Honda Car Forum

1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.

kevin

In article <1151228055.430791.313840@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups .com>,
"FunkyKev" <lee.kevin@comcast.net> wrote:

> 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
> mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
> to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now?

Dino oil works great. You obviously know how to take care of your car;
synthetic would be a waste of time and money.

FunkyKev wrote:
> 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
> mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
> to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.
>
> kevin
>
1. there's not many true synthetics out there, regardless of what it
says on the bottle. mobil is the only main stream one.
2. i was running mobil 1 on my 89 civic earlier this year. i was
interested to note that not only did the car perform better, but fuel
economy picked up a little too. in the range of 3% - 5%. that may not
sound like a lot, but if you do the math, you only need just under 3%
for the much greater cost of the oil to pay back in fuel savings. i'm
also pleased to report that there were no issues with oil leaks. i'm
not running it right now because i've recently changed the head gasket
and am still in "flush" mode, but i intend to return to it shortly.
3. castrol is great conventional oil. i've used it for decades with
great results. i occasionally try other oils just for the sake of
experiment, and with the exception of mobil 1, have always been
disappointed.

FunkyKev wrote:
>
> 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
> mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
> to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.
>
> kevin
----------------------------------

If you happen to live near the Arctic Circle, that would be a GREAT
REASON. I don't live too close, but close enough.

'Curly'

One can google on the prudence of switching high mileage
vehicles to synthetic. A lot comes up. It seems there are a
tiny number of such vehicles that experience leaks after
such a switch. Most seem to do fine or even better on the
synthetic, though.

"FunkyKev" <lee.kevin@comcast.net> wrote
> 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular
> or high
> mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any
> reason to switch
> to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.

FunkyKev wrote:
> 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
> mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
> to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.
>
> kevin

Only reason I can think of would be to reduce the number of oil changes
you do every year. Synthetic *may* increase your mpg by a little bit,
adding economic value.

I use Mobil 1 synthetic in all my cars because of the local temperature
range and number of cars I look after. I use 5W-30 in all of them and
can report the same results as you, no leaks, no smoke, no oil-related
issues of any kind. Usually get better than EPA mpg ratings.
Been using Mobil 1 since 1987.

YMMV

FunkyKev wrote:
> 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
> mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
> to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.
>
> kevin
>


not really, no. maybe if you want to extend your change interval a bit,
but other than that? nah.

I switched the wife's 04 MDX to synth a few months ago. Computer did
not show any increase in mileage whatsoever.

I use synth in my lawnmower. High stress, non-pressurized, gets real
hot in summer (especially if the air fins get blocked by grass
trimmings at times). $2 worth of oil in a $200 lawnmower once a year.
That's extravagant, but probably more useful than synth in a car
engine.

"SoCalMike" <Mikein562athotmail@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:r5-dnU_uIYMqwgLZnZ2dnUVZ_oKdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> FunkyKev wrote:
> > 1998 Accord V6. 190k. Always used Castrol 5-30 regular or high
> > mileage. No leaks, no smoke, no nuthin'...ever. Any reason to switch
> > to Full Synthetic at any point...especially now? Thanks.
> >
> > kevin
> >
>
>
> not really, no. maybe if you want to extend your change interval a bit,
> but other than that? nah.

Most of the stuff I have read indicates that you don't really get to extend
your change interval using synthetic. One reason to change oil is
contamination: from fuel, combustion by-products, and water. Synthetic
doesn't change how fast that happens. Another reason is gelling of the oil,
which together with contamination creates sludge, which is Real Bad Stuff to
have in your oil pan. Responsible oil change intervals and practices, such
as draining the oil when hot or at least warm, prevent gel formation with
dino oil.

You can't leave synthetic in there forever, so you have to come up with
another reason to use it.

Earle



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Elle wrote:
> One can google on the prudence of switching high mileage
> vehicles to synthetic. A lot comes up. It seems there are a
> tiny number of such vehicles that experience leaks after
> such a switch. Most seem to do fine or even better on the
> synthetic, though.


Include me in the group with no troubles. 94 VX started
on Mobil1 at 190,000. Now at 205,000 with no leaks or
trouble.