THE BASICS: OIL

[Stewart G Griffin]

Let's say that one of my cars (not the pickup) has low oil pressure at idle;  And we know about the trick of using a thicker oil in order to try to bring the pressure up.  Example: car takes 5W-30 and we'll try 20W-50 etc.


Do you feel regular oil or synthetic would be thicker or better for this purpose?  Why or why not?

[VileZambonie]

viscosity is viscosity. Synthetic is better but much more expensive.

[Stewart G Griffin]

OK, i dig.  I'll probably go with synthetics in that case.

It's just that i heard that if your engine starts to leak they were suggesting that you switch BACK to regular, real oil because synthetics have the ability to seep past seals better than regular oil or something?

[joesgarage71]

10lbs of oil pressure for every 1000 RPM
If its too low then something is amiss, worn engine bearings, restriction in the oiling system, or just a wore out pump.
Might be time to trade it off.
 Steve

[VileZambonie]

I didn't mean synthetic was better for your cause I meant it is a better oil. Regular old Dino oil will do just fine.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Alright, i went for it;  I put in Mobil 1 synthetic  "Extended Performance"  15W-50.  They're stating that it's good for 15,000 miles.

The engine is a 2.2L 4 cylinder with 243,000 miles on the clock in a 90 cavalier.  Do you think this is nessesary?  (it's too late now, but i'm asking for next time.)

I also put in a Fram "Tough guard" filter.   #PH3890

It was $7.49 per quart at pepboys.  My logic was that since i'm driving an older car, i can afford to buy better than stock parts for it.  After all, i've NEVER had a monthly payment on it.   The money you save on financing charges, higher insurance and monthly payments can be applied to good parts.

1) I also wanted to ask about the mobil 1 line of filters.  They were the most high-dollar filters in the store at $12 vs. everyone elses $4-6.   Do you know anything about them.

2) I also wanted to ask about engine oil additives such as slick 50, tribotech and prolong.   What do you think about them?

[VileZambonie]

You are wasting your money with high dollar oil and filters.

Yes synthetic oil is better. Yes its additives will last longer and it's molecular structure is better than conventional oil. Here's the problem though. Oil itself becomes contaminted with byproducts of combustion, moisture, hydrocarbons, metal etc and that in itself will be in there until you dump the oil.

If you buy a can of Heineken and a can of schlitz and someone puts a cigarette out in your beer they're both going to be pretty gross right? the Heineken is still better but it still has the bad stuff floating around in there. the point is dump the oil every 3k and you'll have no problems. change the filter and don't worry about mobil 1 filters because they are a waste of money in your car. If you want a thicker oil just run a thicker conventional oil.

[Stewart G Griffin]

I kinda figured it might be overkill for my application.  Then again, you can't argue with 239,800 miles;  The oil in there previously was mobil 1 synth  20w-50.

So why do people buy and the companies make synthetic oil?  I just know all the pro racers use them.

What oil do you recommend for my 350?  (it's the 260HP crate version)

What about additives such as Slick 50 and Prolong?

[VileZambonie]

additives like slick 50 are also a waste of money. Why do manufacturers market these products? Because people buy them. If I cut some tin foil and claim that you can stick it in your air intake and gain 15 HP  and add up to 8 MPG put it on an infomercial and sell 2 million of them and $80 bucks a whack - well you do the math. The fact is there's an ass for every seat out there and a sucker born every day. I guess if it somehow gives you piece of mind then it's worth it right?

[77c15]

I absolutely love the reference to the tornado POS that actually got sucked through the intake of my buddies turbo eclipse....synthetic blows, definitely won't help with that mileage. My brother's L98 TPI Iroc has 205K on the motor and he runs the QuakerState Q with Slick 50 and it DID help with the smoking from the rings when he gets on it. I would run something similar to that, but at like a 10w30 or 20w50 weight and definitely change it religously every 3k miles. Just my personal opinion.