Synthetic oils

[tom36]

OK, today I got a flyer from Advance Auto and they have several oil "specials" listed. 5 QTS OF Quaker State and a filter for $24.99.  5Qts of Mobil one and a filter for$32.99; $35.99 for the "Extended Performance" one. Valvoline Syn Power  synthetic and a filter for $29.99.  And Valvoline Next Gen full synthetic and a filter for $19.99 with a $10 off coupon.  My question--- are all synthetics created equal?   Tom...

[Carnut]

By definition - Synthetic lubricants can be manufactured using chemically modified petroleum components rather than whole crude oil, but can also be synthesized from other raw materials. Synthetic oil is used as a substitute for lubricant refined from petroleum when operating in extremes of temperature,

Back when Synthetics first became popularized by Popular Science I converted over to the 'Full Synthetic' type of oil. The kind made from other raw materials because they convinced me the modified petroleum types still weren't as good as the 'Full Synthetic'. Unfortunately the synthetic brand I chose wasn't real popular and not readily available, so when Pennzoil came out with the 'PZL' synthetic, I went with it because it was available most everywhere, but alass even Pennzoil couldn't keep 'PZL' on the market very well so I finally gave in to 'Mobil 1' and have been using it ever since in all my 'new' cars and my 40 Fords built 350 because it was new.  One reason I was at first a little wary of 'Mobil 1' was because it was said to have been made from modified petroleum which again wasn't considered a 'Full Synthetic' by some. Anyhow my oil purity endeaver gave way to market and availability in Walmart.

My own first real world test of Synthetic Oil that convinced me was when I ran a test on my 360 Honda I was using to ride to work daily. After break in the bike would get about 45mpg average in my riding. When I changed over to the 'Full Synthetic' I used at the time the average mileage went up to 54 mpg. the reason I know this is that I keep track of mileage and expenses in detail for all my vehicles. It totally convinced me of it's lubricity. Whether it was worth the price is another story.

Recently there seems to be a concern about a chemical being dropped from oil that was needed for lifters riding on a camshaft because most new vehicles now come with roller lifters stock. So several of my friends are using Royal Purple Synthetic because it still has that chemical. I don't know anything about that oil and haven't converted over because of my fear of future availability.

Now Mobil 1 has expanded it's brand name to other oils that are not synthetics so my recommendation is only for the Full Synthetic original Mobil 1. I'm a believer and that's all I use and I still do 5k oil changes even with it because 5k just easy for me to remember.

[enjenjo]

Motor oil, along with other petroleum products are made from polymerized hydrocarbons. Natural motor oils are made from natural polymers that are suitable, but not always ideal for that use. They may contain contaminates that are harmful, or weak polymers that will break down easily. They can combine with combustion byproducts to form acids, and change the viscosity, and lubricity of the oil over time. There are also additives that delay this breakdown and modify the viscosity extending the life of the oil.

Synthetic oil is made from artificially made polymers that can come from petroleum, coal, natural gas, or even plant products. The advantage is they can make more stable polymers that will not break down as easily,and they can exclude many of the contaminates that natural oil has. Synthetic oils also contain additives.

[Arnold]

All synthetic oils are not the same.Not only that they have changed a LOT! since they came out
Depends on the OTHER stuff.."additives" that are added to it.
 What started off as all hyped up "PURE" synthetic..HAD to change.
I am sure everyone can remember all the hype..( I THINK it was Mobil 1) who started off with this ridiculous idea that because of it's better base(strength) that wt did not matter. There were zero wt oils.These "zero" weight oils destroyed an awful lot of engines.The first problem was the fact that there was no viscosity.I think it was Suzuki automobile engines that were first hit the hardest. Those engines called for 30 wt oil.30? they needed about 40-50. They ran too hot to begin with..the oil got thinned out real quick. One really needed to run a large spin on filter to cool the oil down. On zero wt synthetic..they didn't last any time at all.
 Oil pressure..the sheer leakage from no viscosity..let alone the fact that taking the dinosaur oil out let the seals return from their swollen state to no becoming awful leakers.I put low viscocity oil in lots of stuff. INSTANT
knocking,leaking and smoking. I still remember the very first time I poured some zero wt synthetic into an engine. I was asking myself why am I pouring varsol in my engine? This was a very,very tight zero knock,zero smoke,zero oil burning. It knocked,leaked oil and smoked INSTANTLY. I put the oil on Ebay..with the above story. It sold for more than I paid for it haha.

