# Questions about 5w-30 vs 10w-30, conventional vs. synthetic



## TheHolyCannoli

So the engine manual calls for 5w-30 for ambient temperatures -20 to 30degrees F, and 10w-30 for 5 to 100degrees F. (Ariens AX LCT 291cc) Seems like everywhere I look, people are using and recommending 5w-30. Most of these people live in places that aren't typically in that -20 to 30deg range. Common sense tells me that using an oil suitable for such a broad spectrum of temps must be compromised in some other way. Am I missing something? 

In regards to synthetic vs. conventional; does a synthetic 5w-30 broaden the operating range at all?

I posed these questions to LCT a few weeks ago but no luck in getting a reply.


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## Mal

Who blows snow at 30+ degrees? If it's not cold enough to snow, it's not cold enough to blow. Sure, you might have a warm front blow through the next day, but 5-30 should be fine with ambient temps 80+ without an issue. 

As far as synthetic vs conventional, synthetic oils are capable of maintaining their rated weights through extreme temperature ranges via some very good additives. Frankly synthetic 5w-30 is suitable in just about every small engine in just about every common application but there are exceptions. That said, follow your manual. The mfg did research on what works best in their engines and they have to warranty the thing, so they're not lying.


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## loneraider

Listen here folks, If you pay close to a grand for your new snowblower
you gotta use synthetic oil. I use mobil 1 5w-30 & it only takes a quart of oil or less. So for $ 10.00 or less why wouldn't you use the best oil out there?? Mobil 1, Royal Purple...ect. Its cheap insurance/


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## nt40lanman

The 2 numbers of a viscosity are for 2 temperatures. The first is a cold temp viscosity, the second is viscosity at 210F, approximate engine running temp. So, if you're nice to your engine and warm it up before going at it, 5W-30 or 10W-30 is all the same, it's just it will pull over a little easier with 5W.


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## GustoGuy

loneraider said:


> Listen here folks, If you pay close to a grand for your new snowblower
> you gotta use synthetic oil. I use mobil 1 5w-30 & it only takes a quart of oil or less. So for $ 10.00 or less why wouldn't you use the best oil out there?? Mobil 1, Royal Purple...ect. Its cheap insurance/


Exactly. I use Amsoil and I put over 300,000 miles on my Hyundai Elantra. I even took it to Yellowstone and Glacier National park this past summer.A high quality synthetic will help prevent engine wear because it can take higher temperatures then a conventional oil and a high quality synthetic oil tends to not thicken as much in the cold weather as a conventional oil does and small engines are just splash lubricated and if you oil is as thick as honey when it is 40 below it is not doing your engine any good. Plus Amsoil had the least boil off and the smallest wear scar per the independent testing. Mobile 1 is great and so is Castrol syntec and Royal purple. $1.00 a quart cheap oil will only cause your engine to wear out faster and it pays to keep the equipment in good shape.


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## raymondjiii

Maybe it's just me but I have never lost a small engine piece of equipment due to what oil I used (regular or synthetic.) I have always lost my small engine equipment due to one reason - rust. And that's rust on the outside body not on the inside of the engine.

Today I ran out of 5W-30 for my snowblower so I used some Mobil 1 5W-30 that I had readily available but only because I didn't want to go out to the store. I change the oil every year as do most people I think. I really find it hard to believe that someone's equipment will die because they did not use synthetic. If it gives you piece of mind then by all means do it, I just do not think you need to.

(In a car, truck - yes. Snowblower - not really.)


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## Shryp

I have always used whatever was on sale and I could get the cheapest for any engine. Never used synthetic.


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## Snowcone

The best oil is fresh oil.
5w30 for winter engines
10w30 for summer engines
Stabil added into your gas can before filling the can means your equipment is always protected.


