Synthetic Oil Harmful?

[loosenut]

Cam 2 blue blood feel the power....HAHA

[MrAl]

My cousin used to use Quick Mistake in his Durango and thought it was great oil... then again, he also thinks Harbor Freight makes the best tools... Anyway, he switched to Mobil 1 high mileage and proceeded to blame it for blowing up his engine at 203k miles. Meanwhile, he had been running the engine hard at half temperature (bad coolant temp sensor or something... we haven't quite figured out what was wrong yet) for a good year before it finally let go. I don't think the oil had anything to do with it.
I typically use Mobil 1, but there is no real answer on the best oil. As for store brands, M1 is my favorite, but there are many (possibly) better brands out there available online like Amsoil, Motul, Total, Bizol, Redline...
Oil debates are like political debates... dangerous territory!

Hi,

Ha ha, HF makes the best tools, yeah right, thanks for the laugh
Seriously though i have some stuff from them that works pretty good, but some stuff i really wish i did not spend the money on, seriously.
Other stuff was questionable, like a pack of drill bits where one bit was obviously used or very badly manufactured as it was dull and bent too.

I thought Mobile 1 was good synth, but then again i dont know where i got that idea from.

[bmdubya1198]

Hi,

Ha ha, HF makes the best tools, yeah right, thanks for the laugh
Seriously though i have some stuff from them that works pretty good, but some stuff i really wish i did not spend the money on, seriously.
Other stuff was questionable, like a pack of drill bits where one bit was obviously used or very badly manufactured as it was dull and bent too.

I thought Mobile 1 was good synth, but then again i dont know where i got that idea from.

Harbor Freight is very hit or miss. There are some tools I have from them that I use regularly and are great, but others are questionable or just awful. I have a set of torx bit sockets that I bought not long after buying my V70 and I've only had to replace one, which was my fault for using it on my impact driver (they don't need to know that part!). Other than that, they've been perfectly fine the 2.5 years I've been using them.
Then there's my 3 ton low profile jack. You can't beat it for the price.

I've used Mobil 1 for a while, and I've always been happy with it. The general consensus on M1 is that it's good oil, and I like that it's priced reasonably. I mean, look at Royal Purple... $40 for 5 quarts at Walmart vs. $25 for M1. After doing a little research, there isn't a big enough difference between the two for me to justify the cost. At least for my daily driver Volvo.

[MrAl]

Hi,

Ha ha, HF makes the best tools, yeah right, thanks for the laugh
Seriously though i have some stuff from them that works pretty good, but some stuff i really wish i did not spend the money on, seriously.
Other stuff was questionable, like a pack of drill bits where one bit was obviously used or very badly manufactured as it was dull and bent too.

I thought Mobile 1 was good synth, but then again i dont know where i got that idea from.

Harbor Freight is very hit or miss. There are some tools I have from them that I use regularly and are great, but others are questionable or just awful. I have a set of torx bit sockets that I bought not long after buying my V70 and I've only had to replace one, which was my fault for using it on my impact driver (they don't need to know that part!). Other than that, they've been perfectly fine the 2.5 years I've been using them.
Then there's my 3 ton low profile jack. You can't beat it for the price.

I've used Mobil 1 for a while, and I've always been happy with it. The general consensus on M1 is that it's good oil, and I like that it's priced reasonably. I mean, look at Royal Purple... $40 for 5 quarts at Walmart vs. $25 for M1. After doing a little research, there isn't a big enough difference between the two for me to justify the cost. At least for my daily driver Volvo.

Hi,

Yeah i have a lot of their stuff now that i think about it. I got some power tools from them too because they were cheap enough and i dont have to use them every day like a contractor would or something.
The tools include a sabre saw, cut off tool, plunge saw, others.
A bad one was their soldering gun, the tips melt after a few uses. Junk.

I had forgotten to mention something about the synth oil too though.
Back some years ago when i was first experimenting with synth oil, i had a fan that needed oiling every month during the summer. I had to remove the armature and clean the bearings and shaft, then re oil it, then reassemble. That was a pain. I got the idea to try synthetic oil, and it worked better than anything else. Regular motor oil worked better than 3 in One oil, but synth beat the regular motor oil for run time between cleaning/oiling again. It got me though a whole three months instead of just one month. I figure it must be able to put up with the heat better.
Silicone spray only lasted a week between redoing.
I did not have dielectric grease back then so i could not test it, but regular bearing grease (like for a car) did not last long.
Of everything i tried, the synthetic oil lasted the longest between redo's.
I figured this first hand experience was better than anything i could read because it is hard to tell what is true and what is just marketing hype. But there must really be something better about synth oil.
I did also 'read' that it helps durng cold starts too when the oil is not yet flowing through the engine. So the coating ability may be better too. I had no way to test that part though that was just as read.

