integracura

I have a 96 LS non-vtec teg with 180K miles, i am currently using 10w-30 regular castrol oil and have been changing my oil every 3k, but i am thinking of changing to Mobil1 synthetic 5w-30 oil, is this ok for my car or is a good idea?

loner714

180k seems pretty high to switch to full synthetic. i heard that your cam seals and head gaskets start to leak. ive read something about a dyno on a civic si how 5w-30 gain a few more hp than 10w-30. they said because 10-w30 is thicker and doesnt flow as smooth as 5w-30. takes longer to lube when u start your car up. people also said thicker oil is better for protection. i use 5w-30 on my gsr.

integracura

well im using 10w-30 right now and the cam seal is starting to leak already, so what should i do? can i just replace the cam seal and head gasket and then start using 5w-30?

lude27

it's not wise to switch to synthetic with that many miles regardless if you change the head gasket or cam seal. the entire motor is conditioned to the oil that you've been using, and if you start using synthetic you're most likely going to leak oil and/or burn oil from the piston rings. plus it's just bad for the engine

it is better, however, to be using 5w-30 regular oil. not synthetic.

loner714

by switching to full synthetic after all those miles will remove any gunk thats been holding your engine together.

nsxtasy

Switching to synthetic doesn't cause leaks. If your engine has gunk holding it together (because it's been poorly maintained), you should do something about the gunk.

As for the proper viscosity, 5W30 is the preferred viscosity for your car at all temperatures. You can also use 10W30 if it doesn't go below freezing in your area, but 5W30 is preferred at all temperatures.

AViciousTHRUST

what if yoiu rebuilt you motor, would royal purple 5-30 work fine or would still cause it to leak?

tech8

This is Mobil 1 take on their oil:

http://www.mobil1.com/USA-Engl....aspx

tech8

Mobil 1 also recently introduced their Mobil 1 <U>High Milage </U>oil, currently only available in 10-30w and 10-40w:

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-En....aspx

goheel

I switched to synthetic, and nothing's been wrong so far. Like the Mobil1 website says, synthetic doesn't cause leaks.

ac_attak

Stick with regular oil on an engine with that many miles.

Patman

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goheel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I switched to synthetic, and nothing's been wrong so far. Like the Mobil1 website says, synthetic doesn't cause leaks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

of course not, it says it on their website, it must be true

although in this case it is, having something on the website doesn't make it true.

integracura

I dont even know what to do anymore, i think i have been using 10w30 the whole time and on the cap it says to put 5w30 or thats whats recommended and in the owners manual thats what it says as well and it says its ok to use synthetic.