RIP K.I.T.T.

[Brendan Hearn]

Well, for now at least. After switching to Mobil One synthetic 10W-30 I experienced low oil pressure, about 1,500 miles after the change it got to the point of hard starting and me having to goose the enging to get the oil pressure flowing. Well today I was driving it over to my buddy's house to switch back to reguar oil and replace the pan and filter and BAM, my 3.8 seizes up. [img]graemlins/omg.gif[/img] Now I gotta replace the engine, my question is..........Has anyone had similar problems w/synthetic oil (3.8's only)

[DominusEtDeusNatus]

I went from dyno oil to castrol synthetic 10w30 to mobil 1 (10W30 to 5W30 to 0W30 to 5W30) now using regular mobil 1 5W30. Car seems ok. When you switch to synthetic it's a good idea to change oil again after 1000miles cause synthetic will clean out the old dyno oil.

[ April 21, 2002: Message edited by: Dom ]</p>

[TheV6Bird]

How many miles were on your car? Though I'm a 3.4, my previous owner said he's used Mobil 1 since he bought it at 7000. I bought it from him at 82000, and I've been using Mobil 1 as well. I still use it at 91000 currently.

[Jester_3.8L]

All I know is that when I got my camaro and went to get the free oil change from the dealership and i asked for the synthetic oil special. They said NO! The reason they gave me was that synthetic oil can void my warenty and seeze my engine. :eek: I didnt believe it but apparently it is true.

[Ttop34]

Did you check and see how much oil you had in there? Sounds like it all leaked out or something. Don't see how synthetic oil can cause that. My exbrother-in-law did change to synthetic in his 4.3V6 truck once and said his oil presure really dropped so he switched back to dyno juice. You might check the oil pump or something as well not that it's fixable any more but just to get to the true reason your engine died.

[Brendan Hearn]

The car only had 41,000 miles on it and i changed the oil about 2,000 miles after the first synthetic oil change, but it didnt help. Any the oil level was fine, the engine wasnt loosing/burning any. So now hopefully I'll find a decently priced 3.8. I'm hoping to get one brand new, u guys know of any places who would have one?

[P-nut-]

synthetic for all that i know will not break down, it only gets dirty. I would check for a leak also, I know of someone that never changed their oil, not once, only added it. Of course the engine was ****, but it never locked up.

[Dojo2000]

it was discussed a long time ago that switching to synthetic after using regular for a very long time that would cause lots of oil leaks because your seals everywhere are worn down and the synthetic is much slipperier(best way i can describe it) than regular motor oil. Are you sure that the level was fine?
Maybe you should give Mobil 1 a call and ask for an explanation ;) , or a new engine [img]graemlins/evilgrin.gif[/img] .
But really, sorry to hear about that.

[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Brendan Hearn]

Thanks for the sympathy Dojo2000. I actually think it wasnt the oil after I took apart the oil pan, the oil pumps screen was clogged as hell so I think that that must of s**t the brick and possibly caused that problem. Cause the problem started 1,500 miles AFTER the syntheic oil was put in, and the level was fine and no leaks. Im thinkin that the 2 owners b4 me, both women, might not have changed the oil as much as they should have. On Sat. me and my brother-in-law are gonna take the engine out.

[94CaliCamaro]

When I bought my car, with 136K miles on it I did an oil change and I used Mobil 1 synthetic, after that I would smell burnt oil, turns out when you switch to synthetic after using regular oil, since it is thinner than regualr oil, it finds the holes and you begin getting leaks. Im getting my leaks fixed this weekend and I'll let ya know if I have to switch back to regular oil too. It's been 1700 miles since my oil change and I've lost about a quart. Quite possibly you could have had this happen to you too. Sorry about your engine man.

Davy Dave

[Blackbird3800]

Wow , very interesting info, and almost the oppisite happened on my car. I used to leave a silver dollar sized spot of oil every night and when I switched to synthetic it leaves NO oil at all. So, synthetic helped me...?

[twofaced]

Well, I am no expert when dealing with the types of oil to put into a car, but here is my experiance. I decided to try synthetic, mobile, I switched from my normal penz. Anyway, I change my oil about every 2000 miles, religously, since I drive so much, normally about every month and a half. So I bought new filter, I believe a pureone, and my 5 quarts of synthetic oil. I changed my oil. First thing I noticed was low oil presure. Normally, before adding the synthetic, my oil pressure hovers right on 60. After adding the new stuff it would flux from 30 to 60, but stayed below 60 even on normal highway driving (drop in pressure if you ask me). So, anyways, less than a week later about 3 days, and less than 500 miles, I went to the track, 1/8th mile. I consistantly run 9.9 - 10 flat. Well that night I ran 10.5 - 10.7, no lower. This was a tuesday night. So the next day I changed the oil again, this time using my same ole penz and fram filter. I went to the track the next night and I ran 9.9 - 10.1 again. So, I think I will stick with my old faithful oil and filter. THE END!

[MustangEater8251]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Blackbird3800:
Wow , very interesting info, and almost the oppisite happened on my car. I used to leave a silver dollar sized spot of oil every night and when I switched to synthetic it leaves NO oil at all. So, synthetic helped me...?<hr></blockquote>


Or your plug was loose [img]smile.gif[/img]


When you changed to synthetic at 2k did oyu do the filter?

I have free dealership oil changes and once they put on the worng size oil filter I went 1k miles with bad oile pressure, I flushed the motor, then eventually went to change the oil and filter again non of my oil filter wrenches fitht he filter it was too small.