Since I just put in my 91 intake in my 95 200sx se-r, I thought id change my oil... I have always just used the less expensive oil, but I was told i should use a synthetic from now on...(my car has about 50k miles). Since im only in town for a couple days and I wanna hang out with friends I was just taking it to the oil change place at Wal Mart, and I know the guys there probably dont know too much but the guy pretty much talked me outta switching to synthetic. Said a bunch of stuff about it causing my engine to leak probably??? Sorta scared me away from doing it so... anyone know what this guy was talking about? Would i really have a problem if i started using synthetic? Do i really need synthetic? It does cost a LOT more so if it isnt really necessary... Thanx

Ben

What he's talking about is on some engines Synthetic oil can shrink seals causing oil consumption (among other problems). This isn't a problem with SR20's to my knowledge. I've used Mobil 1 on my 96 for the last 50k without a problem. I switched after I'd used Castrol GTX for the first 40k. I didn't experence any problems after switching.

Now, do you really need synthetic oil? No. Change your oil with a quality oil (such as Castrol GTX) every 2-3k and you're set. If you think that's too often, remember the cost difference... you're FAR better off changing your oil with GTX every 2-3k than with Mobil 1 every 5-6k.

If you're hell bent on changing to Mobil 1... go down to Walmarts and pick up a 5qt jug of Mobil 1. You can usually pick them up for around $18. It is NOT cost effective to pay an oil change place to change your oil using synthetic.

I know its a waste of $$$ to goto a place to have them change your oil... Just that im living way away from home while at college so when i am back in town I would rather see friends than change my oil... Call me lame :D Thanx for the info though... :)

Originally posted by Shnoopz
I know its a waste of $$$ to goto a place to have them change your oil... Just that im living way away from home while at college so when i am back in town I would rather see friends than change my oil... Call me lame :D Thanx for the info though... :)

No problem. About a year ago I went to a Mobil gas station near my house that was new. They have a full service shop on the side. I asked how much out of curiousity it would cost to change my oil... they said $20 something. When I asked how much with Mobil 1 they were up in the 60+ range. Way WAY too much.

I've been using Mobil 1 on my car for at least 50k of its 70k miles, and have had no leaks at all. As for the cost, I figure that I'm asking a lot out of my daily driver to also do a full autocross schedule (~18 events per year) plus occasional open track days, that the least I can do is give it the best oil...

What are the benefits of synthetic oils over regular oils? Sorry, I'm pretty new to the "car world" if you can call it that, and don't know much yet. Those who do not stop asking questions will eventually become smart, right? :)

Ju§tin

I did an sr20det swap about 7 or 8 months ago and I've been using castrol gtx dino oil the whole time. I just changed my oil yesterday and flushed the engine, I used mobil 1 synthetic and the car responds a lot better now and it purrs like a kitten. I'm impressed with the stuff.

My tech instructor discussed oil with us and made a good point. It is recommended to change your oil every 3000 miles under normal operation. He said cold winter driving, hot summer driving, 70-85 mph down the highway, racing, high rpms, is not normal operation.

I've heard "if your car sees redline more than once a week synthetic is a good idea".

I'm always revving the piss out of the engine on my car, so i've done mobil one. Changing every 3k since I got the car with 7479 on the odometer. I notice a difference every time I do it... so much smoother.

Your mechanic might be referring to the grade of the synthetic oil too. Synthetic, esp. 5w-30 is fine grade. If your engine is old, and has a leaky seal somewhere, it might be brought out, or increased by synthetic.

It just happened to me recently. I used 5w instead of 10w onmy girlfreinds 240 (cause I had it). Oil started leaking out of the vc gasket of . Damn it.

OK, any of you can jump down my thoat on this one, but I hear that synthetic oil is better because it is actually slicker than conventional oil and does not get sludged as fast. I have been using Mobil 1 since 60000 and car is slightly smoother. But oh man, it would be nice to afford that Red Line Synthetic stuff...fucking $80 a CASE!!!!!!

Where do you get that oil at? I have never saw it. I guess cause I always just got to advance for all my oil needs. :)

I get back to it that unless you're waiting 5k plus there are no "real world" benifits using Mobil 1 over a natural oil as long as you're changing it every 2-3k. I've seen plenty of sludged up engines and they were all the result of people not changing their oil regularly. I had one that came in a few months back (A 2001 Quest with 30k on it) that had never changed their oil. Not a pretty sight.

