Synthetic oil

[calgaryamzy]

I have been using castrol syntec 10w30 in my turbo charged Volvo, recently i have put on allot of km on my motor, anyone have any idea of a synthetic oil good for high millage turbocharged cars? or should i continue using castrol syntec 10w30. thanks

[93VR6]

Castrol syntec is synthetic....

[revelations]

Syntec is a blend of oils - not 100% pure synthetic.

In the long term, the oil wont make as much of a difference with turbo vehicles as how you drive it and how you treat the turbo (eg dont shut off when hot).

[Zero102]

Originally posted by revelations
Syntec is a blend of oils - not 100% pure synthetic.

In the long term, the oil wont make as much of a difference with turbo vehicles as how you drive it and how you treat the turbo (eg dont shut off when hot).

Syntec is not a blend.
Syntec is a group III synthetic base stock combined with additives, just like the current Mobil1 and a whole stack of other synthetic oils. It is what they can legally call a full synthetic oil as the base stock is not blended with conventional base stocks as you have implied.

For almost all of us Group III or Group IV/V doesn't matter even the tiniest bit. Syntec is perfectly fine for what he is doing, and while he's at it, he should do used oil analysis and find out what his true optimum oil change interval is, that's where synthetics really shine is in the extended change intervals. Using a synthetic in a turbocharged engine is a good call.

High mileage oils are generally not required, however if you are finding that you have low oil pressure due to excessive clearances and don't want to tear down the motor, or are just starting to notice lower oil pressures, you can switch to a thicker oil to buy some more time. My personal favorite for this is Shell Rotella T6, its a 5W40 designed for diesels that gets amazing results over at BITOG.

[CapnCrunch]

It's always a good idea to run synthetic in a turbo. Turbo's run very hot and synthetic oil is much better at resisting these higher temps.

Syntec = synthetic so you're fine.

[revelations]

Originally posted by Zero102


Syntec is not a blend.
Syntec is a group III synthetic base stock combined with additives, just like the current Mobil1 and a whole stack of other synthetic oils. It is what they can legally call a full synthetic oil as the base stock is not blended with conventional base stocks as you have implied.

For almost all of us Group III or Group IV/V doesn't matter even the tiniest bit. Syntec is perfectly fine for what he is doing, and while he's at it, he should do used oil analysis and find out what his true optimum oil change interval is, that's where synthetics really shine is in the extended change intervals. Using a synthetic in a turbocharged engine is a good call.

High mileage oils are generally not required, however if you are finding that you have low oil pressure due to excessive clearances and don't want to tear down the motor, or are just starting to notice lower oil pressures, you can switch to a thicker oil to buy some more time. My personal favorite for this is Shell Rotella T6, its a 5W40 designed for diesels that gets amazing results over at BITOG.

regarding Syntec

Late in 1997, Castrol changed the formula of its Syntec "full synthetic motor oil", eliminating the polyalphaolefins (PAO) base stock (that's the "synthetic" part, which makes up about 70% by volume of what's in the bottle) and replacing it with a "hydroisomerized" petroleum base stock.

http://www.syntheticsbestoil.com/mobil.htm


As an aside, I also use T6 in the car and bike .... very good stuff. Sent off a sample to Blackstone recently to see if I can get the drain interval extended.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by revelations


regarding Syntec



http://www.syntheticsbestoil.com/mobil.htm


As an aside, I also use T6 in the car and bike .... very good stuff. Sent off a sample to Blackstone recently to see if I can get the drain interval extended.

Mobil also uses similar basestocks now, so it doesn't matter. They tried to sue Castrol over it and lost, so they decided if we can't beat them, join them.

Highly refined basestocks are almost on par with synthetic ones and for 99.9% of cars on the road, you'll never notice a difference.

The only synthetic oils that I know still use 100% synthetic basestocks are Amsoil, Royal Purple, and Redline (not totally sure about Redline).

