Do I change my synthetic oil for winter storage?

[ragtag]

The guy I bought my roadster from used Mobil 1 synthetic. I just changed it so I'm ready for the summer driving. My question is do I need to change it again next next fall before I store it (like I used to do with conventional oil) or should I change it again before I put it away for the winter? What do you guys do with cars that use synthetic oil?

[Canuck]

Part of my winter layup process for any engine is a oil change, regardless of the type of oil used.

I feel that this rids the engine of any acids or other harmful chemicals created when the engine is running and gets rid of the maximum amount of created sludges from the engine before they get a chance to really congeal.

May be only my opinion, but it has worked well for me over the last 50 years working on engines.  Learned from my father, who apprenticed under a Rolls Royce mechanic. Oils are better today than he had to work with, but the contaminates are similar, if not worse today.

Cheap insurance.

Canuck

[Topsterguy]

Part of my winter layup process for any engine is a oil change, regardless of the type of oil used.

I feel that this rids the engine of any acids or other harmful chemicals created when the engine is running and gets rid of the maximum amount of created sludges from the engine before they get a chance to really congeal.

May be only my opinion, but it has worked well for me over the last 50 years working on engines.  Learned from my father, who apprenticed under a Rolls Royce mechanic. Oils are better today than he had to work with, but the contaminates are similar, if not worse today.

Cheap insurance.

Canuck

Hmmmmmm, I've always changed my oil afterwinter storage for the summer, then left it in for the winter. Wrong?

[Fat Cat]

My oil rep at work has told me on several occasions that if I am pulling out synthetic oil that look like new oil I am wasting money in changing it. He even went so far as to tell me that if I was going to change it before it looked old then I could bring it to him and he would run it in his own car.

I have been using Mobil 1 extended service oil for a few years now and I am changing the oil in my daily driver once a year. I only put about 12,000 miles a year on it. The extended service oil claims a change interval of 15,000 miles or 12 months. I had up until recently a Dakota that had not had an oil change in almost 2 years during which time we put less that 5000 miles on it. When you looked at the oil on the dip stick it still looked like brand new.

[taxpyer]

I had the same delema, if you want to call it that. I've come to the conclusion that maintenance on my hobby cars is fun and so I decided to drop the rather extravagant synthetic oil and just run the regular oil and save the difference. They are over priced and in my mind over rated especialy in cars that only put on several thousand miles then sit for the winter. I can see where synthetic oil might make alot of sense in a car that is used alot throughout the year, like 20,000 miles etc.
Now having said that, synthetic in your trans or diff makes alot more sense being as it fights wear and cools very well and can be left in for long periods of time justifying the cost.

Just a thought.......................

[Carnut]

Well, not sure how much I can ad, but I'll put my 20cents worth in.

I've owned several 'hobby' cars for many years, 67 Dodge Charger since new, 31 ford for 35yrs, 40 ford for 34yrs, 61 Chrysler for 21yrs, 77 Silverado for 35yrs.

All these vehicles have spent extended time 'parked' or 'stored' and most all of them have been using Mobil 1 synthetic since it came on the market.

I've never changed the oil on any 'schedule' it's always been by mileage.

So, I've never had any trouble with sludge or engine problems due to poor oil.

here's a pic of the engine in my 40 Ford 20 yrs after it's last rebuild and it appears to be pretty clean.



On my 02 PT Cruiser, I have noticed that with Mobil 1 even at my 5k oil change interval the oil still seems pretty clean/clear.

So, I'd say changing oil just for storage is pretty anal, but it's your car and your money.

[Mikej]

Carnut, your push rod broke, should of changed the oil a little more often.

[Carnut]

HEh, heh, yeah, actually it got too slick in the rocker nut and it backed off.

And would you believe I actually bent it street drag racing some * in a Datsun Z car, At least I beat him to the next light and just had to limp home and wonder why it was missing so bad.

http://carnut.com/iown/40eng1.html

[Jokester]

On my Mobil 1 equipped cars I change the oil every year, regardless of the mileage.  On some cars it's 3000 miles and on some it's 18,000 miles.

I took one engine apart after about 120,000 miles of annual changes.  It was the cleanest engine I ever took apart.

.bjb

[river1]

there are lots of different thoughts out there on synthetic oil change frequencies.

i've always wondered, Corvettes come from the factory with synthetic, what does the owners manual say for oil changes?

thanks jim