Synthetic Oil switchover at 77,000 miles? OTM question

The OTM that I recently received is just about to hit 78,000 miles, and
it is a 1995 model.
It has always been serviced with dino oil, as far as I know.

Would you, (the group), switch to synthetic oil on a car of this age and
mileage?
I was considering Mobile One in 10W-30W.

The mileage seems low enough to do this, but I wonder about the
possibility of having the synthetic oil start to seep since the seals
are older than is typical for a car with this few miles.

Right now, it does not leak or burn a drop of oil between changes from
what I can tell. The used oil with 3,000+ miles on it still has a golden
color instead of black, it is barely darker than when new.
My turbo Miata, with less than 50K miles on the engine, turns the oil
black in less than 2,000 miles.

I am tempted to leave well enough alone, but with synthetic oil
currently running not that much more per quart than regular oil, I am
also inclined to go ahead and use it if it increases the engine
efficiency at all, as long as no problems are likely to result from it.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks!

Pat

On Oct 19, 8:51*am, pws > wrote:
> The OTM that I recently received is just about to hit 78,000 miles, and
> it is a 1995 model.
> It has always been serviced with dino oil, as far as I know.
>
> Would you, (the group), switch to synthetic oil on a car of this age and
> mileage?
> I was considering Mobile One in 10W-30W.
>
> The mileage seems low enough to do this, but I wonder about the
> possibility of having the synthetic oil start to seep since the seals
> are older than is typical for a car with this few miles.
>
> Right now, it does not leak or burn a drop of oil between changes from
> what I can tell. The used oil with 3,000+ miles on it still has a golden
> color instead of black, it is barely darker than when new.
> My turbo Miata, with less than 50K miles on the engine, turns the oil
> black in less than 2,000 miles.
>
> I am tempted to leave well enough alone, but with synthetic oil
> currently running not that much more per quart than regular oil, I am
> also inclined to go ahead and use it if it increases the engine
> efficiency at all, as long as no problems are likely to result from it.
>
> Thoughts? Suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Pat

Pat,

I can't tell you how many engines I have protected with synthetic oil
so that their new owner can enjoy them! Nonetheless, I switched my
50k mile Miata over to synthetic as soon as I bought it, and did the
same with my 47k mile Chevy pick-up when I bought it. It's probably
stupid, because I almost never keep a vehicle long enough to actually
benefit from synthetic oil, but I do it anyway.

My unbiased, disciplined self says that if you don't intend to own/run
the vehicle past the 125k or 150k mark, and if you're going to change
the oil and the filter regularly, and you don't habitually see 300-
degree fahrenheit oil temps (such as on a Harley air-cooled big twin
stuck in traffic on a 90-degree day!) that you're better off saving
yourself the money and sticking with conventional.

But the emotional, undisciplined real me would still switch to
synthetic anyway, if it were me!

I know - this was no help at all!

Tim

In article >, pws >
wrote:

> Would you, (the group), switch to synthetic oil on a car of this age and
> mileage?

I see no need to use synthetic oil in any normal passenger car, unless
it's boosted. It's cheaper to use dino, and change it frequently. Yes,
synthetics lubricate somewhat better, but not enough to matter in
engines that aren't being pushed past their design envelopes.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

Lanny Chambers > wrote:

> In article >, pws >
> wrote:
>
>> Would you, (the group), switch to synthetic oil on a car of this
>> age and mileage?
>
> I see no need to use synthetic oil in any normal passenger car,

One HUGE advantage of synthetic oil and one that's usually overlooked
is that it's a sale point if you ever plan to sell the car.

"Always used Brand X Synthetic, have all service records" looks good in
an ad. It might not get you more money but it could be a deciding
point if there are several for sale for similar prices.

Other than that, there really isn't any "real world" advantage to
synthetic, contrary to popular believe it will NOT go longer between
oil changes because the major reason to change oil is contamination and
the type of oil makes absolutely no difference in amount of
contamination.

All of the above is of no consequence, Pat deserves to be whacked
multiple times with a Miata lug wrench for re-starting the DREADED OIL
THREAD! <g>

And to put the discussion to rest, here's the summary of every oil
thread ever started in any newsgroup:

Oil is good, you should have some in your car!



--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

Tim M. wrote:

> I can't tell you how many engines I have protected with synthetic oil
> so that their new owner can enjoy them! Nonetheless, I switched my
> 50k mile Miata over to synthetic as soon as I bought it, and did the
> same with my 47k mile Chevy pick-up when I bought it. It's probably
> stupid, because I almost never keep a vehicle long enough to actually
> benefit from synthetic oil, but I do it anyway.
>
> My unbiased, disciplined self says that if you don't intend to own/run
> the vehicle past the 125k or 150k mark, and if you're going to change
> the oil and the filter regularly, and you don't habitually see 300-
> degree fahrenheit oil temps (such as on a Harley air-cooled big twin
> stuck in traffic on a 90-degree day!) that you're better off saving
> yourself the money and sticking with conventional.
>
> But the emotional, undisciplined real me would still switch to
> synthetic anyway, if it were me!
>
> I know - this was no help at all!
>
> Tim

Nah, it is all mucho help, though I agree with XS11E that resurrecting
the oil thread should be punishable by a good beating. :-)

Thanks,

Pat

What more can you say?!

FWIW Pat, I think I'd stay with what's been working so well. Kind of like a
proper working old automatic transmission, don't mess with it ;-)

Chris
99BBB

"XS11E" > wrote in message
...
>
> And to put the discussion to rest, here's the summary of every oil
> thread ever started in any newsgroup:
>
> Oil is good, you should have some in your car!
>
>
>
> --
> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
> The Usenet Improvement Project:
> http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

"XS11E" wrote:
<snippage>
> All of the above is of no consequence, Pat deserves to be
> whacked
> multiple times with a Miata lug wrench for re-starting the
> DREADED OIL
> THREAD! <g>
>
> And to put the discussion to rest, here's the summary of every
> oil
> thread ever started in any newsgroup:
>
> Oil is good, you should have some in your car!

Actually, I think the summary should be -

Oil is good, you should have some in your car's engine! ;-D


Iva & Vixen
2004 Classic Red
No more winkin' Miata

In article >,
"Iva" > wrote:

> > Oil is good, you should have some in your car!
>
> Actually, I think the summary should be -
>
> Oil is good, you should have some in your car's engine! ;-D

Or, merging with the British car thread:

Oil is good, you should have some under your car!

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C