.

[mdzowner]

ive been running mobil one full syn since my first oil change at 200 miles, now have over 118k never a drip, doesnt burn any that ive noticed. this topic has been discussed at length. so opinions will vary greatly

[KartRacerBoy]

Mobil 1 or synthetic early one is ok. It's changing to Mobil 1 (and maybe other synthetics) late in the car's life when oil seals are old. Something in Mobil 1 when mixed with old oil seals causes the problem. If the oil is used from new, there isn't a problem.

[rob-2]

ive been running mobil one full syn since my first oil change at 200 miles, now have over 118k never a drip, doesnt burn any that ive noticed. this topic has been discussed at length. so opinions will vary greatly

 

Well good. I have run their EP on other cars for 15k with 140k of zero issues. It doesn't handle heat as nicely and runs on the thin side for its weight. It's also not a real syn. Aside from that its plenty cheap and if you change every 3k I am sure it will never be a problem.

[toolazyforalogin]

Thanks for all the feedback. After reading your posts, it sounds safer to keep going with conventional oil.

 

Maybe in my 2011 Legacy I'll give that rotella a chance.

[Pennyless]

I have switched all my cars over and have been super happy. My 01 Silverado was low miles but using oil like crazy. I changed up to synthetic and the problem has fixed itself to the point where it uses no oil at all.