427435
Rochester, Mn
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curt12914 wrote:I have never heard of any that were oil related.
A friend had a hole in a piston in an older 454 (which was quite common).
Most motorhome engine problems can be traced back to severely overheating the engine at some point.
I'm not saying there aren't oil related problems, but I haven't heard of any and have never had any myself. It would be interesting to know if the ones with oil related problems were using dino or synthetic.
IMHO, if synthetic was that much better, engine manufacturers would be recommending it or setting their specs so synthetic would be required, I haven't seen that (yet).
One of the attributes of a good synthetic oil is the reduction in operating temp of the engine or gear box that it's being used in. Maybe your friend's engine would have operated enough cooler to avoid the "holy" piston. Then again, maybe not. However, for $25 a year, I'll buy the insurance. That $25 a year will also keep me from having to change oil in the middle of a long trip. That, in itself, is worth the extra cost.
Mark
2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35U on a Ford chassis, 65,000 miles
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randallb
On the road
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Joined: 11/19/2007
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Run whatever you want. If you feel paying the extra money for a synthetic will make your engine "send you birthday cards and thank-you cards" or "love synthetic" by all means go for it. Otherwise choose a name brand oil and change oil according to the manufacturers recommendation. I run Delvac in my 08 Cummins because it is cheaper than Rotella or Delo but provides the same protection.
Randy
ps
427435,
Often there is very little correlation between engine cooling system temp, oil temp and combustion chamber temp when a holed piston is involved. I can hole a performance forged piston in an engine that is only showing 120 degree F on the temp gauge and do it in a matter of moments if I miss on the tune up. Luckily those days are long since passed.
If cooling system temp or oil temp causes a piston problem it is usually on all 8 and a hole is not what you find.
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jamsvet
San Diego
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I'll say it again, go with what the manufacturer recommends. Anything else, and you've bought into the hype. With all the members here, can't someone chime in about THEIR oil related engine failure. I think they were common many years ago but not now. You'd be money ahead servicing your cooling system rather than changing oil.
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wny_pat
Western NYS
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supra24valve wrote:I have done my own oil changes for the last 27 years. I am 43 now!
The only down side to synthetic is leaks. My newly bought 1989 Mustang LX Police Interceptor back in the day leaked at the rear seal. Dealer said is was from using synthetic. Same thing later in my 1994 Mark VIII. And then now in my Dakota RT 5.9L. But the Dodge is leaking at the front main seal after I switched to synthetic. Maybe just a fluke. But I have had many engine guys say the same. Oil weight and good filters are the bigger factor. And proper oil changes all together.
On my MH with a 454 I use 10W-40 Castrol in the green jug with seal conditioner with a wix filter.
We all have our opinion.
Now it is time for a piece of blackberry pie with ice cream and a cold glass of 1% milk....lol Lets see, I've been changing my own oil for 45 years and I'm 63 years old. I've been running Mobil 1 since it was introduced back in back in 1974 or 75. Never had a engine leak when using it, or any other synthetic oil. I don't care what wrench spinners say about oil, cause most of them don't know anything about it. You want to know about oils, talk to a lub oil engineer at a oil lab! And Castrol, excellent product, but they sure have ethics problems. I do not buy Castrol products except for the Allison Transynde.
And Curt, I even run synthetic in my Cub Cadet 882 diesel!!!
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Mike Schriber
San Diego, CA
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I run Mobile 1 full synthetic in all my severe duty vehicles and I'll be putting the same into my new (to me) motorhome at it's next oil change. Tow vehicles and motorhomes are the very definition of severe duty. I pulled a number of significant grades on my last trip... 10+ minutes at 4,000-4,500 RPM with the V-10 doing all it could to haul 24,400 pounds over a 11,000' summit with 6-7% approaches. Synthetic absolutely offers advantages over conventional oils in those sorts of operating conditions.
Mobil 1 is amazing stuff. I race cars just like jamsvet. My Corvette would see oil temperatures in excess of 250 degrees and even though I'd change the oil after each race weekend it never came back with any serious degradation. My current race car revs to 11,000 RPM and you can guess what kind of oil it has in the crankcase...
Mike
2006 Damon Daybreak 3276 37' bunkhouse
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curt12914
Northern NY State
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I guess this is a lot like arguing politics or religion. All we are going to do is cause raised blood pressure and we are never going to change anyone's mind. For every argument one side has, the other side will refute it.
My advice would be to run what you feel comfortable with.
We have kind of hijacked the thread away from the original topic which was switching from conventional oil to synthetic. My opinion is you will have no problem. When I used to run synthetic in everything I owned, I switched engines that had a lot of hours on them (even antique tractors) and never had a problem after switching them.
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gonzo71
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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I have posted this a few times before. This is based on FACTS not my personal believes. You can find the information below online for yourself:
I have to say that many of you really need to do some research on Synthetic Oil and what true synthetic oil actually is. There is no regulation in place that will differentiate a dino oil from a synthetic oil. In North America manufacturers can call it whatever they want.
