# Synthetic or Not?



## Talon1189

I just got my snow blower going after sitting in my garage for 8 years. I put a 5-30W Pennzoil oil in my crankcase. I was so happy that it started......It never crossed my mind to go with a synthetic oil like Mobil 1 or other  How important is running a synthetic oil in a 26 year old Tecumseh 5 horsepower motor? Should I run the machine a few times then change over to synthetic? Should I just leave what I have in the crankcase  Thanks!


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## HCBPH

*Oil*

Congrats on getting it going. You're prepared for the inevitable.

This is a personal opinion now, others will probably disagree. For a machine that is run only a few hours a year, I really don't see much need for synthetics. Will it start easier in cold weather - don't know. If you store it outside in the cold (as in not in a shed or garage), might keep a better oil film inside the engine rather than conventional oil. I guess I'd say it's a personal choice.

Now on the issue of not running that engine for 8 years, that's another issue. You didn't say whether you ran the engine or not prior to changing the oil. If you just did a cold oil change, I'd seriously consider running it for 10-15 minutes then change it again. That engine does not have any oil filtration and you have the risk of contaminents settling in the crankcase. If run till it's hot, hopefully any junk in the oil would be in suspension and come out with the hot oil. Then put in fresh oil and you should be good-to-go IMO.

My opinion only, your numbers may vary


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## sscotsman

Since you already did an oil change, I would just leave it for this winter..no real reason to change now. I switched to Mobil1 synthetic in my 1971 Ariens last winter, because I read its supposed to make starting easier in really cold winter..
honestly, I cant tell any difference..and I doubt the engine can tell much of a difference either..

"dino oil" has been used in engines for over 100 years..its perfectly fine! 
synthetic is fine too..
some people say synthetic is "better"..and maybe it is..
but if it is, IMO the differences are very minor..

There are also reports that synthetic is more prone to leaking on older engines..more so than traditional oil..not sure how true that is, but its something to consider.

my opinion..either is fine.
and I wouldnt bother to switch now...try synthetic next winter if you want, after doing more research on it and deciding if its worth it or not..

Scot


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## Talon1189

Thanks for your honest opinions. I will keep my Pennzoil for this season. I did run my snow blower for about 15 minutes before I changed my oil over to the fresh stuff  I will try to provide some pictures in the gallery maybe tomorrow of my 1985 Toro 521 if anyone is interested


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## abumpa

One thing to remember about oil is it gets dirty long before it wears out. So, while synthetic will do better in temperature extremes, (extremes not seen in a properly running snow blower) it will get dirty at the same rate as regular oil. Therefore we will need to replace it at the same intervals as regular oil, but at a greater cost.

While synthetic oil is great technology, unless you operate at extremes, or have an equally high tech filter system, in my opinion it is an unnecessary extra expense.


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## Ingersoll444

Well first of all I normaly run Synth oil. But frankly, you just got it running, and you have fresh oil in it... I would just run it. If you put a ton of use in it over the winter, and the oil gets real bad [depending on how cruddy the engine was inside] maybe try it later... but I think your good with whats in there for this year.


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## jackthebaptist

*to synth or not to synth.*

I have some experience with synthetic oil as I was a service mgr for Volvo,Saab,Subaru, Audi, Suzuki, Mitsubishi and Infinity. Oops, forgot Porsche. Porsche air-cooled, 911 and other boxer engines, required synthetic. Quite expensive when a 911 has a 10-plus quart sump!! (however, if you can afford the car you can afford the maintenance.) I used it in two of my own vehicles; both with over 75k on the odometer, and they both started leaking oil. More like seepage. the oil pans were wet all over. A volvo customer used synthetic in his 240 turbo from new and @ 80k, Engine under the valve cover looked brand new. He changed it every 2k miles. Cause and effect? Maybe. As the air-cooled engines are subjected to higher temperatures, why not try it? By the way, both my cars stopped leaking when I switched back to dino oil. Synthetic is molecularly smaller and will get through the tiny gaps. Just my 50c cents worth. Regards; Jack


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