Myth "Synthetic oils are too thin, creating blow-by and oil burn-off in older cars.

Reality "Just like conventional motor oil, synthetic oils have a specific viscosity grade. However, synthetic motor oil contains extra lubrication additives to make the oil stronger and provide higher heat dissipation. Synthetic oils do not affect seals and will not be the cause of blow-by or oil burn off in an older engine."

Myth "Synthetic oils cause cars to use more oil."

Reality "Synthetic oils will not cause an engine to use more oil."

valvoline.com/car-care/motor-oil-myths/

 

Actually there is some truth to it.
As we know synthetic oil does in fact have additives which in addition to much better lubrication properties, allows for better resistance to both heat and cold.
Dino oils are not as resistant to higher temperatures in todays engines, therefore among other things sludge is sometimes formed within the engine. This sludge forms around the seals. Once formed the seal becomes somewhat dried out. As long as the sludge remains on the seal, there is little if any leakage. At this point, switching to synthetic, in addition to the better lubrication gained, the oil is also highly detergent. This causes the breakdown of sludge. Once the sludge is removed from the seal which has already dried out and became brittle, leakage can and in most cases will leak out around and through the already bad seal.

 

That's the way I learned it. If you run synthetic from early on, keep right on running it on an older vehicle. But don't switch an older engine over to synthetic for the reasons cited above.

 

LOL! There is an "Dino vs. Synthetic" oil thread in every vehicle forum I've seen and they all come down to the owner's choice.

On a similar note, with the high amount of 3.8L engines dying around 40k miles (due to abuse, design, or whatever. Mine is doing fine at 350 miles), I will try to use more frequent (3,000 miles) and good quality (Penzoil Platinum) oils.

 

I guess thats why it's called a "Myth"; it's a mythical story aka urban legend. Also all of the dino oils today have the additives that help to remove any sludge. Checkout a brand name dino oil details online and you'll see it has additives.

 

This isn't about Dino vs Synthetic. In fact the they recommend to run the dino if you follow the link and put in your vehicle details but state if you want the very best protection then go synth.

 

I've but one thing to offer this thread.

 

Oldest American engine oil company seems to have a great list of myths and the realities about engine oil.

Seemed apt since there appears to be a bunch of myths thrown around about engine oils in this forum. For example, some people seem to think that dino oil doesn't have additives.

I'm truly just trying to help, i'm not looking to stir up any sh1t.

 

Agree with you here, However, the additives in the Dino, for heat or cold, come no where near the overall resistance to heat and cold that synthetic has, which means the dino breakes down quicker. Breakdown of lubrication oil = Sludge.

 

I respect you brother jeeper. I'm not in anyway, and far from being a mechanic or an engineer.

I think it's easy for us to imagine how the fluids are sloshing around in the engine and how they may have various effects upon the components, but i think that might be mis-leading unless we exactly studied in detail the possible effects. Unless we were to do that, it's really just a guessing game. For example, you're imagining this sludge building up at a point in which it acts as a barrier that prevents the release and burn off of the oil. But i'm not sure if that is actually even the problem. Perhaps if there were some wear that any sludge buildup fills in to prevent the loss you'd have an answer but i just don't think it works like that. Did you look over the vavoline motor oil myths? I think that says it all. I don't think we can say that sludge is ever useful. Perhaps in some really old engines, in which it's actually hardened to replace some worn out space. Anyway, i appreciate your thoughts and respectfully have to disagree with your idea that any sludge buildup might be helpful. Any oil loss, in my opinion, is due to some faulty engine *component(s)*.

Also think of this; if your dino oil is *hotter*, in theory, it should be more fluid..