DON'T DO AN ENGINE FLUSH OR SWITCH TO SYNTHETIC!!! just keep your oil change's up to date. I use to run Royal purple for 12,000 miles and the result; leaking valve covers, front main and rear main leaking. My engine use to be bone dry. If I could do it all over, I would have stuck with conventional oil. That's what I run now. Your choice though. You'll just be opening up a can of worms!!!

 

You can buy a thicker synthetic if your implying that the thin oil is to blame for your leak. That alone wouldn't dissuade me from using a synthetic.

 

i switched to Valvoline 10-w40 synthetic blend, the motor don't leak anymore than it ever did before, and i got a slight boost in fuel milage
i used to run John Deere 15-w40 dino oil, same stuff used in the tractors and semi trucks we buy it by the 55 gallon drum

 

I run 5w-30 amsoil. That's about as thin as it gets. I don't leak a drop. So I don't know. Only 119,500 on my clock though. Switched to Synthetic around 100,000.

 

Nope. I used 1040 and 2050 but the weight doesn't matter. Synthetics clean your engine out REAL GOOD. Thats a good thing if you have a newer engine that you want to keep clean and a bad thing if you have an old engine. It will expose the leaks that you don't know you have. Thats why I said to stay away from synthetics.

 

synthetic blend is the same as conventional oil. It's based on convetional oil NOT synthetic. you might as well use conventional oil and save your money. There is no in between when it comes to synthetics and non synthetics. I have a hard time believing that switching to syn blend would increase mileage. If that where true, then there'd be ALOT more people using syn blend. If anything, it's probably your driving habits that helped your mileage. But by all means, if it works for you, go for it!

 

Gee I put Synthetic in my 12 year old used engine and it does just fine. Different oils use different additives and seal sweller's. I have had no oil leaks on any of the engines that I have switched to synthetic. If you have used Pennzoil in the past you can use their synthetic. Just because you have been taking care of your engine and changing your oil doesn't mean the person before you did.

 

I agree. I'm not saying that EVERY old engine that you start a synthetic regiment to will start to leak ASAP. I'm just saying that its more likely then not. Just as I'm sure that there's a 2nd gen ram owner that has yet to have a single major problem with their ram. I'm just saying that the odds are against you, but that's just from my experience. Ultimately, do as you please. How many miles have you had synthetic in your engine for? Which oil do you use? just curious.

 

true, its based on conventional oil, but has certain addives and what not that full synthetics have, plus i buy it b/c its approx the same price as conventional oil is at the same store (Rural King).

last time it cost me 24 bucks for oil and filter, not too bad in my mind, (im a broke highschool student)

my dad uses full synthetic in his Ford 6.0 PSD, 15 quarts, it costs him like 100 bucks per change, mostly due to the fact it holds so much more oil than my rig

 

Have you wondered why it's the same price as plain jane oil? it's the same thing...but I know where your coming from. It's been a while, but I recall being a broke college student. Living off of $1 McChickens. I hate those now!!!