bamaroxz

OK, so I was reading alot of the old posts on synthetic verse blend or mineral. So I have been using Royal Purple my last 3 oil changes, before that I used Mobil1 full synthetic, before that I used Valvoline (for high mileage engines) all 5W-30. The last two RP oil changes I noticed minor engine leaks have got worse. Repaired valve covers, my oil pan needs a new gasket, but with a 7 qt. pan, well I've got some work to do. SoI noticed the leaks seem more severe, now maybe main seals, I added Lucas to it. My question is, should I go back to the regular Valvoline ( or =) because of the high miles and leaks? (yeah I know, first of next year plan on getting a new motor or rippin mine apart). Will this help for the time being? It was smokin at start up (whitish smoke, probly valve seals) but seems to be getting worse now and smokin when I drive it down the road for awhile, and sometimes I notice at stop lights. Still runs like hell, but I'm starting to put $7 worth of RP in it almost everyweek. About 3 months to go before I get into the motor, so should I leave it be till then, or next change go back to mineral oils? I drive about 500 miles to work a week, yes a week, in Houston traffic ta boot, so it wont be long till next oil change. I don't want something to blow before I get time and $$$ to tear into it. Any suggestions??? Or just ride this pony out???

92cobra

my 2cents for ya, and im sure im gonna get pwned for this. But switch to 10w40 and go with whatever brand you like that ISNT synthetic. A buddy of mine had 185k miles on his motor give or take, and always used penzoil 10w40 the whole time. I told him to switch to synthetic.....i shouldnt have opened my mouth lol. His engine looked like niagra falls lol. I have about 155k on the clock on my 91gt and i plan on still using 5w30 or 10w40 cant really decide penzoil, im going to read into it more but NON synthetic. Synthetic is great for motors that dont leak, but if you have an older car your just gonna be dumping money into oil time after time again. And let me tell ya, 7 dollars a bottle can add up quick.

awormofearth

the previous owner of my mustang always put castrol 20 50 in the car. after i bought it, he didn't tell me this, so i put 10w40 in it. 1000 miles later, the check oil light was on and my car was running like ****. so i found out what oil he was using, put some nonsynth castrol 20 50 in there with a quart of lucas, and it's been running great. it'll take some serious convincing to get me to switch to anything else

camaroeater

I with you on that one...when time comes for an engine rebuild I'll use synthetic probally.

92cobra

thats a really good point, you should stay with what works best imo. My car has been using penzoil 10w40 for as long as i can remember, and it likes it. I change the oil every 2000-2500 miles and enjoy doing so. However I don't think its a good idea to go from regular oil to synthetic, however it should be fine to go from synthetic to regular. The problem is that older engines that use thicker oil seal up the leaks, when you switch to synthetic it just starts pouring out. With a new car, synthetic all the way. Our older 5.0s, 10w40 in it, or in the case of the above 20w50 since it was running on that for some time. Thats my 2 cents tho.

1985stang

Wow, you can thank the guy for screwing the car up. I'm gonna guess it was an old person, because people used to think they should use really heavy oil. That means you can thank him for giving you less power, worse fuel economy, and more wear on your engine . To the original poster, if it's been leaking a lot, why not just switch to a less expensive syn. instead of the most expensive. I get mobil1 10w-30, 5 quarts for like 17 bucks. It leaks some from the rear main, but i likehow the engineruns with syn. so i deal with it.

Mustangkiler

He probably had too thick of an oil to cover up an internal engine problem and now that your using closer to the proper weight which is 1030 the problem is evident, kinda like the old sand in the transmission back in the day to cover up a slipping trans. Ive thrown a ton of oil additives like lucas in a truck for an oil change and i did notice a difference of it running better but the truck had 170 thousand miles on it. Usually over time an engine might need thicker oil to run better mainly due to wear but the right way is just rebuilding the engine. Id stay away from penzoil or quaker state, many engine builders have told me how it turns your engine into a jello mold crystallizing inside your engine.

Texas5.0

bamaroxz where do you live/work? I see thatyou list Houston but you drive 500 miles a week so you dont work whre you live. I am down in Lake Jackson...

uenvyboykin

I would not recomend anyone using Lucus, or any other oil additive, I did some research on oil additives. Ya it works great at advanced auto parts when your turning that little wheel, but the fact of the matter is that most oils(any good brand oil) already has there own added, and when you add others it messes up the compound of the oil, and actually can harm your engine...

racingboy

For older motors regular is better, the molecules are cyclic as opposed to linear (as synthetic molecules are). One of the things the cyclic molecules do is provides more 'cushion' for your motor. I only recomend synthetics for high performance, high tolerance, high revving motors.
In terms of oil additives, the interesting thing is that most do have teflon or other additives in them. I know that Lucas does not have these additives, it's just 100% oil-refined of course. That's the reason Lucas is backed by all major manufacturer warentees. In fact it's also the official oil of Ford SVT.
With oil though the best advice is stick with what works and what you're happy with. If you're running synth and you're happy, and comfortable then don't worry about it. If you are running regular and are happy with it, then ditto.
Just my two cents.