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## GustoGuy

loneraider said:


> Listen here folks, If you pay close to a grand for your new snowblower
> you gotta use synthetic oil. I use mobil 1 5w-30 & it only takes a quart of oil or less. So for $ 10.00 or less why wouldn't you use the best oil out there?? Mobil 1, Royal Purple...ect. Its cheap insurance/


I agree a good synthetic certainly won't hurt to use and chances are your engine will last longer when using it. I use Amsoil and I been using Amsoil since the late 1980's. I do recommend a good quality synthetic oil since it will help your engine last longer. *Too many people feel synthetic oil is snake oil and I now know this to be not true because of my experiences with using Amsoil.* My snowmobile broke a mag side bearing in 2010-2011 winter and I was still able to drive it home slowly. I brought it in to a place in town that repairs motorcycles and snowmobiles and out board engines. They called me after a few days and said that the outer Mag side crank bearing will need replacing, but they have some good news. Since the engine had 7200+ miles on it they checked the cylinder walls with the calipers and it still tested with in specs. The mechanic asked which Oil I use and I told him Amsoil Interceptor. He said it is a good oil and it saved you over $300 in new pistons and they will only need to repair the crankshaft bearing and put in new crank seals and gaskets and do a light hone on the cylinder walls and put in new rings. He said the pistons and cylinder walls had little to no wear on them and you could still see the original hone marks on the cylinder.


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## detdrbuzzard

i think as long as you do regular oil changes it won't make much difference which oil you use ( dino or syntetic ) my ford van had 388,xxx miles on it using quaker state. what i think synthe does is flow better at colder temps. i tryed amsoil and mobile1 for bikes in both my goldwings and went back to conventonal castrol 10w40 or 20w50 and i do 5000 mile oil changes on them


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## Mal

> *Too many people feel synthetic oil is snake oil and I now know this to be not true because of my experiences with using Amsoil.*


There's a reason why Subaru requires synthetic in all their newer turbo cars. It saves them millions in warranty repairs. 

Ask anyone who's done a used oil analysis to compare dino vs synthetic. Furthermore, there's a big difference in synthetics. Amsoil is a very good synthetic, so is Rotella t6. There are even differences various ranges...Mobil 1 0w-20 and 10w-30 are much better oils than mobil 5w-30, but any of them is better than dino oil.

In most small engines, it's not lubrication failures that end their life but usually something to do with the fuel delivery. That said, There's no reason not to use a good synthetic, they rarely even use a whole quart..a couple dollars tops in extra cost. It will likely start easier in a bitter cold and protect the engine that revs to full throttle instantly. There is simply no downside to synthetics.

Oils do matter. Even the difference of oil 15 years ago is not as good as today. 
****, if you're after cheap, go pick up some of the US spirit oil you can find at Gypsy gas stations. It's often on sale...that "5w-30" ends up being "15w-30" and is not suitable for engines built after 1930. No, I'm not exaggerating. This is what you get when you buy cheap oil. Petroleum Quality Institute of America


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## JSteinhoff

Well, we just had temps overnight of minus 29...so I was glad to have 5-30 Mobil 1 in my Honda's. Mechanics will advise a good 10 hours on regular oil when new to help with seating the rings. After that, 5-30 Mobil 1 has all of your winter temps covered and in theory may help cold weather starts and prolong engine life.

To the " I put the cheapest oil I can find in my machines", well, good luck with that!

Cheers


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## Piedmont

Hmm... we are talking about snow blowers here. I and probably many others use our snow blowers probably 15-20 hours/year and then replace the oil. After 10 years the engines will have 150-200 hours, and 10 oil changes in that time frame. Something tells me the engines can survive without synthetic. Many snow blowers are 30+ years old and their engines still run like champions, and oil of 10+ years ago was junk compared to todays standards (API-SN). Today's API-SN oil is incredibly good stuff, but I'm not even sure it is necessary in something that runs so few hours and then gets an oil change. 

