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Old July 24th 05, 02:38 PM
Malt_Hound
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Scott wrote:
> I have never heard that synthetic "clings to surfaces" and takes longer
> to drain but I do know that synthetic oil will sneak past worn gaskets
> or valves much faster than conventional oil, which is why I didn't
> change to synthetic on my 150k 525i. In my experience, synthetic flows
> quite rapidly especially in cold weather.
>
> - Scott


This is an urban legend, IMO. A synthetic maintains viscosity closer to
its rated value(s) over the lifetime of the oil. There is no reason to
believe it will leak past gaskets more than a thinned out dino juice.

The only *possible* reason for this oft quoted legend would be that the
superior cleaning properties of the synthetic may actually disolve some
of the gook that has built up inside a higher mileage engine previously
subjected to only cheap oil. That gook could be sealing your dried out
and leaky gaskets, but I have never experienced this phenomenon and I've
switched several high mileage cars (over 100k miles) over to full
synthetic with no leaks or increased consumption.

-Fred W
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