If not synthetic oil then what's best?

[mrvortech]

I have roughly 2000 miles on my C and I've been told its important to let the car break in first before putting in synthetic, atleast 7000miles if not more, although i've heard different from a few here, what are some of your views on that?

Also if not synthetic oil, what would most of you recommend as the best brand choice for regular 5W20 for now until i change to synthetic. Appreciate any and all responses TIA

[mrvortech]

Boy o boy, don't everybody all reply back all at once now! Jeez, 37 people have viewed this but not one reply yet

Originally Posted by mrvortech

I have roughly 2000 miles on my C and I've been told its important to let the car break in first before putting in synthetic, atleast 7000miles if not more, although i've heard different from a few here, what are some of your views on that?

Also if not synthetic oil, what would most of you recommend as the best brand choice for regular 5W20 for now until i change to synthetic. Appreciate any and all responses TIA

[marlinspike]

On rebuilt engines, and on new engines back in the day, but they say not on current factory engines, you used to need to use a break in oil for the first 500 - 1000 miles. At 2000 miles, even if this still applies to factory engines (I don't think it does since many cars come from the factory with synthetic in them), you are fine to go to synthetic.

[IceMan1959]

Originally Posted by mrvortech

I have roughly 2000 miles on my C and I've been told its important to let the car break in first before putting in synthetic, atleast 7000miles if not more, although i've heard different from a few here, what are some of your views on that?

Also if not synthetic oil, what would most of you recommend as the best brand choice for regular 5W20 for now until i change to synthetic. Appreciate any and all responses TIA

I would go ahead and do it now, if it isnt broken in by 500 miles then it should be.

[kevenj]

Originally Posted by mrvortech

I have roughly 2000 miles on my C and I've been told its important to let the car break in first before putting in synthetic, atleast 7000miles if not more, although i've heard different from a few here, what are some of your views on that?

Also if not synthetic oil, what would most of you recommend as the best brand choice for regular 5W20 for now until i change to synthetic. Appreciate any and all responses TIA

That is an "old wives tale" as they say, that you have to break an engine in before putting synthetic oil in it. What about the SRT8, Crossfire, Corvettes, Mercedes Benz, etc, etc, that come with synthetic from the factory? I put mobil 1 5w20 in my "C" at 700 miles, no problem. And my brother has run it in his Ram 1500 hemi since 600 miles, he's got 14,000 miles now and no leaks or oil consumption. I've always run Valvoline oil in everything I've owned but I went with Mobil 1 because I figure there must be a reason that all those above mentioned manufacturers use mobil 1 - - but I'm sure any brand of synthetic would be fine. I could not bring myself to put Pennzoil in anything but maybe that's just my bias

[stevesrt8]

as a former NIASE certified Mechanic with a fleet of both commercial and performance vehicles, my two cents are as follows:

1 - synthetics are proven to keep engines together longer. If you are really tracking your dollars you may find that you pay more to use synthetic. But new engines are expensive and rebuilds tend to be less reliable than the one that came from the factory, so you decide...

2 - Don't think that Mobil One is used because it's the best. It may be the cheapest in bulk purchase. It may be anything, but it is definitely being used during break in and it works!

3 - If you want horsepower and fuel mileage synthetics whip mineral oil in any real quantitative comparison.

4 - If you really want to get crazy check out a supplemental bypass filtration system. Regular oil filters have to flow huge volumes of oil and can never be as efficient in removing small particles as a proper bypass system can. I have a GMC 3500 Savana with over 400,000 miles that doesn't even smoke or burn oil! We sometimes run that van almost a year without draining the sump! This van even passes emissions testing.

[lmhoward]

I bought my first new car in 1978 and changed the oil every 2000 miles with the same brand of mineral oil. At 130,000 miles the motor was worn out (rings). My brother, on the other hand, has only used Mobil 1 in his honda accord and dodge caravan and has close to 300,000 on both of them. The van needed a valve job at 250,000 and the accord only recently died as his son became old enough to kill it. My 300c has seen nothing by Mobil 1 since new. If you plan on keeping the car, use a synthetic. If you plan to sell the car in 5 years, use whatever is on sale.

[II kings 9:20]

Break in on mineral oil is very old school, as stated many cars come from the factory with synthetic. I know many people who change with mineral every 3K and get 150-250K without burn or consumption. As stated, today's rebuild is very expaensive and the extra margin of safety afforded by synthetics is well worth the minimal cost, I posted the arithemetic last year and the difference (depending on interval) was under $300 over 100K miles.
To answer the question though is difficult, which brand is best of the mineral oils? I think it boils down to personal preference, family tradition, etc. I think any major brand of mineral is the same, Valvoline, Shell, Mobil, Exxon Supreflow, Quaker State, does'nt matter. Far more important is the BRAND OF FILTER , DO NOT USE FRAM. We have had many discussions on the topic of filters, in short, not in order of quality, Wix/Napa Gold, Pure One, Mobil 1, Amsoil are excellent filters. I also strongly recommend a Filtermag and a magnet for the pan bolt. I have documented the effectiveness of these devices in several posts.

[marlinspike]

Any brand of mineral oil is not the same. They vary VERY widely (I'd even go so far as to say the differences between the various conventional oils is greater than the differences between the various synthetics, but this is going by memory, not looking up the charts so don't call me on this small point). Exxon believe it or not is a pretty good one, Quaker State put out total junk for a long while, supposedly they reformulated but I don't know about that. Mobil was typically good, but ever since they had a bad batch of oil get out I stay away from their conventional oils. Shell is ok, Castrol GTX is better at lubricating, but it sludges. Valvoline is supposed to be not as good as GTX by the specs, but I've had better luck with it.

[II kings 9:20]

Interesting marlin, my dad, brother in law and a buddy all use different mineral oils and they have between 150K and 247K on thier cars all with no consumption or burning. There may be differences in major brand oils, but the proof is in the pudding not in the recipe. Based on several nuts I know, I am sure you know some as well, in the real world use, with 3K intervals I have yet to be convinced that using Brand X over Brand Y will some how keep you from burning oil sooner.