Synthetic is better than normal, but a snow blower is probably the item that benefits least from it. Unless it's the same price, synthetic is better put in your lawn mower since you use it every weekend in Spring, Summer, and Fall, or your car that you use everyday. In the meantime my snow blower (which is a Honda) is getting whatever is on sale if the old snow blowers can last 30+ years on crap oil, the new will run 40+ years on today's great oil. There's just no comparison of how good today's oil is compared to yesterdays, there's not as much benefit with Synthetic as there used to be... and the benefits of Synthetic in cars being mentioned don't apply to a snow blower. The newer cars have new technology, performance, and tolerances so tight that they were exceeding the oil specifications... that's why new specifications of oil had to be developed and distributed to meet today's high-performing cars and fortunately the high performing oil is what's going in our snow blower even though snow blower engines aren't high performance. Synthetic meets the needs of todays high-performance engines, and most oils do as well but doesn't apply to a snow blower. Anyone will be fine using regular oil in their snow blowers, I'm getting what's on sale. I do recommend synthetic after the first oil change, possibly the second. From there, it's up to the individual I personally get what's on sale after that.


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## detdrbuzzard

well piedmont i would have to agree with you. my toro 826 ai a '79 model and others on the forum have even older machines. even if they use synth oil it wasn't avalable when these machines were new and those machines lasted all those years using conventional oil


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## nt40lanman

Synthetics don't flow any better in the cold than conventional oils. That's the point of viscosity. A 10w-30 should have a 10w-30 viscosity whether it's conventional, synthetic, or blended. If it flows better, it's not a 10W-30. The upside of synthetics is they handle heat much better. Great in turbo cars and engines that break down an oil but snowblowers? Nah....


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## TheHolyCannoli

Mal said:


> Who blows snow at 30+ degrees? If it's not cold enough to snow, it's not cold enough to blow.


The last storm ended overnight. It was 35degrees when the sun came up next morning. I've had plenty of mornings or early afternoons that approached 40degrees with 6+inches still on the ground.



Mal said:


> Sure, you might have a warm front blow through the next day, but _5-30 should be fine_ with ambient temps 80+ without an issue.


...not trying to be an @$$, but explain to me why the engine manual clearly shows the upper cut-off point for 5w-30 to be about 30F. Furthermore, 10w-30, not 5w-30, is recommended for general use. (see below)


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## GustoGuy

nt40lanman said:


> Synthetics don't flow any better in the cold than conventional oils. That's the point of viscosity. A 10w-30 should have a 10w-30 viscosity whether it's conventional, synthetic, or blended. If it flows better, it's not a 10W-30. The upside of synthetics is they handle heat much better. Great in turbo cars and engines that break down an oil but snowblowers? Nah....


Well synthetics have much lower pour points temperatures than do conventional oils. Conventional oils can be semi solids or fully solidified at 40 degrees below zero and actually nearly as thick as honey at 20 below zero. Thick oil will not flow and all small engines are splash lubricated. *There is no real downside to using synthetics in small engines and in automobiles there has been shown to be a reduction in engine wear if you use a high quality synthetic and performance models will state in the owners manuals that you will need to use a high quality synthetic oil.* Amsoil 5W-30 will pour as low as 51 degree below zero Fahrenheit. Since 1989 Chevrolet has only recommended a high quality synthetic oil in the Corvettes. 

Amsoil, Mobile 1 Castrol Syntec and Royal Purple are all high quality synthetics. No downside at all in using them in a small engine. 


Any Corvette built since 1989 needs the specific oil recommended by Chevrolet for your engine. Generally this is 5W-30 synthetic oil, and GM specifically warns against using any other formulation, such as 10W-40 or 20W-50. For the last several years, GM has specified Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic oil, and filled every Corvette with that oil at the factory.
High temperature tests show that synthetic handle the heat better and are recommended for high performance and turbocharged engines. Amsoil film strength is much stronger than a conventional oil and the ASTM wear test it had the smallest wear scar because the only thing between your metal parts in an engine is an incredibly tough film of oil so using a synthetic will provide more wear protection. My 1996 Polaris XLT known for crank bearing failures if modded had a crank bearing go out on it. The cylinders were checked with a calipers and tested with in specs. The mechanic said he never seen an engine with so many mile on it (7200 miles) that did not need an over bore. He said there was little to no wear at all and the original hone marks were still visible on the cylinder walls. New piston rings and a light ball hone were all that was needed.