Anything else on the market is either a 100% petroleum basestock, or its a blend of petroleum and synthetic, all to keep costs down.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by revelations


regarding Syntec


Late in 1997, Castrol changed the formula of its Syntec "full synthetic motor oil", eliminating the polyalphaolefins (PAO) base stock (that's the "synthetic" part, which makes up about 70% by volume of what's in the bottle) and replacing it with a "hydroisomerized" petroleum base stock.

Which is exactly what I said, its a Group III oil, which Castrol had a fight over and won the right to call a synthetic oil. They led the way and tons of other oil manufacturers also use Group III synthetic basestocks (Mobil, Quaker State, etc.). No they are not PAO base, but for almost every situation, it just doesn't matter. The additive packages matter far more than the base stock for most (if not all) major brand synthetic oils since the group III base stocks they use are still very good.


As far as who is still group IV/V or PAO base?... I know Motul is and didn't see them listed above, same with Total Quartz (formerly Elf).... I can't think of any other brands. I believe Rotella T6 is actually a group III synthetic underneath it all, and it gets some of the best reviews and UOAs of any synthetic oil out there.

[G-ZUS]

Where can one pick up Rotella or Lubro-moly in town?

[lilmira]

How about German Castrol? I thought it's still full synthetic.

[Unknown303]

Doesn't walmart carry Rotella?

[schocker]

Originally posted by lilmira
How about German Castrol? I thought it's still full synthetic.

It is. Wish it came in jugs instead of the 1L bottles.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by schocker

It is. Wish it came in jugs instead of the 1L bottles.

And only in specific viscosities too... 5W40 or 0W40, I forget, but there is only one viscosity of it that you can even get here, its never on sale and it is as expensive as other group IV/V oils that are much easier to obtain.

[lilmira]

0W30, it's the only one that says made in germany. I usually pick up a dozen whenever I see them on sale. I'm down to half a dozen now and I haven't seen a sale for a while, making me worried .

[schocker]

Ya, I used to use the 0w30 in my g35, now that i have my turbo volvo idgaf

[heavyD]

I've been using M1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0W20 in my Mustang. It's pretty good oil but IMO people fret too much about oil nowadays with all the Amsoil internet spam and misleading Royal Purple ball-bearing wear test advertisements. Any synthetic oil even the cheap ones like Motormaster will provide more than enough protection for 99% of drivers.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by heavyD
I've been using M1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0W20 in my Mustang. It's pretty good oil but IMO people fret too much about oil nowadays with all the Amsoil internet spam and misleading Royal Purple ball-bearing wear test advertisements. Any synthetic oil even the cheap ones like Motormaster will provide more than enough protection for 99% of drivers.

Exactly! Group III's are perfectly fine, I was super picky about all these things for a while and after some time looking at the costs and benefits I have come to the conclusion that group III oils perform exactly as well in my applications, are of much lower cost and therefore are fine for my cars.

Lots of group IV/V base stock synthetic oils run out of TBN long before the wear metal concentrations become concerning or the anti-wear additives are depleted. Most of the time when a UOA lab recommends you change your oil it is because of TBN depletion, and this is a factor that depends on the additive package when you are comparing different oils, not the base stock.

Even people who have copious amounts of money invested in racing engines and run endurance racing events run group III synthetics for the most part. Seriously, group III's are fine. Worry less, drive more.

[revelations]

Summarize:

- the definition of "synthetic" has changed considerably over the years.
- Castrol is still, by their definition, "synthetic" but its changed considerably from years gone by, but this wont affect the average driver
- Shells Rotella T6 is one of the better "synthetic" oils out there, available at Walmart (Marlborough at least) for 35$ for ~5L

[NRGie]

Any opinions on Motul X-clean 8100?

I used to use Mobil1 in my old car but switched to this since I get a deal on it.

[btimbit]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Where can one pick up Rotella or Lubro-moly in town?

Concept-1 has some Lubro-Moly