Hey Scotty, thanks for all the great reviews and advise ! We bought a outstanding looking and driving 2016 Lincoln MKZ with 62,000 miles. It's in almost perfecting condition except for some stone chips in the candy apple red paint on the hood. Question, is using synthetic oil better on the rotating assembly and valve train vs conventional oil ? I don't buy into the change oil every 15,000 miles. Maybe,...if you changed the oil filter every 5,000 miles, as it's the engines liver, ya know, to clean the blood for a longer life. So, will synthetic oil easier on ware & tear, which means the engine will run a lot more miles ? Plus it's costs a lot more money unless you drive it for 15,000 miles or every three years. Remember Slick 50 additive that they set up a bearing with a load, showing hardly and surface wear. lol...But, will our oils today give us better wear ?
Thanks,
Kevin
"Synthetic" oil is more stable than conventional oil. It withstands more heat, flows better on cold start, and stays cleaner. That's why more manufacturers are recommending it in contemporary vehicles, and I think going forward it will mostly replace conventional oil.
"synthetic oil" is a stupid name anyway. It's just more refined.
The most important thing is to use correct oil viscosity and change the oil and filter every 5k miles (or once a year). Choosing between synthetic, semi synthetic or conventional is your choice.
Synthetic Oil is better than Conventional Oil.
However, I never go past 1 year/5k miles regardless of the oil type. Anything promising additional protection to 15k miles is snake oil.
Maybe synthetic is better, maybe it's not. I don't care. I change mine every 3000 miles either way. Until I see some empirical evidence that it's better, I'll stick with Castrol conventional oil. I suspect the synthetic is better but only for engines that have been designed to use it, not the older engines.
By now there's decades of empirical evidence available when you're ready to look at it. It's also very easy to verify for yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdPXGOyr44
Thanks Joe, I appreciate it.
Here's a highly scientific study commissioned by the Automobile Association:
https://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/AAA-Research-Report-Synthetic-vs-Conventional_FINAL-EXTERNAL.pdf
conclusion:
"On average, synthetic oils outperformed conventional oils in the conducted tests by 47
percent. The selected tests evaluated shear stability, deposit formation, volatility, cold-
temperature pumpability, oxidation resistance, and oxidation-induced rheological changes."
EVERY engine , old or new benefits from improved cold-temp properties
@doc I do the same, change every 3k mi. My motor is CLEAN. My 92 F250 351 W only had conventional ran through it. Sucker lasted and lasted and lasted. It’s about the OCI to me. Keep clean oil in your motor it’s simple. Synthetics great but not so much when you’re taking it into the 7-10K mi OCI and your motor is covered in sludge at 100k mi or earlier.
@USAFdozerpilot
Imagine how much cleaner it would be with synthetic oil
