Synthetic Oil Question

Can you simply go from standard oil to synthetic?

 

Yes! 2nd Gen recommends semi-synthetic, so I actually went from that to full synthetic, but I do reckon the entire point of synthetic oil is to replace conventional oil

 

why not its just oil as long as viscoity is approved for engine. theres a myth synthetic cause seals to shrink and cause leaks when you switch back conventional but I highly doubt it no scientific proof. kinda like shave your head to get thicker hair.
ive used them all switch back no leaks whatsoever. my preference is regular conventional never saw need for synthetic w my driving habits. key is change regularly if you drive hard, in dirt, or tow maybe change more often

 

Hey Germantown I’m over here in Copake ! Back in the day you could not switch from conventional to synthetic without worrying about oil leaks around your engine gaskets . Maybe pre 2000 ? These modern engines you should be good !

 

A mechanic told me most oils now are a mix of both conventional and synthetic

 

no such thing as honest mechanic lol. synthetic blend maybe?

 

Of course you can, though I don't recommend switching oils especially if you have a lot of miles on your truck. Owning auto stores for 16 years I've seen issues associated with such.

Besides, I have 414,000 trouble-free miles on my '96 Tacoma 4x4 always using regular 10w-30 Pennzoil and Fram filters since new and changing oil around 5,000 miles. Would I have done better using synthetic?
I don't think so.

I do use Mobil1 0w-20 in my '18 TRD Sport but that's what recommended for it.

 

Stick with the standard oil and save your money

 

Omg, no. Your truck will explode and all your future grandchildren will get herpes.

But seriously, just change your oil regularly. It honestly doesn’t matter what you run. Just get something that fits your budget and change it at regular intervals.

 

Hmmm haha. Some different options, I suppose as expected! I have an 03 Tacoma with only 32K on it. Just bought it and this would be my first oil change. I commute about 20 miles a day but other than that nothing to heavy or strenuous on the engine. Previous car all I used conventional and got it to 235K before I sold it so whatever I was doing worked! Just never used synthetic and with all newer cars going synthetic just piqued my curiosity.

 

And hello!

 

I’ve been running Amsoil and wix filters on all my vehicles and eguipment for years without any problems. There is several vids on you tube comparing oils and filters. Very interesting results.

 

An experienced/respected Taco mechanic in my area told me he has seen cases where switching to synthetic has caused seals to leak. He said he thought it was because the new synthetics had detergents that would thin out crud stuck around seal areas if the engine hadn't been opened in a long time. He advised me to never change oils to synthetic, so I have run Castrol 5/30 and no leaks thus far. I keep wondering if I should try synthetic, but figure why change a good thing. Curious if anybody here ever actually saw leaks occur from switching?

 

I switched to Mobil 1 in my 95, and now she has a minor case of the drips.

Would love to go back and undo that decision.

 

More likely that the seals in your 25 year old engine are just going bad, and the thinner synth found the leaks...

So many myths out there about oil. You can switch back and forth, you can mix and match synth and conventional oil, you can do whateverthehell you want. As long as you change it regularly.

I love the one about not being able to switch back and forth because they're incompatible or something. I guess these people haven't heard of synthetic blends, lol...

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/switch-to-synthetic-oil.htm

 

Curious how to interpret this. By ‘found the leaks’ are you saying it is likely the synth leaks more than conventional? Or just that it happened to be in place when a leak occurred?

 

Hey that article you linked confirmed what my mechanic said. Thanks for posting that.

“But while synthetic oil won't create a leak, it will find one. Its streamlined molecular structure has no mercy for cracked or otherwise marginal seals. The oil and its additives may even clean deposits from the engine, which is good -- unless those deposits are acting like spackle on questionable seals.”

 

You said your mechanic said switching to the synthetic causes your seals to leak. But that's not exactly true. The important part of what you quoted is "cracked or otherwise marginal seals." So if you have good seals, you won't have a problem no matter what oil you use.

It's almost like that trick of putting an egg in your radiator to plug a hole. You still have a hole in your radiator, even if stuff isn't coming out.

 

That's a fair qualification and probably where the 'myths' about this come from, the confusion makes more sense now. With an original build motor, I have no way of knowing how seals look inside (except that it has no problems) so it sounds like the right answer is to stay away from synthetic and don't change a thing unless I want a chance of having to chase down a leak. If a motor has newer seals, it would make sense to expect they would be fine with synthetic.

I didn't qualify since this is the 1gen forum, but I probably should have that 'this engine is original with 240k and the seals are 16 years old'.

 

For me, there are other reasons not to go synthetic (like the cost). I had never really gotten far enough along in the "should I change to synthetic" mental calculus because for me the cost/benefit never made sense anyway. Synthetic generally costs about 2x as much, if not more (for those fancy brands that advertise heavily at races or have brightly colored oils).

So yeah, I'd just stick with what you know.