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Does Your Vehicle Need Synthetic OIl?
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Does your vehicle "need" synthetic oil? No, it doesn't need synthetic oil, but my recommendation is that is you have a special vehicle or a collectible vehicle or just like to keep your vehicles for a long time, then synthetic oil is worth the investment. Synthetic oil costs about double compared to petroleum lubricating oil but it offers a lot of benefits. One of the major benefits of synthetic oil is its resistance to heat and its ability to flow well even when cold. Synthetic oil provides protection to the internal components of the engine immediately upon startup and this is very important for long engine life. Synthetic oil also is resistant to high heat conditions and will protect an engine long after petroleum oil has burned away and turned to ash.
Most engine wear occurs at startup -- before the engine oil has a chance to circulate. If you can improve oil flow at startup, you can reduce the metal-to-metal contact and extend engine life.The way lubricating oil protects an engine is by providing a thin film of oil between the metal parts, preventing metal-to-metal contact. Engine oil also is used to cool the internal parts of the engine and keep small metal particles and contaminents in suspension. In fact, that's why oil changes color as it is used.
If you oil changes from a clear honey color to a darker color, that's normal. It indicates the engine oil is doing its job. Many high performance vehicles today come from the factory with a fill of synthetic motor oil. This disproves the myth that synthetic motor oil is too slippery to be used for break-in purposes. Eventually all vehicles will come with synthetic oil in the crankcase and rather than change the oil on a regular basis, we will instead have the oil analyzed on a regular basis. If the oil is found to be contaminated with fuel, water or dirt, it must be changed. However, if the additive package in the oil has worn out (detergents, anti-foamers and the like) the recommendation will be just to simply change the oil filter and add a new additive package to the engine oil.
Right now the arguement about when to change oil is raging. Here is my recommendation -- change the oil according to the recommendation made in the owner's manual of the vehicle. Most vehicles recommend an oil and oil filter change every 7,500 miles. But if you read the fine print you will see that recommendation is for mild service. Most people drive a severe service cycle and you will see that the recommendation for the severe service cycle is 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Mild service is running on the highway at speed for 20 miles or more. Severe service is stop-and-go driving. Lots of stop-and-go driving is tough on an engine and the lubricant, so it needs to be changed more often.
What about the automobiles with oil change monitors? Here's the scoop -- they don't really chemically test the engine oil. The oil change recommendation is based on how many hours the engine has run and at what RPM -- it's a computer guess. My advice is to trust your own judgement as to when to change engine oil. Also, I recommend a name brand synthetic engine oil and name brand filter. Automobile engine work is expensive these days and you need your vehicle (whether you are an auto enthusiast or not) to get back and forth to work. Invest in your vehicle.
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