Oil? Synth or reg

rpokle

New member
733000

What kinda oil does every one use. I have a 83 CJ-7 with a straight 6 and have no clue what the best oil type would be. I have heard very little about the Synth oils except what I have read on the bottles themselves and that isnt worth a thing. Any suggestions?
 

734000

They say that the Synth. will last longer. That it doe snot lose it's vescosity as quick. about 7K miles... I use it but still change it every 3K. My uncle uses it and he has 230K on his Jeep and not even a tick.
 
735000

Yes, the biggest benefit of synth oils are longer service periods = less cost.

EXCEPT...
Our jeeps are offroad machines and are subject to excessive dirt, dust, water & other bad stuff.

One of the prime jobs of an oil, after lubricating & cooling is to suspend dirt particles.

Thats what you see when you check your stick and the oil is black, it is the suspended dirt particles which turn the oil from that clean amber color to black.

Altho synth oil will go more miles, your crankcase still holds the same quantity of oil and as such can only suspend the same amount of dirt.

SO...

I am reluctant to use synth oil because of the dirt issue. I like to dump mine every 3K and pour in a fresh load.

The person in the last msg here said he still changes his synth every 3k, well that's good for the dirt issue, but...I feel that practice costs much more than petro based oils and your throwing your money away.

After all, Wal-Mart sells Mobil1 =
$4.95 qt !!!

I never use house brand oils because I don't know who makes 'em. It would be a lousey value to buy cheap oil and have it breakdown and allow engine bearing failure on a backcountry trail.

I would guess you would pay hell trying to get a parts house to pay for a new engine after their cheap oil failed.

So...

I always use Big Oil Co oil.
Chevron, Unocal, Shell, Pennzoil, Quaker State or Valvoline, ect.

Never by from a gas station they'll rape you. a discount house like Wal-mart sells these brands for cheap...$.99 or $1.19 ect

I have a Ford Diesel pickup I tow my Jeep with. Diesels require special motor oil and 10 quarts a change too, so mobil1 would cost me $49.95!!

Diesels have such high compression (21.5:1)
they experience alot of blowby, especially when cold. Unburnt fuel in the form of carbon make diesel motor oil black black black black BLACK !!!

So I would be REAL reluctant to use a synth and go farthur than the 3k oil change intervals I practice.

Because carbon is the hardest substance on earth and as such causes more wear than anything.
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736000

I've aslo heard that its not good to use synth oil after you rebuild an engine, at least till you hit 6k. The synth oil does such a good job lubricating, the heads never get a chance to seal, and you will most likely get oil blow-back into you air filter.
 

737000

on the house oils,[as mentioned above]if you take, or give your family generic drugs, why not use generic oil? after all its just a vehical. 90% of house oil is made by valvoline, oh sure, all parts places will tell you that, to make a sale, and if you ask valvoline, they wont tell you. [they want you to pay big bucks for there name] if your rich, you could have lab tests done.ha ha anyway ive been using house oils [changed every 3k] for over 20yrs without any problems. i think ive saved a wad!!
 
738000

I swear by synth, but I change my filter and add a quart every 3K and complete change 6K. I do the same in all my cars and I see improver gas mileage and lots less wear.

------------------

Life is a journey, take it.
 
739000

You probably do not want to use synthetic oil in an engine that has very many miles on it using normal oil. Most of the base stocks used in synthetic oil are excellent solvents. What this does is clean the crud off the old seals, which may then stop sealing. You can get leakage at both ends of the engine and increased oil consumption due to oil getting around the valve guides. It will also tend to disolve some of the crud in the rocker box and pan which will get all that stuff going through your engine's bearings again. Not fun!

Synthetics are great lubricants with excellent low temp characteristics and hold up at high operating temps extremely well.

We use synthetics in all our vehicles that we purchased new and change at 3K intervals. Our '84 CJ7, which was purchased with 96K miles on it gets good petroleum base oil at 3K intervals.
 

740000

I am not trying to tell you what to do. But i am a manager at an oil change place i have been working with oil for years. I would not swith to a snythitc. I you are not sure what has been ran in you motor before. But if you are burning anyoil now and you swithch to a syn. oil it will only get worse. Because syn. oil is much thinner and it will cause you to bure more to. I would recommend a 10/40 or 10/30 weight oil.
 
741000

Consumer Reports said that there isn't any advantage with synthetic oil over the dead dinosaur stuff. They also said that all those fancy oil aditives are bogus too. I burn the regular oil, cheaper than burning the synthetic stuff.
 
742000

I have talked to most all oil and additive mfg's at the Sema shows (Major auto parts and equiptment show) and have come to this conclusion. Pick your favorite oil and change it every 3000 miles,(clean and fresh filtered oil is the key) keep your vehicle maintained properly, and it should last a long time.
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743000

if you looked on the back of all these oil containers. you will see that they ALL basically meet the API service requirements. and that is what reqiired by the auto mfg..It"s amazing what oil companys,and advertisement has drilled into us. buy my stuff it"s the best and change that oil more frequedtly cause i need the money.
 
744000

After my 82's 258's complete rebuild, the mechanic who actually rebuilt it instructed me to run straight 30weight till it breaks in. Thats gonna be a while!. The first time it broke in was at 13,820 miles. I drive her now maybe 1000 miles a year now!
 
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