[wizechatmgr]

If you like synthetic oil, try synthetic grease. I've used it on fan motor sealed bearings in portable air conditioners & mobile home furnaces to get a little more life out of them, as well as on motorcycle swing arm bearings.

Synthetic gear oil is also great. I've used that on motorcycle chains, differentials & door hinges (I cannot stand squeeks - it is like nails on a chalk board and the smell generally doesn't bother me unless it is burning.)

[MrAl]

If you like synthetic oil, try synthetic grease. I've used it on fan motor sealed bearings in portable air conditioners & mobile home furnaces to get a little more life out of them, as well as on motorcycle swing arm bearings.

Synthetic gear oil is also great. I've used that on motorcycle chains, differentials & door hinges (I cannot stand squeeks - it is like nails on a chalk board and the smell generally doesn't bother me unless it is burning.)

Hi,

I use dielectric grease quite a bit is that what you are talking about?
I'll check online too.

I use dielectric grease because it does not contain petroleum and petroleum is harmful to plastics.
Dielectric grease is basically silicone grease (not the spray but i have spray too).

[wizechatmgr]

If you like synthetic oil, try synthetic grease. I've used it on fan motor sealed bearings in portable air conditioners & mobile home furnaces to get a little more life out of them, as well as on motorcycle swing arm bearings.

Synthetic gear oil is also great. I've used that on motorcycle chains, differentials & door hinges (I cannot stand squeeks - it is like nails on a chalk board and the smell generally doesn't bother me unless it is burning.)

Hi,

I use dielectric grease quite a bit is that what you are talking about?
I'll check online too.

I use dielectric grease because it does not contain petroleum and petroleum is harmful to plastics.
Dielectric grease is basically silicone grease (not the spray but i have spray too).

I haven't tried dielectric grease for that yet - if the chain or swing arm bearings go while riding you need a new chain and a change of underpants.

I've used this stuff as well as some Valvoline and Mobil products...
https://www.motosport.com/product/?adpo ... ent=badger
https://www.amazon.com/Valvoline-SynPow ... P15TE6CP0B

[abscate]

I'd change that yearly with only 600 miles - if only to get the moisture and potentially any slowly forming acid/sludge out.

My mom does about 1200 per year. Only 7,200 in 4.5 years.

When I went to Blackstone Labs they told me that an oil change every 3 years were fine. I have her do one per year. Cheap insurance. Plus she still has a warranty.

Once every three years sounds crazy to me. All those short distance trips is sure to foul the oil with fuel, and a paper filter after three years? June

The important thing here is that the user has data from Blackstone which reports fuel content in the oil. He isn’t guessing his oil is still good, he knows it.

[Rattnalle]

My mom does about 1200 per year. Only 7,200 in 4.5 years.

When I went to Blackstone Labs they told me that an oil change every 3 years were fine. I have her do one per year. Cheap insurance. Plus she still has a warranty.

Once every three years sounds crazy to me. All those short distance trips is sure to foul the oil with fuel, and a paper filter after three years? June

The important thing here is that the user has data from Blackstone which reports fuel content in the oil. He isn’t guessing his oil is still good, he knows it.

I'd still agree it sounds crazy though. Oil is cheap and fuel isn't the only contaminant you want to get rid of.

Interestingly oil analysis isn't a thing in Europe. We just change the oil (and nobody uses mineral oils except perhaps for really old cars that use straight viscosity oils). Sometimes oil analysis comes up as a topic but mostly in the "look what those crazy folks over there are up to" kind of way. Sure it's relevant if you're into designing engines but the rest of us just need to read the world least read book and follow the instructions.

[abscate]

the rest of us just need to read the world least read book

If you have normal use patterns this is the easy route. Our oil change places here try to sell everyone that they have extreme use and then push 3000 mile changes which, if the owners fix oil analysis, would find unecessary.

The folks here with very low mileage patterns might want to do oil analysis if it gives them piece of mind.

I’ve changed my low miles VW to a 2 year interval so I’m running out of used oil to sell...