Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

[tkoforpresident]

Went to advance cuz its that time again, for an oil change. I like to get the best or at least try to usually. I go with 10w40 valvoline oil, a quart of lucas oil stabalizer, and a k&N gold oil filter. This is starting to get expensive.... 40 dollars for an oil change... and i'm doing the labor. Is it really worth it? Of course =)

My car has 90thousand miles on it, and i've heard many people tell me to switch to synthetic oil and how it can do wonders for your car and blah blah blah. I've heard (on this board as well) that switching to synthetic can cause oil leaks. I would love to switch to synthetic because i love my car, it's a 93 3.4 btw. If you really know the answer please help me. Will switching to synthetic cause my car to leak?

[TheStig]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

Switching to synthetic is better for the engine and will make it last longer & run cooler.

It cannot start oil leaks, however it can exspose oil leaks you already have that regular oil doesnt. Synthetic oil is made up of smaller molicules than regular minerail oil is. (this is one of the reasons it better, it can reach places in your engine that regular oil cant.) So while your running regular oil, the molicules may not be able to fit in some opening and therefore you have no leaks. And when you put synthetic it the molicules are smaller & can fit into those opening and "cause" a leak.

So synthetic oil doesnt really cause leaks it only exposes them. If you engine is in good condition & your confident about it I would switch. But if you already have leaks and dont think its a good ideal then you should think about it. Ive driven cars with over 100K miles on them running sythetic and have had no leaks ever. On my vert, it had about 120K miles on it running synthetic and it only leaked very little. Becuase the engines were taken care of.

Hope that anwsers your question =)

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

Switching to synthetic is better for the engine and will make it last longer & run cooler.

It cannot start oil leaks, however it can exspose oil leaks you already have that regular oil doesnt. Synthetic oil is made up of smaller molicules than regular minerail oil is. (this is one of the reasons it better, it can reach places in your engine that regular oil cant.) So while your running regular oil, the molicules may not be able to fit in some opening and therefore you have no leaks. And when you put synthetic it the molicules are smaller & can fit into those opening and "cause" a leak.

So synthetic oil doesnt really cause leaks it only exposes them. If you engine is in good condition & your confident about it I would switch. But if you already have leaks and dont think its a good ideal then you should think about it. Ive driven cars with over 100K miles on them running sythetic and have had no leaks ever. On my vert, it had about 120K miles on it running synthetic and it only leaked very little. Becuase the engines were taken care of.

Hope that anwsers your question =)

thank you very much, my engine does not leak very much so i might give it a shot, for this oil change i won't but 3 months from now i will put synthetic in.

[badinfluenceRS]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

[QUOTE=tkoforpresident]\does not leak very much

If it already leaks a little, then synthetic will definetely make it leak more eventually...I would keep using non-synthetic

[youngsc]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

60 dollars for an oil change

Corrected for syntehic oil change

[badinfluenceRS]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

I use synthetic oil...my oil changes are $25 (quakerstate RPM synthetic + Fram)

[TheStig]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

I use synthetic oil...my oil changes are $25 (quakerstate RPM synthetic + Fram)

I use full synthetic and its around $33. Get 5 quarts of mobil 1 at walmart for about $23 & then a mobil 1 oil filter at autozone for about $10 and then do the work myself.

I dunno if you should stay with non-synthetic. It will leak more, but you could exsperiment with a synthetic blend.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

I use full synthetic and its around $33. Get 5 quarts of mobil 1 at walmart for about $23 & then a mobil 1 oil filter at autozone for about $10 and then do the work myself.

I dunno if you should stay with non-synthetic. It will leak more, but you could exsperiment with a synthetic blend.

u mean like half/half?

the only leaking i've seen is just a little bit around the valve covers, no where else

[badinfluenceRS]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

u mean like half/half?

the only leaking i've seen is just a little bit around the valve covers, no where else

This is why I said I wouldn't put synthetic or a synthetic blend...

A. You already have a Oil leak...it will make it worse

B. The car is 14 years old...something is going to start leaking with the synthetic...I've seen it before

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

do the pros of synthetic outweigh the cons of an oil leak??

and if you change your oil (with all the good stuff i use) will it really matter as long as i do it religously?

[TheStig]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

do the pros of synthetic outweigh the cons of an oil leak??

It can depending apon how bad the leak is. If you have to add a quart of oil to it every week then its deffantly not worth it. But if you add a quart of oil every month or so then It can be worth it. Cheap oil may save you money in the short term but will cost you in the long term.

Yes a synthetic blend is just as it sounds, a mix of the two. Dunno if its quite 50/50 but dont mix them your self. They sell synthetic blend oils in quarts just like regular oil that has been mixed properly. If you are confident your leaks are not too bad I would go ahead and give this a try. But what ever you decied dont keep switching back in forth between sythetic & mineral oils. thats why i suggest trying a sythetic blend. If you happy with the resualts maybe try pure synthetic or just stay with the blend. If you are not happy with the leaks then just go back to mineral oil & dont mess with it again.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

It can depending apon how bad the leak is. If you have to add a quart of oil to it every week then its deffantly not worth it. But if you add a quart of oil every month or so then It can be worth it. Cheap oil may save you money in the short term but will cost you in the long term.

Yes a synthetic blend is just as it sounds, a mix of the two. Dunno if its quite 50/50 but dont mix them your self. They sell synthetic blend oils in quarts just like regular oil that has been mixed properly. If you are confident your leaks are not too bad I would go ahead and give this a try. But what ever you decied dont keep switching back in forth between sythetic & mineral oils. thats why i suggest trying a sythetic blend. If you happy with the resualts maybe try pure synthetic or just stay with the blend. If you are not happy with the leaks then just go back to mineral oil & dont mess with it again.

works for me....

lately when doing oil changes i've been puttin in 3 quarts oil, and 1 quart of lucas oil additive , will that work ok?

[TheStig]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

I am not a fan of oil additives at all. Today sythetic oils have anti-wear additives added into them. Usally these are zinc dithiophosphates (essentially combinations of zinc, phosphorous, and sulphour molecules) They are very good & effective as anti-oxidant, anti-wear, anti-corrosion inhibitors.

Then look at some of the contents of the aftermarket oil additives: Zinc, phosphorous and sulphour. What a surprize. Why bother adding stuff that is already in your oil. There is so much that goes into making oil, companies spend thousands. Its almost like a sin to change their compound.

And also, if you read you car manuel. (pretty much any car manual) it always has somthing advising you to not use after market oil additives.

That is just my opinion. This concept had been argued back and forth alot. I just dont use them. But if you feel the need to, go ahead. Thats why its your car.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

I am not a fan of oil additives at all. Today sythetic oils have anti-wear additives added into them. Usally these are zinc dithiophosphates (essentially combinations of zinc, phosphorous, and sulphour molecules) They are very good & effective as anti-oxidant, anti-wear, anti-corrosion inhibitors.

Then look at some of the contents of the aftermarket oil additives: Zinc, phosphorous and sulphour. What a surprize. Why bother adding stuff that is already in your oil. There is so much that goes into making oil, companies spend thousands. Its almost like a sin to change their compound.

And also, if you read you car manuel. (pretty much any car manual) it always has somthing advising you to not use after market oil additives.

That is just my opinion. This concept had been argued back and forth alot. I just dont use them. But if you feel the need to, go ahead. Thats why its your car.

well it can't hurt right? just a waste of $.....?

[borispeed]

Re: Will synthetic oil cause leaks??

I am not a fan of oil additives at all. Today sythetic oils have anti-wear additives added into them.

What about Synthetic Mobil? Did it have everything before they start selling M1 High Mileage?