ARTICLE: Synthetic oil vs Mineral oil

nitrous · 1st July 2009, 20:30

Stick to 5W50. 0W40 is for freezing temperatures.

vdiatech · 1st July 2009, 20:58

63k kms corsa here ! Engine is very sweet for the first 3K kms after oil/filter change ( magnatec ) then becomes a bit coarse.

Mobil 1 or OWS synth dont fit my pocket , so I stick to magnatec every 5K kms ! In my view, oil change every 5K kms is a must, although some manufacturers reccomend oil change every 10K or 15K kms !!

Synthetic oil or not, frequent oil changes will keep the engine healthy for a long time

Raccoon · 2nd July 2009, 01:25

^^^Changing engine oil way before its usable life is a real waste of good oil and money. Damn bad for the environment too!! I usually see 2 extremes... auto enthusiasts on sites like these that keep changing oil at the drop of a hat... and "normal" users who dont give a fig about their oil. Both extremes are bad in more ways than one.

Oils have evolved with longer/extended drain intervals... much longer than oils of just a few years ago. But it seems many are just determined not to benifit from it.

Roy.S · 2nd July 2009, 01:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by vdiatech

...... I stick to magnatec every 5K kms ! In my view, oil change every 5K kms is a must.....

I drained out the Magnatec from my Swift Vxi today after 9800km of use. Frankly, it looked like it could easily last for another 4-5k km. I do not torture my car, but it does take a lot of highway driving. 5k km changes seem excessive.
@vdiatech, perhaps you should explore the possibility of adding OWS 220 engine protector along with Magnatec.
I used Mobil1 for the first time today. What would be the correct replacement interval? Some people have suggested 20k km for fully synthetic is ok. I am inclined to replace it after 15k km or even 10k km.

Raccoon · 2nd July 2009, 01:57

^^^ For Mobil 1 just stick to the drain period mentioned in your manual. If most of your driving is on highways in top gear, you could strech it 3- 4 k km beyond that.

So if the recommended interval is 10 k km, changing the Mobil 1 at 14 - 15 k km seems like a pretty safe bet.

However the only really accurate way to dertermine this is to go in for an oil analysis. If you are always going to use expensive fully synth oil I think its really worth it.

vdiatech · 2nd July 2009, 08:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raccoon

^^^Changing engine oil way before its usable life is a real waste of good oil and money. Damn bad for the environment too!!.

True, I agree the possible damage to environment. I suppose this could be minimised by ensuring that used oil is safely disposed off by the mechanic, minimising the damage.
Causing damage to environment is a vast topic.
May be , we should stop driving cars, use electricity only for life saving purposes , stop flying in aircrafts , stop using plastic, go on sapling planting spree, use more of composte etc. I wonder if people who argue on environment aspect follow the above..

I try to do my bit by travelling to work by bus, have planted over 7 trees in my house, re-use bags at supermarket ( i never ask or use for new bags in shops ) , where possible I sort my trash for re-cycling, I use electricity only when required, dont leave elctronic things in stand by mode to name a few..

vdiatech · 2nd July 2009, 08:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy.S

I drained out the Magnatec from my Swift Vxi today after 9800km of use. Frankly, it looked like it could easily last for another 4-5k km. I do not torture my car, but it does take a lot of highway driving. 5k km changes seem excessive.
@vdiatech, perhaps you should explore the possibility of adding OWS 220 engine protector along with Magnatec.
I used Mobil1 for the first time today. What would be the correct replacement interval? Some people have suggested 20k km for fully synthetic is ok. I am inclined to replace it after 15k km or even 10k km.

true, it would probably last longer. My point was, the engine gets a bit coarse and hence the frequent change to keep it running smooth. Its not a nice feeling to drive the car when the engine gets ruff. Not questioning the life of the oil in engine..

sgiitk · 2nd July 2009, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by vdiatech

true, it would probably last longer. My point was, the engine gets a bit coarse and hence the frequent change to keep it running smooth. Its not a nice feeling to drive the car when the engine gets ruff. Not questioning the life of the oil in engine..

Do not forget during a sevice a lot of other things also get attended to. Quite likely the smoother ride you are getting may have a mjor contribution from these.

As for drain intervals, do whatever you feel like, but do change oil at least once a year. The annual change is not dependent on mineral, semi synth or full synth.

Roy.S · 2nd July 2009, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raccoon

However the only really accurate way to dertermine this is to go in for an oil analysis.

