Switching to synthetic oil...

Mikele82 · Post by **Mikele82** » 15 Aug 2019, 13:25

So my xc70 2004 180,000mil i bought needs an oil change.
former owner extensive records show only regular oil change and 6 months intervals.

IPD recommended and sold me semi synthetic.
https://www.ipdusa.com/products/11929/1 ... kit-125420

ive read a lot to about synthetic causing leaks when switching from regular.
is that true ?

Post by **June** » 15 Aug 2019, 13:40

No you should not have trouble. June

ionianp2 · Post by **ionianp2** » 15 Aug 2019, 14:37

I switched from conventional to full synthetic on my 04 S60 for 3 years now and haven’t had any issues.

Post by **oragex** » 15 Aug 2019, 17:12

It depends, was the car run on mineral (non synthetic) before ? If so you should be careful at 180k miles. I give a few tips here www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGU-f1MA-VY

93SCMax · Post by **93SCMax** » 15 Aug 2019, 19:42

If it were my new (used) car, at 180k, I'd stick with dino oil. If she isn't leaking oil (?) with dino, why chance it now?

All my cars run Mobil 1 5W30 or 10W30 synthetic, but started using the synthetic at the 1st oil change. I'm a fan of synthetic but believe switching late in an engine's life could be problematic with seals and "loosening" gunk.

Georgeandkira · Post by **Georgeandkira** » 15 Aug 2019, 19:51

Since it was serviced regularly there shouldn't be any globs of sludge in it.

Also, given that all this stuff has improved immeasurably over the life of this car AND that you don't live in Death Valley or the North Pole, sticking with a good quality (no bargain weirdo brands) conventional would be OK.

What would be good to do is servicing of the PCV system. If the box and passages are plugged with crud you'd then know what to focus on.

Post by **Rattnalle** » 15 Aug 2019, 23:29

I'll go with the "there won't be an issue"-camp. Any issues could just as well be caused by using a higher detergent dino oil. But such issues are symptoms of an engine that's already shot and will go soon regardless.

Perhaps throw in an extra filter change after a few k, then you'll see if there's stuff coming loose or not. I've had some extra stuff there sometimes when switching oil brands with the same classification. Probably different amounts of detergents in them.

Katten · Post by **Katten** » 16 Aug 2019, 04:38

This might be a dumb question but I thought all these cars ran fully synthetic oil? Or atleast I would never be recomended anything else by a autoparts store in sweden

Post by **Rattnalle** » 16 Aug 2019, 04:40

Katten wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 04:38 This might be a dumb question but I thought all these cars ran fully synthetic oil? Or atleast I would never be recomended anything else by a autoparts store in sweden

We haven't had dino oil around for ages anyhow. But the lowest OK spec is ACEA A1 which is really old so they're not that picky really. Unless you've got a turbo and drive it hard.

Post by **abscate** » 16 Aug 2019, 04:41

Katten wrote: ↑16 Aug 2019, 04:38 This might be a dumb question but I thought all these cars ran fully synthetic oil? Or atleast I would never be recomended anything else by a autoparts store in sweden

No dumb questions here, Katten

Every turbo car should run synthetic, and most NA cars also should run synthetic. It’s just better stuff.

The longer drain interval justifies the higher price , not even counting the labor