Alright, I was reading all the benefits of synthetic blends and full synthetic motor oil and was thinking about switching over to full synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil since I am due for an oil change in about 300 or 400 miles, i use10-40. My truck is an 89 V6 5spd 4WD with about 183k miles and I have had it since Oct 2004 when it had about 177K miles on it. My questions are, does my truck have too many miles for me to switch over to synthetic (either full or blend) and at the miles I have are the benefits worth the cost to switch over to synthetic? I plan on switching to 10-40 Mobil 1 or Castrol, just don't know if sythetic blend or full sythentic yet. Also what are the benefits to switch to synthetic blend or Full synthetic motor oil. I typically like to do my oil changes around 3K miles or 3 months, can I go longer say 4-5 months and 4-5K miles with either synthetic blend or full synthetic motor oil?
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Your truck is probably not a good candidate for going to full synthetic motor oil at the accumulated mileage stated. Synthetics are very good products, especially in vehicles that rack up a lot of miles in a relatively short time span. If you were driving at least double what you indicate, then perhaps, synthetics make more sense. Good conventional oil will adequately protect your engine if changed at the intervals you are now doing and also, those frequent changes will purge your engine of moisture, blow-by, sludge, etc. You might consider changing the lubricant in the transmission and rear axle though. There is some potential benefit in terms of less friction in the drive train and thus better performance.
In short, you are doing fine with your current regime, IMO.
Thanks GregoryM for the reply back . I commute approximately 10 miles each day one way 5 days a week. So that’s only about 400 miles a month in comminuting so I guess I drive a total of 800 to 1200 miles a month which I agree isn’t very much. I am leaning not to switching to full synthetic now based on your comments. What are you thoughts on synthetic blend that castrol offers (not sure if Mobil one does also) since its only about $1 more a qt, not really much more. I’m starting to see little benefit with Full synthetic motor oil in my situation but welcome yours and any else opinion just to make sure I cover all my options.
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IMHO, synthetic blends are of marginal benfit at best. I suspect that they are sold to fit a marketing/price niche for the producer. They are just trying to cover a range of markets. The bottom line is profit and revenue.
Along with regular oil changes, use a good quality filter and you'll go a long way. I may not have been clear about using synthetics in the transmission and rear axle. That may return more benefit than anywhere else. Good luck.
IMO, synthetic are always better than conventional regardless of how many miles you have on your engine. The question is, what weight should you use? Also, what is the deal with synthetic blends? That's like using half of a condom.
I read somewhere in here that you don't want to use a certain type of gear oil in the tranny because it was too slippery and wasn't good for the tranny or gears. Not sure why. So I would suspect that you would want to stick to the manufactuers specs for the tranny fluid. Just my 2 cents
Yes, you can switch any vehicle to synthetic at any time.
When my Dad gave me his 92 Subaru, 5 years ago, he told me he had the dealer do all his oil changes but didn't know what kind of dino oil they used. (It had 65,000 at the time.)
I drove the car here and got 23 mpg. (It's AWD) I switched it to Mobile 1 for high-mileage cars and my mileage went up to 27 mpg, it runs smoother, and starts easier in the cold.
I change the oil every 5 months, or 4,000 miles, whichever comes sooner. (But I check it weekly and change it if it is looking dirty....something I had to do the first year until all the junk was washed out of the engine by the synthetic.)
I love synthetic oil. I have noticed smother, quieter operation with anything I put it in. I just bought a toy with 92,000 miles and I am going to use dino oil and watch it closely. If I notice it stays clean over a 500 miles, I may change it out then to synthetic. Its good stuff. But I still change it at 3 or 4000 mile intervals. Yes I am an oil aholic. Is there a group for us?
This is a hot topic. I have seen strong opinions on both sides. I wonder, have there been any thorough studies to show the cost-effectiveness of synthetics? How do you calculate the benefits? Like just about everyone else, I prefer to use the "best" products, but it is worthwhile? Maybe I don't normally keep a vehicle long enough to justify the extra cost.
I was wondering when is the best time to switch a new car/truck to Synthetic? It is a must to start with mineral oil (for proper break in). But at what mileage should I start on Synthetic. On piston engine aircraft we run straight mineral for the first 100 hours, for what it's worth. My new Taco has 3500 miles on the 2.7 now.
tacojet, IMO, you should change to synthetic as soon as the rings are seated. As you know that can depend on the type of ring and the finish on the cylinder walls but, you are probably safe to change at 3 to 5,000 miles.
I just changed from dino oil to syn this week, my '04 D Cab had 4000 mi on it. I put in Mobile 1 and used a TRD oil filter. The temps here in MN have been in the teens at night and high 20's during the day, I could tell the engine was running better and my fuel economy has improved to getting 2 mi. per gallon better on average.
I just changed from dino oil to syn this week, my '04 D Cab had 4000 mi on it. I put in Mobile 1 and used a TRD oil filter. The temps here in MN have been in the teens at night and high 20's during the day, I could tell the engine was running better and my fuel economy has improved to getting 2 mi. per gallon better on average.
Temps in the "teens"??? Holy cow! That's freakin' cold man. You need to move to a warmer state and get a tan.
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. I commute approximately 10 miles each day one way 5 days a week. So that’s only about 400 miles a month in comminuting so I guess I drive a total of 800 to 1200 miles a month which I agree isn’t very much. I am leaning not to switching to full synthetic now based on your comments. What are you thoughts on synthetic blend that castrol offers (not sure if Mobil one does also) since its only about $1 more a qt, not really much more. I’m starting to see little benefit with Full synthetic motor oil in my situation but welcome yours and any else opinion just to make sure I cover all my options. 
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