How and where do I get this done? Any idea of the costs.

greenhorn · 2nd July 2009, 13:15

not worth it. For some reason my clipboard is not working , so cant paste links
Just google foe used oil analysis india. the tbhp thread is the first result

Raccoon · 2nd July 2009, 15:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy.S

How and where do I get this done? Any idea of the costs.

Ya, just google it please. At least Valvoline seems to have this facility, in India. IIRC, the cost was around Rs. 1,000 (approx).

I think its quite worth it esp. if you are using expensive synthetic oil. You can get to know exactly how long you can use the oil for your kind of driving. The UOA will easily pay for itself by saving oil in future oil changes. And as a bonus you get to know the condition of your engine, etc.

n.devdath · 2nd July 2009, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrackedHead

That's precisely the point I was trying to make. I'm not a Fiat owner but if Fiat says 15,000 Km oil changes are ok - then I don't see why other cars that use the same engines (1.3 Multijet or the Fire petrol) can't have similar intervals.

Ideally, they should especially the Swift DDIS and the Indica Vista 1.3 Multijet. To the best of my knowledge, the other manufacturers are trying to play it as safe as possible (not required though) and get on with it.
May sound stupid but cant think of a better reason other than ignorance or negligence on the part of the other manufacturers.

greenhorn · 2nd July 2009, 17:06

i think fiat wants to keep its cars as far away from their so called service centers as possible, and hence the extended oil change intervals

dilipkumar7278 · 2nd July 2009, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenhorn

i think fiat wants to keep its cars as far away from their so called service centers as possible, and hence the extended oil change intervals

HA..Ha...Well said mate...

Dilip

sgiitk · 3rd July 2009, 10:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Circle

Hyundai switched to Shell engine oil recently, Last time when i went for the oil change in my car they were promoting Shell helix and also mentioned that going forward hyundai will be using shell engine oil in their cars.

Not surprised. IOC is still API-SF (an obsolete grade) and Hyundai used Servo. You may have seen ads of API-SJ from BP (SJ is on its way out).

1st July 2009, 20:30	#1681
nitrous Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: UAE/Lon/Madras Posts: 6,965 Thanked: 328 Times View My Garage	Stick to 5W50. 0W40 is for freezing temperatures.
	() Thanks

1st July 2009, 20:58	#1682
vdiatech BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 414 Thanked: 10 Times	63k kms corsa here ! Engine is very sweet for the first 3K kms after oil/filter change ( magnatec ) then becomes a bit coarse. Mobil 1 or OWS synth dont fit my pocket , so I stick to magnatec every 5K kms ! In my view, oil change every 5K kms is a must, although some manufacturers reccomend oil change every 10K or 15K kms !! Synthetic oil or not, frequent oil changes will keep the engine healthy for a long time
	() Thanks

2nd July 2009, 01:25	#1683
Raccoon Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Poona Posts: 1,851 Thanked: 116 Times	^^^Changing engine oil way before its usable life is a real waste of good oil and money. Damn bad for the environment too!! I usually see 2 extremes... auto enthusiasts on sites like these that keep changing oil at the drop of a hat... and "normal" users who dont give a fig about their oil. Both extremes are bad in more ways than one. Oils have evolved with longer/extended drain intervals... much longer than oils of just a few years ago. But it seems many are just determined not to benifit from it.
	() Thanks

2nd July 2009, 01:57	#1685
Raccoon Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Poona Posts: 1,851 Thanked: 116 Times	^^^ For Mobil 1 just stick to the drain period mentioned in your manual. If most of your driving is on highways in top gear, you could strech it 3- 4 k km beyond that. So if the recommended interval is 10 k km, changing the Mobil 1 at 14 - 15 k km seems like a pretty safe bet. However the only really accurate way to dertermine this is to go in for an oil analysis. If you are always going to use expensive fully synth oil I think its really worth it.
	() Thanks

2nd July 2009, 13:15	#1690
greenhorn Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: KL-01 Posts: 7,800 Thanked: 4,642 Times View My Garage	not worth it. For some reason my clipboard is not working , so cant paste links Just google foe used oil analysis india. the tbhp thread is the first result
	() Thanks

2nd July 2009, 17:06	#1693
greenhorn Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: KL-01 Posts: 7,800 Thanked: 4,642 Times View My Garage	i think fiat wants to keep its cars as far away from their so called service centers as possible, and hence the extended oil change intervals
	() Thanks