made the jump to sythetic
 

went to jiffy lube and had them do the switch to synthetic. they used penzoil sythetic.
and kev, i had them pressure flush and change the atf too :) finally

but their visual inspection told me i was 50% low on brake fluid. don't know what that's about, i'll have to have it check and changed too i guess.

Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

i don't like using synthetic oil for everyday driving...somehow my car feels like it's running much smoother with regular motor oil(10W30)...the synthetics are soo thin..and they will seep through your gaskets..i only use synthetic when i go racing..but i guess it's up to the driver.

Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

hmmm. good to know. which gaskets should i keep an eye on? i don't know what they are. :gotme:
i was actually expecting some noticable difference in the shifting with the new atf, but it's pretty much the same. very smooth.

Re: Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

the main crankcase gasket..it will eventually seep through the gasket cuz it's just soo slippery..

hmmm...since it looks like ur near the rowland heights area, why don't we meet up soon? i'm there almost everyday.(my gf lives there)
i'll be there tomorrow night too.

Re: Re: Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

sounds cool. i just got a digital camera for christmas too, so we can get some pictures of your car finally. :) i'm in LA at night tho.
check you email for my cell phone.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

oh...i already took some pics of my car yesterday. i borrowed my friend's camera and he has to upload them for me. it'll take maybe 2 days before the unveiling of my car pics!!

my first maxima had all synthetic from almost the start and i just switched this one yesterday. if you swtich early enough you will have no problems. i never burnt an ounce of oil in my other car.

read the FAQ on Mobil's site...
 

Their syn (and most others) have not had gasket problems for years.

Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

If a car leaks already, synthetic will leak too - maybe a little more. Utherwise - synthetic is very unlikely to cause leaks. Synthetic is much, much better for street driving - especially in cold weather, as it dramatically reduces start-up wear. It will also slightly increase gas mileage.

Re: Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

From my understanding, this depends primarily on the Gasket materials used. Gaskets will swell to a certain size depending on what type of fluid surrounds them. This fluid will fill any small holes or pours that the material may have. So, if a heavier fluid like conventional oil is used for extended periods, I would say longer than 10K miles on the car, the seals will be "conditioned" for that type of fluid. Then if you switch to another fluid that is thinner, like synthetic, it will seep past those holes and pours that the thicker fluid filled. This also happens because the seals are no longer being conditioned with the thicker fluid and they will "shrink", or expand less. This is why it is recommended that if you switch to synthetic, you do so at a low milage. Switch too late and you will more than likely loose oil between changes. After break in, around 1K miles, I would switch to a blend, run that 4K then switch to full synthetic at 5K miles. There are no guideline for switching, but I would think that 10K miles is entirely too long.

I ran synthetic in the last car that I actually owned (I have since begun to lease as I don't keep my cars more than 2 years). That car was my '94 Z28. I started it with Mobil 1 after about 500 km. That car never leaked a drop, but it would be down about 1/4 of a liter after about 5000 km. This was contributed to the fact that all modern high performance cars burn some oil. Talk to a Porsche owner and I'll bet he's considering buying stocks in Mobil. Those things go through oil like there's no tomorrow. The Camaro, however, never leaked a drop.

Albert

I found a link to Mobil 1 discussing some of the points people here have been making regarding synthetic oil.

http://www.mobil1.com/index.jsp

I don't use synthetic oil in my car, but there seem to be some good benefits; more consistent viscosity, less wax content, etc. I thought it might be interesting to hear what Mobil has to say.

obviously, they're not going to talk bad things about their own product...

i just went to my dealership for a 15k mile service and to fix my sunroof, and i told them i want to run synthetic and the guy said he strongly recommends not doing it for a engine with that little mileage. He says at least wait till 60k miles before switching to synthetic, he says it wont do no harm to put it in now, but at the same time you will not be protecting your engine anymore.

The guy at your dealership is a dumbass ... why do think that Porche puts it in every car they make from the factory? In fact, the exact opposite is true ... as an engine wears (gets older), thicker oil should be used, not thinner oil.

Your guy is wrong about that. The Vette I had comes from the factory with Mobil 1 in it..my Triumph 1200 motorcycles comes from the factory with Mobil 1. He has it all backwards...its not a good idea to put it in a car that has a lot of miles on it..those will leak from the gaskets.

Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

I have my 2001 SE going to Synthetic pretty soon..and it has 2,000 miles on it...we'll see how it goes!

I went to Mobil 1 Tri-synthetic after 3000 miles and I'm glad I did. I'm in agreement with those who say that the sooner you go synthetic the better. See Mobil's web site for more on this.

BAH! it's not like u can actually physically feel the gains from using the synthetic..but they do protect your engine much better..that's why i'm only using the Mobil1 when i go racing.

Re: Re: Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

I never had that problem before on my max. Infact I have never even once heard of anyone having a crank case seal leak after switching to synthetic. My 95 max has 104K miles and has been using Amsoil 5W 40 Synthetic for years.

Bogus logic - 2 reasons:

1. Most engine wear occurs on start-up - synthetic protects much better.
2. Every time you switch your synthetic is contaminated by the conventional oil in the motor.

YA, i WOULD NOT swtich around oil like that. that's where you are gonna find problems. stay with synthetic all the time.

Does anyone here use synthetic oil (like Mobil 1) and extend their oil change intervals? I have read some articles (ASME, Popular Science) suggesting that extended oil change intervals are possible. However, given the lowest common denominator is mineral oil (and it is lower cost), the manufacturers have not pushed the vehicle manufacturers to change the oil change intervals. Is there a warranty issue for new cars with regards to extended oil changes intervals? There is also the issue of the oil filter; even if the oil is still "good" the oil filter may need to be changed at prescribed intervals? Has anyone tried this? What are the results? Thanks.

ya lots of people here do, nissan filter with mobil 1 at 6000-7500 miles drains.

My 2K is having its oil changed this week and I was going to switch to Mobil 1. It's coming up on 30K. Should I think about not switching?

i would i only would think about switching within the first 10k miles.

I switched to Mobil 1 at 3K.

me at 3750

Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

That is a bunch of BS. :rolleyes:

Re: Re: Re: made the jump to sythetic
 

yes i thought the same myself.

Synthetic
 

I switched to synthetic having around 100,000 miles on my previous car(5spd Probe GT, '93), and i really felt the difference: the car ran quieter and smoother, not mentioning how much good it did for that engine. Never had any problems with it, although i did changed the gaskets when they were leaking before i switched to Castrol synthetic.
just my 2 cents
my Max has over 17K miles on it, and i'm definitely switching to synthetic at some point, hopefully soon. The only thing that's keeping me is my financial situation.
peace

Re: Synthetic
 

What does money have to do with switching to Synthetic? You will save money because you can go twice as long without changing the oil! Instead of 3k, you can go 6-8k easily. About a good dozen members including myself have all sent in our oil for tests to blackstone labs, and have proven that it is safe to use for this long.

quick question....local grease mechanic told me to put in synth every 3 oil changes because of the viscosity of synth...this make any sense to anyone?

No. If anyone wants real information regarding engine oils, do a search on this board. It just so happens Russ is making the most sense in this thread!

yes it's amazing isn't it. this is why i do all my own work on my car. stupid mechanics. change to syn within 10K miles and then change that every 6-8K with a good oil filter. end of story.

Re: Synthetic
 

Bet you noticed that your HLA design CAMS got a little more quiet. It was that stupid Mazda motor that made me investigate Syn in the first place. They were so noisy on startup I thought the motor was self destructing! Moved to Tri-Syn and never heard from them again...