If you want to keep your car a long long time... change your oil regularly with a quality oil (Castrol GTX for example). If you change it every 2-3k you will NOT have sludge buildup or excessive wear. Some will argue that over the life of a vehicle switching to Mobil 1 will cause less wear and prolong life. This may or may not be true, but if you change your oil regularly and perform all the normal matainence your car will see 200k+. Over that life of the engine, the cost savings by using GTX over Mobil 1 would more than pay for a new engine.

($4 more per qt than gtx) x 3.7qts. x 80 oil changes = $1184

80 Oil changes is 200,000 miles divded by 2,500 mile oil changes.

Now, tell me you think it's worth nearly $1,200 more to use Mobil 1 over the life of the car unless you need to keep the same engine past the 200k mark. It's really economics that make Mobil 1 a bad decision. Honestly, I'd rather use the $1200 to buy a DET.

I'd rather have the piece of mind knowing that my motor is well taken care of with the synthetic oil. It's not gonna do me any good that I saved $1200 over the course of one year. Money just comes and goes in my life; it's not a big deal to me.

speaking of syntheic oil and all that, anyone ever heard of amsoil? They were the first to come out with synthetic in like 1972 or something. Anyone ever used this stuff? They say you can go 7,400 miles between oil changes. Price is decent too.

Well I guess to each their own... just make sure whatever you use that you change it regularly... and NOT 7k (if you care about the life of your engine).

I've never used Amsoil in my engine, but I do use it in my transmission. I like it.

I have been using mobil 1 ever since the birth of my car. It now has 60k + on it and it is running strong.
I started using it b/c my dad's '93 rx7 was using it because it didn't breakdown like conventional oil (because of the turbos)

I have run 0w-30 and that stuff actually has a guarentee from mobil 1 to be the best they offer. It's some insane stuff.

I have now switched to royal purple full racing synthetic 5w-30 and that is unparelled but royal purple is so expensive that my dad was able to find it online. at about $50 less (yes not $50 but $50 LESS) than what was being charged at other places per 5 gallon bucket

since i plan on going turbo i know that my engine has been taken care of thus far.
O

my dad's SE-R went 360,000 on dino juice every 3000, not any paticular brand either.

timing chain killed it too, not lack of lubrication :)

Sam

360,000 miles! man, that makes me feel good. i have 67,000 on my 2000 se and was kinda worried. i use dino oil, and change it reagurly.

Well, one thing, definitely change the oil often. Every 3k or so. More often if it sees very harsh use and maybe a bit less often if it's easy highway miles. In my opinion, if you drive the piss out of your car, then synthetic is a good idea as it doesn't break down as fast and can withstand harsher conditions(pretty sure that is fact).

Someone posted to the se-r list about the analysis of the newest, 4th gen. Mobil 1 synthetic by a NASA engineer. check the archives. It's interesting reading. Mobil 1 comes from the factory in Z06s, Porshce 911 turbos, and I think Ferrari too. I want to say Mercedes or BMW too. Good enough for them, good enough for me!

Khiem

I have very mixed feelings on using Syn. On the one hand I've been using it for the last 50k on my '96 SE-R (nearly at 100k now). I've never had a problem using it.

On the other hand, I know many many Honda owners who do have major problems with it. Several have spun bearings shortly after switching to it. Most who I know who have used it have serious oil consumption problems... one had to put a qt. in every time he filled up his gas tank! The oil consumption problems go away after they switched back to a dino oil.

I don't see any clear benifits of using it over dino oil other than prehaps reduced wear (but like I said, at least for Honda's it's bad on wear... bad on bearings). Even then, how much it reduces wear and extendes the life of an engine is really impossible to tell. Certainly there are many owners out there that have reached 200-300+k on dino oil. Most people will never keep there car that long.

It costs 4 times as much as dino oil... over the life of an engine, that's significant (the cost of a low millage used engine in fact).

Oil is a one time investment... at least for temperature concerns, it would be much better to buy a quality oil cooler which could be transfered from car to car if you ever wrecked/sold the car.