Hey all, thought I would share this, my 06 has 128K on it, I changed the oil about two months ago, Used a synthetic blend, Right away I noticed my valve stem seals were starting to leak, I never had the smell of burning oil at start up before I used a synthetic blend oil. Coincidence? Don't believe in them.

 

Okay you said synthetic oil in one spot and synthetic blend in another. There is a difference between the two. Could you please clarify the specific oil you used? Full synthetic is great stuff; however, if transfered over to synthetic at a later point in a engines life in any pre-existing gaps and passages that the engine has developed, it CAN make the pre-existing leaks worse. It also depends on what you were using previously. If you switched from a high mileage oil to a non that can also cause an increase in oil leakage as high mileage oils have additives that makes the gaskets swell.

 

If you regularly use high mileage will it eventually cause gasket/seal failure?

 

synthetic blend, went from conventional oil.

 

Synthetic and synthetic blends do not CAUSE leaks. But since it flows better when cold, it'll penetrate through cracked seals at startup. As the engine warms and everything expands, those leaks usually stop. If they don't, it's not the oil but the seals that are the root problem. Don't blame the oil for causing the leaks.

 

I've never had good luck with switching from conventional to synthetic. It is and isn't the oil's fault. The fact that it flows better and cleans out stuff the conventional doesn't causes things that may have just been seeping (aka your valve seals) to become full blown leaks.

The one vehicle I regularly ran synthetic in, had it since new. Only advantage I found to it was cold weather starts(less valvetrain noise, easier starting). I didn't find it to last any longer in that specific car though (still changed every 3k).

Switching a higher mileage vehicle over will generally cause issues (my experience).

 

So you come in here stating that you have a clear bias in your stance, provide scant details about the only parts of the change that matter then try to fear monger people into avoiding synthetic oil. Brilliant!

I'll post the most obvious cause here: you are used to the smell of your old oil burning and the new oil smells different. It's that or you have switched to a lower viscosity oil and it is better able to creep through gap between the seal and the valve stem.

If your valve stem seals are leaking then change them, but don't blame the base stock of the oil. Also, it's pretty rare to see leaking valve stem seals on these engines, especially at only 128k.

 

Are you sure you didn't spill oil on the exhaust manifold that then burned off when you started up the van?

 

Just posting my experience, never had the smell before, so it could not be that i am used to the smell of my other oil genius. anyway, I believe that the answer is correct that it flows better and has penetrated tiny cracks in the seals, I am in favor of using synthetic oils, but after doing much research I have found that it is better to start them at low mileage and never change back. Just my two cents fellas.

 

I use 10-40HM oil and my van uses very little between changes.With 10-30 it tends to use more.Just what i noticed.I have also noticed that there are a lot of posts with newer Caravans burning oil compared to older vans.What oil to use and when to change is a subject many argue about. I actually went to shorter intervals and conventional oil versus synthetic.
If i see a synthetic blend on sale i use that. Also i use a FL1A Ford truck filter So i have a larger filter. Good luck and oil is cheap.