re: synthetic oils

[Brandon Sommerville <brandon@caseware.com>]

>Date: Tue, 07 Jan 1997 12:28:00 -0800
>From: "Cliff Loh" <cliff.loh@fluordaniel.com>
>Subject: re: synthetic oils
>To: brandon@CASEWARE.COM
>
>Brandon Sommerville wrote:
>
>>When my year is up in July I should have about 220k on the car.
>
>>My question is can I switch to synthetic at this stage in the 
>>game?  I have to change the oil every 5000 km right now so the 
>>added expense doesn't seem worth it, as I know you can leave a 
>>synthetic in for much longer.
>
>>What is the word on synthetics in older engines out there?
>
>
>I'm replying privately to save the list from those stoopid 
>characters that show up on my posts.  Feel free to forward this 
>to the list if you want.
>
>Here's my experience with synth oils in older engines:
>
>I had a Civic w/ about 300k on the motor.  Since I had started 
>autocrossing it, I thought about putting some Mobil One in it.  A 
>knowledgeable friend said forget about it.  Sure the motor would 
>receive some benefit from this but the gaskets were the issue.
>
>The gaskets in a high mileage motor have been impregnated with 
>the old petroleum-based oil for years and if I made the switch to 
>synthetic, the oil would start seeping out the weakened gaskets.  
>I thought that was a bunch of hooey so I tried putting some 5w30 
>Mobil one in the motor and sure enough by the end of the week I 
>had leaks where there were none before- Dooohhh!!  The leaks 
>didn't stop even after I switched back to regular oil.  I sold 
>the car rather than dump money into a rebuild.
>
>I would assume the same thing would happen w/ VW motors.  You'll 
>probably get some leakage from the valve cover gasket too as it's 
>made from cork.
>
>If you're changing your oil/filter every 5000km you should be 
>fine w/ regular oil in your high-mileage car.  Chances are, the 
>body will quit before the engine will.
>
>-c.

Brandon Sommerville

Consciousness: that annoying time between naps. 

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