My truck has 67000 miles to date, and I was wondering if putting synthetic oil instead of dino oil would erode/deteriorate gaskets... I've heard of this problem before with the synthetic oil killing gaskets in vehicles that used Dino oil for the most of its life, but what do yall think?

 

i switched to syn after 70..and been running it ever since... i have 95 on it now.. so for 25K ive been using syn... havnt had a problem yet... and i really dont know what the 1st owner used

syn is far more superior to dino... it justs costs twice as much so thats a big reason why people still use dino oil...

syn lasts longer too so you can go longer between oil change intervals

 

First of all, why would synthetic erode gaskets and be better than conventional oil. The reason why they say synthetic oil in older cars causes leaks is because there is less bonding forces between each molecule of the oil. Thus it is more prone to "break" away from eachother which gives it better viscosity and better lubrication. Second it has really high detergents in it. As the engine ages, gaskets crack and leaks form. As the engine gets even older sludge, gum, varnish and all that other stuff clump up around the leak and sometimes seal it. Synthetic oil will then clean all that out and seem to cause leaks. Another thing, the cut off for full synthetic switch over is 75,000 miles. Kendall does make a Full Synthetic High Milage engine oil. That is ok because it is formulated to help hydrate gaskets and not move any of the crud sealing the gaskets. But if you drive your truck hard, with excessive wear in the piston rings and cylinder wall you will burn oil a lot easier due to the weaker bonds. So it's your call.

 

From the research I did (just switched a while back), synthetic oil does not deteriorate or erode gaskets. It just penetrates better. So, if you have a gasket with a propensity to leak that was holding with petroleum based oil, it may not with synthetic. It is the ability to penetrate that makes it better. That, and like shott said it doesn't break down as fast.

 

Ya, it doesn't hurt your seals, it is the molecular properties of it (molecules are much more consistent in size and shape) that make it more apt to leak if your seals are already bad. This is not a problem with the oil, it is a problem with your seals. If they leak with synthetic, it would not have been long till they would leak with conventional. Go ahead and switch.

 

yea what they said!

i shoudla payed attention in chem class lol...

vavoline (oil products i use) max a highmilieage syn oil as well...

IMO id rather run syn in a highermileage car b/c in the even it does clean out that sludge buildup that is pluging up gasket leaks ..id want to know about it...id rather fix a gasket instead of masking it over

 

Synthetics are far superior to dino oil as there is no impurities in syns. There are impurities in dino thats why you have to change it more often, some say you can run the syns for 15,000 before changing, right now I'm only comfortable with 5,000 may go to 7500 later on, lol

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thats my interval too.. between 5000 and 6000 miles... but i keep a close eye on the coloing of the oil..if it gets darker quicker then normal then ill change it as needed

 

I keep my interval about the same as I used to with conventional oil because most oil filters are still only good for about 3000-5000 miles. So even if the oil can go 15,000, I won't try it until I have a filter that can do the same. Or, I guess you could just change your filter out, but not the oil, but that seems like a pain in the ***.

 

I'm in the process of switching to synthetic now. I have no leaks at all and just about 100k now. The only thing that i have been told by many people to do is to slowly change over. Begin with 1 qt of synthetic.. than 2 than 3, than change all to synthetic. Aparantly the reason for the stories of the "leaks" after changing to synthetic are not b/c synthetic is bad, But more because of the shock of the change of oil. If you slowly change over, the seals take much better to the new oil. They sell different synthetic oil mixes, but its cheaper if u just mix it yourself b/c you'l pay the same for synthetic blend as you would for a qt. of synthetic.