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To Switch or Not to Switch... to Synthetic Oil

3K views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  00tj2 
#1 ·
I know this has been endlessly debated around here, but my "new" rig ('01, 97k miles) is due for her first oil change under my care. The previous owner has used conventional since he's had it.

In short: Should I start using full synthetic, which I'm a fan of, or go with a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality, and stick with conventional? Maybe go with a "high mileage" flavor? What's in that stuff that makes it good for high mileage vehicles, anyway?

Whatever the consensus is by tomorrow is what I'm going with.

Thanks!
 
#4 ·
Scott (thread author):

I just bought my first Jeep a few weeks ago: a '99 Wrangler with 100k on it. I asked the guy at my local 4wd shop, and he said the same thing as above (leaking).

I decided to go with conventional 10w30. I usually change the oil on all of my cars at about the 3,000 mile mark. It's probably overkill, but I've always been told that it's the cheapest insurance you can buy.

Let us know what you learn regarding synth vs conventional...I'm curious to know as well.
 
#18 ·
So on the first 170K she was a pig then all of a sudden when you started paying more for oil she acted better??? I threw my wife down a flight....never mind, I'm just busting some balls after a night of drinking:D...:hide:

Just change it on a regular basis and add some oil when it burns some....the type of oil doesn't make a freakin difference!!! 132K and she runs fine... 3K miles...... 5K miles with half a QT or so added....still works fine..... The cheapest stuff with regular changes works fine.... High milage oil is a waste of money.....so is synthetic unless your on the track and running high HP... But again I've been drinking and I will run my baby till she dies on the cheap stuff:punk: then rebuild her and run her till she dies again...:dance:
 
#9 ·
If it's not borken - don't fix it (unless you can pursuade your wife that your jeep really needs an up grade - then claim whatever is broken) use the conventional stuff.... Esepcially if you are going to change the oil on a regular basis (3-5K) why incurr the additional expense of synthetic.

If you do alot of wheeling in mud or water - you need to change ALL your fluids after a good play date - - so there again, why incurr the additional expense
 
#10 ·
I got my 98 at around 100k miles in 07. Switched to synthetic around 115-120k and I'm pushing 130k now I believe with no issues.

Started with NAPA store brand synthetic, now I run amsoil XL
 
#12 ·
Synthetic won't do a damn thing over conventional oil on a 100k engine other than to lighten your wallet. I understand HIGH MILEAGE standard oil can have benefits thanks to it having different detergents but your engine is broken in on the regular dino juice and it's best to just leave it as is. If you insist on switching at least consider compromising and going with a 50/50 blend so you won't spend as much money.

BTW, if you ever want to see a 50 foot fireball pour some synthetic oil on a burn pile and light it. My brother did that with some of my Mustang's "stool" (lol) and he thought he was going to catch his oak trees on fire! :doh:
 
#16 · (Edited)
Conventional motor oil from major brands like Valvoline, Castrol, Pennzoil, Shell, Mobil, etc. is fine. The only time I would switch my engine oil to synthetic would be during extreme winter conditions like if I lived somewhere like Alaska, Buffalo NY, North Dakota, etc. when synthetic is worth it. In more temperate climates, modern mineral-based motor oils are excellent at completely protecting our engines. Heck even back in the 50's and 60's there were ads from Volvo and Mercedes Benz talking about customers with over a million miles on their engines... and in those days, we only had mineral based (conventional) motor oils on the store shelves.
 
#17 ·
Ok, so I lied... Going into Wally-World today, I eagerly sought out high mileage conventional oils, hoping, per my perusing of this board, to get adequate levels of that zinc stuff everyone goes on about. Well, in short, the only high-mileage stuff they had were synthetic/conventional blends. Screw it. I bought the Castrol GTX high mileage blend, did the change, started her up, and right away she sounds... smoother? Quieter? Is it entirely psychosomatic? Beats me. Anyway, it's done, and I'm off to Houston *SHUDDER* tomorrow for work.

Thanks for all the input... now... what kind of synthetic recovery rope should I get for my 12k lb. winch? Really. There's too much crap out there.
 
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