I got a 93 accord with about 140k, is it a good idea to use synthetic in it?
Will the engine be better protected against friction with conventional?

 

im at 195k and ive been using mobil 1 synth since 173k...no problems what so ever

 

My uncle has an accord with 275k miles. He says he uses the cheapest oil on sale at wal-mart. No need for the synthetic, he says. I kind of agree. After awhile, I would want to buy another car. He was the first owner. Now he still has the car because he can't sell the car with such high miles.

I use four quarts 10/30 quaker and 1 quart full synthetic. I figured meet both parties in the middle. So far no problems...not that I expect any.

 

I used to just go to oil change places, I've started changing it myself recently and use Castrol GTX (5w30) (a '99 LX, now with ~ 65,000 miles).

For my '93 Volvo 940 Turbo, I use synthetic (Mobil 1). If you do switch from dinosaur to synthetic oil, change your oil the first time after the switch after a couple of thousand miles as the synthetic will be knocking off a bunch of gunk out of your engine. As for price, you can pick up a 5 quart jug at Walmart for something like $21 or $22 after tax. A 5 quart jug of Castrol GTX runs ~ $7 or $8.

 

buddy of mine swapped from dino to syn in his 92 accord and he burned 18t of oil.
He did an oil swap and drove from san francisco to LA and lost a qt.
Maybe I should blend?
Does the syn protect better?

 

Yes it will be better protected. But there are other things to consider:

1. As stated before, is it really worth the extra cost for your car? Do you plan on keeping your car for even more years to come? Synthetic oil costs at least 4x as much as regular dino juice.

2. Have you been taking good care of your engine (regular oil changes, replacing cracked seals/hoses, etc.)? If you haven't, chances are that the previous oil allowed gunk to fill up those cracks in the seals. Synthetic oil is so good at cleaning that the gunk will be cleaned up but there'll be leaks. Most common problem I've had is with a coolant leak after switching to synthetic. (Better add in that it isn't the oil itself that's caused the damage but the fact that the engine wasn't taken care of well in the past, and the synthetic oil is just making this more obvious. Had an argument with some other member about this, so this shouldn't bring it up again). If this is true for you and you haven't had any leaks yet, chances are that it'll be better for you to just stick with regular oil.

If you want to do a blend, do the blending yourself. Don't buy "blended oils" which cost 2-3x as much as regular yet only has 5-10% synthetic in it. Just buy the same brand/viscosity rating (for ex, get 3 qts of regular mobil 10w-30 and 1 qt of mobil1 10w-30 or whatever ratio you want, and mix, then add to engine).

As for the benefits of using synthetic oil, here's a couple: oil particles are more uniform, less prone to breaking down; ability to withstand higher temperatures for longer time; more detergents so keeps engine cleaner and more buffers to hold in chemicals that can harm your engine; lubricates better; blah blah blah... there's a bunch of articles on the internet out there about the benefits of synthetic oil so just go search for "synthetic oil" and they'll pop up. The major issue is the price, that's all.

 

Just to let you all know, I did my oil change today.
I don't know if it was the syntec I put in or the "restore" engine additive I put in, but Dam this engine feels like new. No more roughness, much smoother, amazing.
Here are the details of my oil change today.

K&N oil filter
1qt Castrol Syntec + 3qts GTX 10W-40 (cause it is summer time)
1 can of Restore

Usually with the 10W-40 the engine feels weighed down, but dang, after today it is feeling much lighter, can't wait till winter and I dump in the 5W-30.

 

syn

 

O.k, I think it is the restore.
Car so feels like new.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Spider Man &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">buddy of mine swapped from dino to syn in his 92 accord and he burned 18t of oil.
He did an oil swap and drove from san francisco to LA and lost a qt.
Maybe I should blend?
Does the syn protect better?</TD></TR></TABLE>

does this necessarily have to do with synthetic oil? thats probably his rings were bad. but i use the super tec 92 cents a quart 20-50 oil in my 220k mile car. and hey its worth it. my car breaks down whatever. i just dont wanna spend 2bux a quart expensive oil filters and have it break down on me, i think oil is oil for a stock car.

 

tell me more about the restore. I'm thinking of throwing it into mine but is it compatable with full synthetic?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Obsidian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">tell me more about the restore. I'm thinking of throwing it into mine but is it compatable with full synthetic?</TD></TR></TABLE>
yeah it can be used with synthetics.
My buddy used it on his 60K Si and he said it brought his car back to new, so going on his recommendation I tried it today. It definately lived up to what he said. I'm amazed. My engine used to be so rough and it always felt like it was struggling during accleration.
Here is what I found about restore last night after having put it in the car.
http://www.restoreusa.com/faqs.html
Definately worth the $5-$6.

shrekz: oil is HARDLY oil stock car or not. There are plenty of tests that show this.

 

Thanks for the link. I think I will definatly be adding this into my car. Don't really want to do another oil change... man what to do what to do... I got another 3,000 miles before I need an oil change....

 

I think you can dump it in anyways with or without the oil change.
But they do recomend doing it with an oil change.

 

i use full synthetic, it only cost a little more and i get peace of mind. Its really not worth risking the possible damage or whatever can happen just so you can save 20 bucks.