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## HJames

Some who live in extreme low temperatures will see these benefits, but for those that live in areas that don't drop below -15 F, conventional oils act and react on a chemical basis no differently than synthetics. A small engine's standard operating temperature will not fluctuate like that of a car unless you exceed recommended operating rpm so the extreme high temperature benefits of synthetics are irrelevant to small engines. Fresh oil of the proper viscosity for the ambient outside temperature is all that is needed to maintain any small air cooled engine.


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## pfn

Bottom line. Conventional oils = greater internal wear. Synthetic oils = less internal wear and easier cold weather starting. Make your choice.


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## TheHolyCannoli

Lots of good info here, regarding synthetic vs. conventional, although that wasn't actually the question.

So, to help simplify and get things back on track a bit...While keeping in mind the manufacturers recommendations from the chart, can someone explain why the majority of people still recommend 5w-30 over 10w-30? (assuming operating conditions are between 10F and 40F, which are actually quite typical of Connecticut and the rest of southern New England)


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## HJames

10w-30 will be thicker at colder temps thus creating an engine that is harder to pull start. 5w-30 having a lower cold temperature viscosity make pull starting a cold engine easier.


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## GustoGuy

I use 5w/30 synthetic and I have ran my snowblower even in the late summer when I started it and bright it into my garage. 5w/30 will not make your snowblower engine fail at all if the temps are over 40 degrees. Especially if it is a synthetic it will have an even broader and higher temperature range than would a conventional 10w/30. You will be fine either way.


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## FairfieldCT

Hey Guys. If you change the oil in your blower every season, there really should be no reason to use synthetic. You simply don't put enough hours on it unless you are plowing snow as a commercial business.

The guys we use for service are excellent. They recommend that the oil be changed at the END of the season rather than before the season... reason being that the old used oil has contaminants in it that you don't want hanging around in your engine for the long off season. They say run the machine for 10 or 15 minutes to let it completely heat up, drain the oil for a good 10 min allowing all the warm "thinner" oil to find it's way out, and then fill with clean, fresh oil immediately before storing the vehicle for the off season.

So you are changing the snowblower oil in April, and the lawn mower oil in October.


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## Blue Hill

FairfieldCT said:


> Hey Guys. If you change the oil in your blower every season, there really should be no reason to use synthetic. You simply don't put enough hours on it unless you are plowing snow as a commercial business.
> 
> The guys we use for service are excellent. They recommend that the oil be changed at the END of the season rather than before the season... reason being that the old used oil has contaminants in it that you don't want hanging around in your engine for the long off season. They say run the machine for 10 or 15 minutes to let it completely heat up, drain the oil for a good 10 min allowing all the warm "thinner" oil to find it's way out, and then fill with clean, fresh oil immediately before storing the vehicle for the off season.
> 
> So you are changing the snowblower oil in April, and the lawn mower oil in October.


I've been thinking along those same lines myself, although I think I'll stick with synthetic oil. I run it in every engine I own. Cheap piece of mind for me.


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## Nforesir

Hello HolyCannoli
Just called my Ariens dealer, he recommends and uses good quality 10 W 30, does not use synthetic.....


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## Blue Hill

Nforesir said:


> Hello HolyCannoli
> Just called my Ariens dealer, he recommends and uses good quality 10 W 30, does not use synthetic.....


Mine advised to use synthetic. and said to use 5W30. Hmmm. For all the oil it uses, a buck or two extra a year for a litre of Mobil 1, won't make a difference on whether I eat wieners or steak.


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## sscotsman

TheHolyCannoli said:


> Lots of good info here, regarding synthetic vs. conventional, although that wasn't actually the question.
> 
> So, to help simplify and get things back on track a bit...While keeping in mind the manufacturers recommendations from the chart, can someone explain why the majority of people still recommend 5w-30 over 10w-30?


I think I can explain it..Its probably because for the past 50 years nearly all snowblower owners manuals have said to use 5w-30.

And your chart says 5w30 for temps 30F, and lower.
and it says 10w30 for Zero (or negative 5 or so) and higher.

99% of the time, snowblowers will operate in *both* ranges..
negative 5 to 30.
But for a snowblower, its better to err on the colder side, not the warmer side..If it gets really cold, 5w30 is still good, but 10w30 can become a bad choice.

