I am not sure either and if you should not change back I would really like to be sure before I start using a synthetic. Come on guys give ussome insight.

 

I've used the search function and other than that study involving the taxi cabs I haven't been able to find much solid info. Especially w/regard to which brand of synthetic is the best.

 

One thing that impressed me was the Member that said He could not get castrol syntec to boil, He had it in a pan on the stove.

 

I average maybe 4,000 a year now tops. I'm still changing the oil twice a year. Mobil 1 synthetic and K&N oil filter. No problems and well worth my time and trouble. I do all my own maintenance and service.

 

I have not seen a torn down 3v engine yet. Most dont have enough miles yet to easily see the build-up. I own a regular repair shop so, I dont get the new stuff here except for oil changes and other regular maintenance. I dont see that there would be any difference between our 3v vs any other engine. Pushrod or OHC.Ford,Toyota, or Yugo.Your statment is the first one I have ever heard/seen claiming Ford 3v V8s like some regular oil. Not trying to call it out or anything but please show some proof of this, since it would be a benefit for all who frequent this forum to know this with certainty. Oil threads are already full of a bunch of opinions and little factual data to help back them up.

What I have seen in most engines is a dingy grayish brown color coating everything except the cam lobes, and any other place where 'near contact' occurs. I say near contact because it is the oils job to keep a barrier layer between contacting parts. In one of my engines (and 2 others), using Amsoil,all the parts still have somewhat of a 'fresh build' look to them. They still have most of that shiny, fresh out of the box look. It certainly doesnt take much to tell the difference from one engine to another when taking off valve covers and comparing how they look. One of my "old, dont-believe-in-synthetics" techs changed hisopinion after seeing my Caravan enginewith 70k miles.

EDIT ADD ON:Is Amsoil the best or is Castrol just as good? Do a google search for Castrol arbitration, and hydrocracking. Those two searches will tell how the current synthetic market came to be. Mobil sued Castrol back in 1999. My opinion: you will do fine with any major brand of oil, synthetic or not, with good maintenance practices. But again, if you want the best, it'll cost more than Castrol, and will be a real synthetic oil, unlike Castrol. Mobil, Amsoil or Redline. I leave RP out of it,ONLY because of how their gear oil tested against 13 other brands. link http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g2457.pdf

 

SCCAGT what do you think about other synthetics vs. Amsoil? Royal Purple for instance? Or Castrol?

 

See above post I edited to include a link.
Whatever I post (which isnt all that often), I wont just throw out an opinion without some way to back it up.
Trying to decide which of those oils is the best is like trying to pick only 1 woman out 100 of the worlds hottest.
LOL You would not be able to notice any kind of difference between those oils using your butt-meter, a dynometer, your hearing, etc. They would all perform admirably during your ownership of the car. There would have to be laboratory testing and comparison to determine which brands have the best overall characteristics. Finding ANY kind of info like that is worse than the proverbial needle in a haystack. Ive certainly heard all the lines like 'Ive used brand XXX for years, so did my daddy and his daddy. Never had a problem.'
Amsoil is the only company that I have seen to literally step up and have head-to-head comparisonswith brands we see everyday. They have done 75W90 gear oils, 10W40 motor cycle oils, and diesel oils. They are paying an outside lab to do this testing from their own pocket. They will be doing more in the future. I look forward to them all.

The internet can be a wonderful tool. Just lookat some of the sites where individuals have cut open oil filters and posted pics of it all. No way would that kind of information get out for all to see so easily.

My choice is Amsoil. I admire the leadership and integrity of that company. I dont see Amsoil as an outsider. I am a distributor, and get a bit of an inside look at how they run. They dont make claims they cant back up with testing data. They use both real world tesing and laboratory testing.

I'm done ranting. Just trying to get across to all that I dont just spout off and hopefully earn some respect.
Most people on this forum are going to be the type of person that is more than willing to get the best product rather than something that simply gets the job done. My hats off to those types. Lord knows, I see plenty of people in my shop that just despise spending money on their cars, even if their life is at stake.

 

I'll never understand the idea that switching to synthetic "allows you to go 15,000 miles or more" between oil changes. Now I know you all have seen way to many oil commercials on tv that talk about the breakdown of viscosity. You know what breaks down the viscosity? Carbon/dirt. The ratio ofcarbon parts per oil parts increases the longer you run the same oil in an engine. The carbon comes from the igniting of gasoline in the cylinder. It costs $25 bucks to change the oil in your garage. You can buy filters and oil bulk and save even more. It's a waste of money and not to mention senseless to drive around for 15.000 miles pumping the same dirty oil through the block. I've run dinosaur goo through my engines and have never had an engine failure, let alone an oil related one.

 

Hey, wait a sec (trying to have an epiphany here): If Igo 100% synth then I'm doing a little bit to reduce our country's oil dependance? Synth runs just as good or better than "Dino goo" right? (That made me lol)

?

Hmmm.

No, I won't be wanting an electric Mustang.[8D]

I think that settles it for me. I'm having difficulty believing that Ford's OHC motors prefer having petrol mixed with synth, Synth lubes just as good or better than "Dino Goo", I'm reducing my "Dino Goo" demand.

So, there you have it folks, reasoning by insanity[8D]If in a thousand years from now my motor blows from choosing thewrong kind of "Goo" then I'll post back and let you know.

 

I have to agree with bodyputtyless about the intervals. I have, however, went 10,000 miles on a car after using Amsoil for awhile. The oil looked VERY nice. Still had a good gold/brown color to it. I changed it then, but only because it had a rather strong sulfur smell. AndI have been going 5-6k since then. Amsoil claims you can go 25,000 mi between changes while changing the filter at 12,500.There are tons of people out there that do this. Over the road truck drivers especially, but they go even longer. Im not comfortable with this myself. The only wayI would entertain the thought of doing this is only if I were to use Amsoils dual filter set-up. The second filter goes down to particles less than 1 micron. It only takes 10% of the flow so as not to starve the engine. The filter is also 6, 9, or 12' long, so it has a high capacity.

All the contaminants pollute the oil. What ever the filter cant take out stays there until drained out. If the filter(s) can take out the vast majority of the contaminents, then it stands to reason the oil will last longer. But as its always pointed out, changing it is cheap insurance.

Your last sentence is an example I was referring to in an above post.