Check out API group I, II, III, IV, V
You regular dino oil is a group II.
Group III were developed by Chevron, Shell, and other petrochemical companies. They developed processes involving catalytic conversion of feed stocks under pressure in the presence of hydrogen into high quality mineral lubricating oil. Group III base stocks are considered synthetic motor oil ONLY in the United States. Group III based lubricants are not allowed to be marketed as "synthetic" in any market outside of the USA. 97% of synthetic oils marketed in the US are Group III oils.
Group IV oils use Polyalphaolefin (PAO) as base stock and group V oils are made off synthetic esters, etc as base oils (non-PAO synthetics, including diesters, polyesters, alklylated napthlenes, alkyklated benzenes, etc.)
Group IV and group V oils are true synthetic oils. AMSOIL, Royal Purple and RED LINE are the only 100% Synthetic on the market (there maybe an other one that I don't remember). In the past Mobile 1 was a group IV. Unfortunately not all Mobile 1 are group IV anymore. Mobile 1 went to the dark side and is now using a Group III for some grades.
And there is a Funny oil on the market too. Castrol Syntec 0W30. If the the bottle says MADE IN GERMANY, it is a true group IV oil. If the bottle is made in the US it is a Group III oil. If you look for them at the store, they are mixed up. You will find the German and the US oil in the same box.
I am sorry to say that many that claim they run a synthetic oil and how much better it is, well sorry many of you are not running a synthetic oil at all and the reason that you get all the benefit you claim may just be a placebo effect.
Mobile 1 does claim a 2% increase in MPG! 2% are they kidding. On A MoHo that runs 7MPG I get an improvement of 246 yards? Well that is definitely a bonus if the Oil cost double from my Dino Stuff.
There is a lot of reason to believe that Synthetic oils is supirior to Dino oil, what how do I benefit from the extra cost. Mobile and Castrol have successfully spend million and millions of dollar in marketing to make us believe that we need to run Synthetic oils and many consumers go for it. If it is more expensive it must be good. Right?
Yes there are cars (mostly performance cars) that come with synthetic oil and those cars need the this oil. The specs for modern performance engine are a lot tighter than the engine of you every day driver, or Motorhome engine. A dino oil thins out when it gets hot during normal operation. a 40wt oil can easily turn into a 30wt or thinner oil when hot. This can cause problems on a performance engine. The cold oil may not be thin enough to lubricate this engine due to the tight specs. Since Mobile 1 does not change, a 20wt Mobile 1 oil will remain a 20wt oil even when hot. Ensuring that this performance engine will have prober lubrication even when cold.
Here is a little fun fact: Did you know that you cannot start a cold Formula 1 engine? The specs for this performance engine are so tight that a cold Formula 1 engine is actually seized up. In order to start the engine, hot coolant and oil is cycled into to the engine. Once the engine is warm end parts are expending the engine will turn over.
I am not completely against Mobile 1. In fact I use Mobile 1 during the Winter. We go down well below 0. I was able to start the MoHo on December 2009, at -37degree. I use Mobile 1 in my wifes car because she has no way of plugging in the engine block heater at work. Mobile 1 will not thicken and that is the reason I use it during the winter month.
So I believe that there are benefits to Synthetic oil, however you have to see if YOU get any benefit using synthetic. If you spend the money for synthetic and then add $25 for testing etc, why not stick with dino oil and simply change it at 3000miles and safe the money for synthetic and testing. Testing the oil tells you how dirty the oil is. Changing my Dino oil at 3000 miles gets the dirt out regardless. You can do A dino oil change for what you would pay for the testing.
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427435
Rochester, Mn
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gonzo71 wrote: If you spend the money for synthetic and then add $25 for testing etc, why not stick with dino oil and simply change it at 3000miles and safe the money for synthetic and testing. Testing the oil tells you how dirty the oil is. Changing my Dino oil at 3000 miles gets the dirt out regardless. You can do A dino oil change for what you would pay for the testing.
Changing oil every 3000 miles is either a pain in my old bones or a pain in my billfold. And if I pay someone else to do it, they may well screw something else up. By using a good synthetic, I only have to crawl around under my MH once a year-------that, in it self, is worth $25.
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womps
Olds
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I have a Chev. SSR with a 6.0 litre corvette engine. Comes from the factory with Mobil 1 and manual recommends uaing synthetic oil. I was having major engine trouble with a Buick Enclave I also owned. After many attempts to fix problem they flew an engineer in from Detroit. In talking to him I asked him about the need for synthetic in the SSR. He said it is a "feel good oil". Most buyers feel good about the fact their engine should have synthetic oil in it and that fact will actually help in making a buying decision. Very interesting!!
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bill h
coastal reconquista
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gonzo71 wrote: Since Mobile 1 does not change, a 20wt Mobile 1 oil will remain a 20wt oil even when hot.
I have run Mobil 1 in my 502 since new. Cold pressure is 60 psi and fully warm pressure is 56 psi. I know this is always the same, as when I give it its exercise, I drive until the gauge reads 56 and turn around and come home. Idle pressure has a wider range.
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