So if you have to recommend just one oil for general snowblower use, 5w30 is clearly the better choice..

Basically, 5w30 is always good, for a snowblower..
10w30 is not always good..it *can* be too cold for 10w30.
It might not happen often, but it can happen..
so again, 5w30 is the best choice.

Scot


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## Kiss4aFrog

I just love to toss a wrench in here. I have a problem with the chart showing 5-30 only being recommended up to 30 degrees and the 10-30 going higher. The whole purpose of multi-viscosity oil to to flow like the lower number at cold temps and to protect like the higher number at higher temps.
Why wouldn't 5-30 protect to 80 or 90 degrees the same as 10-30 ??
What about a 0-40. Better cold starting and better hot protection ??








When in doubt go to: Bob is the oil guy dot com. Bob Is The Oil Guy | The Internet's Number One Motor Oil Site


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## db9938

I think that besides which side of the fence you fall on, syn vs. trad. There is one thing, that is most likely to save your machines, regular attention. 

Just because you change the oil regularly, or use a specific brand, may not mean that's all you need to do. We all know that the number one engine/machine killer, regardless of brand, is neglect. Many of us here, have resurrected a machine or two, that have exhibited this very simple missed step in ownership. 

Now, go out and show some love to your machines, it will pay dividends in the long run.


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## nt40lanman

db9938 said:


> Now, go out and show some love to your machines, it will pay dividends in the long run.


I think I'll go out and "wax the chute" right now!!!


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## Surge

Briggs & Stratton 32-oz 4-Cycle 5W-30 Full Synthetic Engine Oil, only $5.98 at Lowes.
According to my owners manual 5W-30 Synthetic Oil is good at all temperatures. So that's what I use, and I change the oil at the end of each season. Cheap insurance, and I do not have to worry about running above or below any temperature.
But as long as you change your oil every season your blower will probably do just fine using regular dino oil. The synthetic may save you if you goof up and either start the engine before its warmed up and push it hard, or if you run it in warm weather (late spring snow storm).


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## detdrbuzzard

well if 5w 30 is soo bad how come most new cars and lite trucks use the stuff all year long


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## db9938

nt40lanman said:


> I think I'll go out and "wax the chute" right now!!!


HA! let us know how that works out.


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## mkd

I put 10w 40 in my 924 ariens last fall before it got cold and I could barely pull it to blow the snow a few weeks back. in fact when I got done with blowing the snow I changed the oil back to 5w30 while it was still hot.


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## mswlogo

Dealer recommended waiting one season before switching to Synthetic. I've heard that recommended on cars from multiple sources as well.


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## Kestral

mswlogo said:


> Dealer recommended waiting one season before switching to Synthetic. I've heard that recommended on cars from multiple sources as well.


Many new cars come from the factory filled with synthetic oil today. As far as waiting I would dump the factory snowblower oil after say 2 to 4 hrs then run what you want. As far as the 5-30 vs. 10-30 debate if you are running synthetic it's a moot point for the most part today's synthetics in the two oil weights in question there is little difference today. I say today because at one time 20 plus years ago there was more of a difference. Actually 5-30 was much more shear stable then 10-30 was at one time not so much anymore. I do think a 5-30 is more then sufficant for a snowblower. And there is really not much to worry about as far as the high temp of say 50 -60+ deg temps running on 5-30 my grandfather ran a Briggs & stratton 11hp air cooled motor in a Wheel Horse tractor for more then 30 years on 5-30 in summer heat and it still runs fine today. The only benifit to a 5-30 synthetic is starting I really do not think you will see much of a benifit other then that. Most of your good Dino oils are quite good now and really more then up to snowblower work. By the way I get my info from a petroleum engineer my wife's uncle works for Shell oil.


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## pfn

*Synthetic break-in...*



mswlogo said:


> Dealer recommended waiting one season before switching to Synthetic. I've heard that recommended on cars from multiple sources as well.


