I have a '97 civic with 110k on it and I was wondering if synthetic oil would be better to put in my car and why and if I have to perform an engine flush on it first before I do.

 

Do a Forum and Goolge search on the subject. I'd say stick with regular oil !

 

with that high of mileage i'd stay away from syn unless the person before you was running syn its whole life. if you switch now your motor could start burnning the syn oil and it could start leaking from your seals

 

yah i agree, with my old engine with abouit 160KM's on it, i thoght it woujld be good to start using the Mobile 1 synthetic......after 40km's my car started smoking like crazy , even at idle it was very noticable. so i swapped it out and threw it away after 40km's...........and the car smoked from that day til the day i wrapped it around a light pole (which was all the synthetic oils' fault BTW )

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1163777

 

For engines with 75k mileas or more i recomend the valvoline max life it is a semi-synthetic blend of oil that has seal swelling inhibitors that can help stop minor leaks in areas such as the oil pan and main seals.

 

Synthetic oil is just better than conventional oil. It won't cause leaks, its compatable with conventional oil and no need to "flush" it.

Conventional oils contain much greater amounts of impurities, such as sulfur, reactive and unstable hydrocarbons, and other undesirable contaminants that cannot be completely removed by conventional refining of crude oil.

Faster lubrication at start-up in low temperatures.
Excellent protection at high temperatures.
Exceptional resistance to thermal breakdown.
Outstanding protection against harmful deposits.
Greater resistance to oil oxidation (thickening), which reduces engine drag.
Lower oil consumption under high-speed conditions.
More efficient engine operation over a wider temperature range.


Only drawback: It costs more

Myth: I need to flush my engine before switching to Mobil 1.

Reality: No special preparation is necessary when switching from conventional motor oil to Mobil 1 or Mobil 1 Extended Performance.

Myth: Mobil 1 will leak out of the seals of older cars.

Reality: Mobil 1 does not cause leaks. In fact, new Mobil 1 was tested in dozens of industry standard and OEM tests to prove its seal performance. It is fully compatible with the elastomeric materials from which all automotive seals and gaskets are made. If an older engine is in good condition and does not have oil leaks, Mobil 1 provides the same advantages as when used in a new engine.

 

well you obiously never seen first hand why u dont use syn in a highmile motor.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Donkey85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well you obiously never seen first hand why u dont use syn in a highmile motor. </TD></TR></TABLE>

your motor obviously had problems beforehand. I seriously doubt synthetic had anything to do with it.

and his motor has 110k miles. Thats not considered high mileage in my book.

 

my 99 si had 81,xxx on it when i got it, i switched to royal purple right away, since i have been burning about a half quart every 2-3 weeks, i heard syn. oil can cause motors in general to burn about that much without any actual problem with the motor before hand or after putting it in. i heard mobile 1 actually uses royal purple in their machines that produce it... haha ill **** on mobile 1, royal purple all the way

 

does a high rev'ing motor have anything to do with syn. oils burning quicker though?? i run my si to about 8 grand all the time, never over that cuz my rev limiter is set for 8200rmps, but i think i remember something about higher reving motors break down syn. oil faster than usual but without any problems in the motor.

 

I used synthetic in one of my previous cars, a Pontiac Bonneville with a 3.8L V6. The car had 110k when I switched to Mobil 1 and I ran it to 165k. I drove it hard but it didn't leak or burn oil, before or after I switched to synthetic . I use Castrol GTX on my Civic now just because I'm cheap (and I do 3000 mile oil changes anyway, so it really doesn't matter what oil I use) but if you feel like switching, go for it. A good oil site is http://www.bobistheoilguy.com, they go into great detail about different oils.