  Needless to say..that stupid don't need viscocity idea got very quietly dumped by..I think again..Mobil 1 was the first to introduce it. All the others very quietly followed. While they did not introduce regular viscocity all at once..it crept up to where it is now.Pretty much just the same as everyone elses oil.

  The seal issue was not going away until the synthetic oils added the same stuff that was in dinosaur oil to their blend. That has happened.
You can now safely put a good viscocity synthetic in anything because it will have the old additives to allow the seals to stay swollen.

  Coupled with much,much cleaner engines..oil dillution. Better oils...mainly regular oils..and drastically reduced engine clearances
the road was paved for ALL oils to be put in at drastically reduced viscocity.

  The "semi synthetic" oils came next.

  I very much doubt in a very controlled experiment that there is really much difference NOW between regular and synthetic oil. They BOTH have all kinds of other stuff in them. Too many engines that use regular oil go huge distances now.

  Sure is a GREAT! game..$200 oil changes on large passenger type vehicles here in Canada.Go to any dealer with a big pickup and synthetic and see. I forget which synthetic it is that is $15 LITRE in one of our big box stores. My buddy has a Benz. 2006 big sedan.
$300 oil change "special synthetic" $22 LITRE.
Every other oil change is $800. "Inspection required to maintan warranty"

  I am led to wonder just what exactly they put in as far as oil goes
when you go to these oil change places..or large box stores.Perhaps dealers too. There is too much money to be made by stealing.I wonder
whether your expensive oil change is just crap oil.
  I put Penzoil regular oil in..changed it myself. I KNOW how my vehicle engines sound. Go to Wally or CTC up here and have them put the exact same stuff in during an oil change. It is bulk of course. OMG sounds like I need a  new engine.The stuff they put in bulk and the stuff you buy is clearly not related.

  The  lubricant..ZDP..I think. They took it out of GM EOS. Took it out of pretty much all oils. Rotella had it..but I heard it is gone/going from it too.
I have heard there is something else in Royal Purple? I dunno.

[Beck]

  The  lubricant..ZDP..I think. They took it out of GM EOS. Took it out of pretty much all oils. Rotella had it..but I heard it is gone/going from it too.
I have heard there is something else in Royal Purple? I dunno.

ZDDP is the stuff. It really is not necessary in the roller lifter cars. BUT we are old motor heads and many of us don't have them fancy things.

In SM rated motor oil the spec is .07 to .08. The number we are looking for in our non roller motors is .14, so it only takes a little added ZDDP to bring those levels back to where we want them. If you have the pure stuff it takes 1 oz of ZDDP in a 5 quart oil change. ZDDP isn't a "more is better" additive. Galling occurs when the concentration is to high.

My employer is one of the worlds biggest makers of ZDDP. They do NOT sell direct to us common folks. All of our production goes to oil companies. The smallest shipments coming from us is a truck load of 55 gal drums. The common shipping quantity is a rail car. Each shipment leaving has a "lot sample" taken. It is a 16 oz jar. Those are kept for a predetermined amount of time. Then they are "recycled". Not all make it to the "recycle" point. I currently have 2 at home. A couple other motor heads here also intercept the recycling process.

I have seen adds for ZDDP in the back of a few auto magazines. I don't know the source of these adds. It could be a company buying bulk from someone like us and just repackaging. Most of these adds state larger than 1 oz amounts of their product in an oil change. They are just diluting the pure stuff into a more salable volume. You feel like you are getting more for your money if you get a 4 or 8 oz bottle than if they were to sell you the 1 oz container.