Years ago I used to race go-karts. (Don't laugh until you've driven one.) The class I raced had a "spec" oil that required you to use a particular oil. The next year the governing body changed the "spec" to a synthetic oil. At the first race with the synthetic oil I lost 3 seconds a lap (the difference between first and last) and had no idea why until I discovered that I couldn't get the ring to seat with the synthetic, no wear. I had to do several laps with conventional oil to break-in the engine then clean the system so I wouldn't fail post race tech. What a pain but I learned the difference between the lubricating abilities of conventional oil verses synthetic. There just isn't any comparison. Synthetic is better. That said with the use most snow blowers get conventional oil isn't the reason your engine will fail. Your snow blower just doesn't get the hours to wear it out. But I use synthetic anyway... why not?


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## mswlogo

raymondjiii said:


> Maybe it's just me but I have never lost a small engine piece of equipment due to what oil I used (regular or synthetic.) I have always lost my small engine equipment due to one reason - rust. And that's rust on the outside body not on the inside of the engine.
> 
> Today I ran out of 5W-30 for my snowblower so I used some Mobil 1 5W-30 that I had readily available but only because I didn't want to go out to the store. I change the oil every year as do most people I think. I really find it hard to believe that someone's equipment will die because they did not use synthetic. If it gives you piece of mind then by all means do it, I just do not think you need to.
> 
> (In a car, truck - yes. Snowblower - not really.)


 Totally agree. The most important thing is that you change the oil 

Been running straight 30 weight non synthetic in everything for 30 years and I've yet to lose any motor. It's always the other stuff that breaks.

But I'll use 10w30 mobil 1 because I have some on the shelf.


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## Normex

I have an anecdote using synthetic oil in general, we run all our engines on synthetic and a few years back my daughter's car water pump belt or rather the long serpentine belt broke and she was 10 miles from her destination and elected to keep going. Suffice to say the engine was boiling when she arrived (small aluminium 4 cyl.) . When we got to our repair shop the mechanic said there was no damage whatsoever and mentioned the synthetic oil saved her from costly repairs. Using synthetic in car engines is practically the same price since you triple the mileage between changes.


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## Ryan

Yeah but that doesn't mean you can let an oil filter go that long. You put 10,000 miles on an oil filter and it will be in bypass by the time you change the oil because it will be clogged/plugged.


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## Normex

We have our oil changes a little over 7000 miles but there are some people I know change theirs at 15,000 miles but they might change their filter at halfway point.


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## Shryp

Ryan said:


> Yeah but that doesn't mean you can let an oil filter go that long. You put 10,000 miles on an oil filter and it will be in bypass by the time you change the oil because it will be clogged/plugged.


Honda recommends changing the filter every other oil change...

Something about how a used filter does a better job of filtering out the dirt.


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## Kiss4aFrog

Same thing with the sand filter on a swimming pool. It works better when it's a little plugged up as it catches smaller particles.


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## nt40lanman

detdrbuzzard said:


> well if 5w 30 is soo bad how come most new cars and lite trucks use the stuff all year long


Modern engines are designed with far tighter tolerances. 5w20 and even 0w20 is common these days. 



Ryan said:


> Yeah but that doesn't mean you can let an oil filter go that long. You put 10,000 miles on an oil filter and it will be in bypass by the time you change the oil because it will be clogged/plugged.


If your oil filter collects enough to bypass, you're in trouble!!!


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## Ryan

Given those tolerances in the engine that were mentioned, there is a reason the oil filter needs to be changed out on a regular basis. The Oil is doing more than ever now for the engine, and it is going to get dirty and collect dirt and debris. Contrary to popular belief, the engine is NOT a completely sealed unit free of particles from the outside environment. That is why they have filters on there  Big rigs usually have more than 1 filter too. And not just for oil! A good filter and a good oil is key to keeping a good running vehicle/engine, but don't go pressing your luck with this "extended drain" interval stuff. At least if you plan on keeping the machine for a long time. Preventative Maintenance is the best maintenance, my friends.


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## Normex

We have one Toyota Echo with 300,000 km and still running tops with our 7000 miles regime with good synthetic oil. When we get our car with oil changed fresh you can see it is clear on dipstick and when we check again before changing after 7000 miles, the oil on the dipstick is still clear.
With Dyno oil the oil would be black at 5000 miles.
Simply synthetic oil seals much better from combustion contaminants as their particles are much smaller than regular oil.
Try it and have your oil analyzed, I did and I'm not relying on hearsay.


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## SnowGuy69

A good read is this if you go through all the whole motor oil University:
Motor Oil 101 - Bob is the Oil Guy - Bob is the Oil Guy

Here is an interesting note from the site: 

_"More confusion occurs because people think in terms of the oil thinning when it gets hot. They think this thinning with heat is the problem with motor oil. It would be more correct to think that oil thickens when it cools to room temperature and THIS is the problem."_

and this...

_"a 0W-30 grade oil is not thinner than a 10W-30 oil. They both have the same thickness at operating temperature. The 0W-30 simply does not get as thick on cooling as the 10W-30. Both are still way too thick to lubricate an engine at startup. __Earlier we said that a straight 30 grade oil has a thickness of 10 at the normal operating temperature of your engine. *The multi-grade oils 0W-30 and 10W-30 also have a thickness of 10 at 212°F."*_

I think section 3 address advantages of synthetic vs Dino oil, especially regarding cold start up. 

A lot there, but worth the read.


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## UNDERTAKER

I run 10w30 Castrol syntec in THE BROTHERS. and never had a issue up here in the frozen tundra.


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## Ryan

Be VERY careful of the 90s and 2000-2010 range Toyota and Honda engines. Running synthetic in them is an EXCELLENT idea however.. the oil passages in those engines are super small. Add to that the oil filters are super small as well. They seem to have improved things a bit with the 2010+ models, but many an engine failure on these year models was attributed to the oil system, not using the correct weight, and not changing the oil in a timely manner. Having an oil analysis performed every few oil changes is also an excellent idea and one that I do myself, to get an idea of how the engine is wearing. I do not however use it as means to justify extending my oil change intervals simply because my driving conditions vary all the time. Where I live, the driving conditions would be considered "extreme" based upon what is listed in the owners manuals of my vehicles, thus I do 5000 mile oil changes and tire rotations at the same time. Seems to work out juuuuust fine both on the trucks I have owned, as well as the car I currently own. (2013 Chevrolet Impala 3.6L Direct Injection 305HP V6) (and yes almost all direct injection motors do tend to eat up a bit of oil between changes, so I watch the oil level carefully, usually I will lose about 3/4 to a quart between oil changes, but it is a fun little sleeper to drive. Not your basic rental car)


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## scrappy

I have been an advocate of syn oil for 25+ years. I have used mobile 1 in all my cars and even my brand new 1987 honda mower. 

Several years ago I tried mobile1 5w-30 in dad's 1967 Ariens TEC H5.0. This did not go so well, it spit all the oil out of the breather tube. Have since switched back to conventional 10w 30 or 30W. Has been ok since. So my advice for an older flat head is run what it says. 

Oh and I did a pre season start up last week for 80 yr old dad. Filled the tank, opened the fuel shut off, 1/2 a pull it was running like brand new. Wish i had video of that!


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## old_el_paseo

10w30 is for summer use. probably for the roto tiller attacjments or mower.
for winter, stick with 5w30.


as for syntech vs conventional. syntech supasses conventional in everyway. you will NOT have problems by using conventional. but syntech will help keeping your engine in good shape. syntech does NOT cause engine sludge, it does NOT go acid with water contamination, and it is a lot better flowing at cold temps, and also does not degrade as quickly as conventional.

You will NOt have problems with conventional oil, but syntech is better. it's your choice. but for 1 litre of oil. i go sytech, in my celica gt4, in my mower, in my snowblower. heck if there was syntech for my deep fryer i would buy it


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## Kiss4aFrog

Syntech is just a brand of Synthetic oil same as Mobil 1, Edge, SYNpower or auto parts stores house brands.


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## old_el_paseo

Its syntech vs conventional. By syntech he probably means all brands of syntech oils. I buy castrol or quaker state. Wichever is on special. Any known brand is good. No need to buy amsoil at double the price.


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## Normex

+1 with old_el_paseo


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