Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Technical Stuff (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/)

-   -   Whats the life of the synthetic oil? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/52004-whats-life-synthetic-oil-3.html)

Navin, the C does have an onboard computer which changes the service timing depending on your driving style. For instance, in the mid of last year, the car did a LOT of highway driving (Goa etc.). I saw the service call being extended by a couple of hundred kms. That said, I don't go over Mercs standard recommendation of 10K. For the Jeep & Vtec, my intervals are placed at 7,500 / 12 months tops.

I drive about 8,000km per annum on each of my cars and use a semi-synth (Magnatec). What I understand is the following, which also summarises the discussions to date:

1. Using synth in a new engine is not normally recommended. It is desirable to allow the 'rough edges' to wear down before trying to 'stop' further wear and tear. Thus do about 15,000 or so km before switching to premium lubes.

2. During the warranty change oil as specified.

3. After hat you can change Synth oil at least once a year and extend the change interval to 20,000-30,000km, if you drive that much.

Prior to the Accent I had an Esteem for 6-1/2 years and 61,000km. After the warranty (1 year/15,000km) I used to change the oil once a year, and mostly used a synth from Esso or Mobil. The fellow who bought it drove it for a further 300,000km before selling it. He never got the engine opened. Obviously something I did was right!

Sir ji, you do not need to run your car 10,000 kms to use synth. You can use it when the car is new. Please read about Mobil 1 on Mobil - The Oil That's Changing Oil in the Car Care section

Noooo!! You MUST follow manufacturers recommended drain intervals unless the product is marked as extended drain. This 20-30K kms drain interval is hogwash perpetuated by Indian retailers. :Frustrati

Synth helps at any time. It is THE best for your engine. If you get the correct grade and are ok to pay 5x the cost of good multigrade engine oil, go for it. I prefer to change my engine oil every 4K or 6 months on the dot with the best multigrade or semi synth. Just my 2C. :)

Cheers!

Old oil is bought at 7 bucks a litre(previously Rs.5) in barrels from mechanics,garages,service centres,etc. by spurious oil dealers who process this oil with "some powder" and sell them in repacked oil cans.

I don't know if you can call this recycling.

Well, one of the garages told me that it was sold to paint companies... obviously for making paint after processing the oil. I cannot verify that this is the truth.

To be frank, even if it goes to spurious oil dealers, its better than disposing the oil anywhere else. I would never be able to live with myself if I do that.

What is the source of your info, btw?

I have my reservations about this. See the list of cars mentioned, and also the note "The fact is, current engine manufacturing technology does not require this break-in period. As indicated by the decisions of the engineers who design the high-performance cars listed above". This might be true for the cars listed on the Mobil site, but how many of us are talking about these cars?? Neither can our manufacturing tech be compared to the cars that are being talked about nor are our cars "high-performance". I don't even think this applies to the Indian auto scenario.

What is more, I wouldn't be in a hurry to trust what is mentioned by just one manufacturer (Mobil). Of course, it may be right for the kind of cars talked about on the Mobil site, am not disputing that! Does anybody else recommend this?

If I were a new car/bike owner, I'd prefer to run the 1st few thousand km on mineral oil. I may be wrong, but it'll be a "lesser evil", IMHO.

Dear R2D2, have read your posts in this thread and find you definitely have a level head on your shoulders and give sincerely sane advice. Keep up the goodwork. There is one nagging point which you might do well to read up and that is about fluids mistakely called coolants the world over. Please note that water is the coolant in our engines and the Glycol(Coolant?) that we add is for other purposes. I had explained elsewhere about this. Another factor is that the boiling point of water is dependent on the pressure it faces. In a closed system like in our kitchen pressure cooker it boils at 125degrees. At high altitudes in an open container because of low atmopheric pressure it boils at below 100 degrees centigrade.
Please read the functions of the glycol in the links provided.

Importance of pH Value in Engine's Coolant

AMSOIL - Propylene Glycol Antifreeze and Engine Coolant (ANT)

So in a nutshell I might add that glycol based fluids are added to the engine coolant( Water) in our tropical climates primarily to inhibit corrosion/promote lubricity and secondarily as an impurity to increase the boiling point of water.
Stick to your manufacturers reccomendation for the concentration and drain periods.

Once/12 months or 10000 kms - whichever comes first, has worked well for me. The oil being drained out at the time of change is almost like brand new.

Thanks drPullockaran for the kind words

I am aware the coolant in the engine or the heat transfer agent is actually water, not the glycol which is only there for corrosion prevention, increasing the boiling point of the water and sometimes even lubing the water pump. Which is why in India, a hot tropical country, we are required to maintain a max 1:1 dilution ratio of coolant concentrate. Or if more heat transfer is required (at the expense of all the good things coolant does in the cooling system) you can dilute the concentrate further to a 2:1 or even 3:1 water to concentrate ratio.

I am merely using a collective term that refers to the glycol + water mix as 'coolant'. How many undiluted coolant (glycol) concentrates are labelled by the chemical name 'mono ethylene glycol'? :D

Rgds,

I agree that what Mobil is not the definitive guide to synthetic usage and degree of adaptation. But then Amsoil makes some rather questionable claims too.

The key word is the 1st few thousand kms. I believe that an engine that is new is most vulnerable to friction and load and that is precisely when synth helps. It is after all the best lube you can get albeit for a price. Most people reckon that they need to do 10-15K kms on mineral before they switch. I dont believe we need to wait that long.

I'd move to synth right now on a 3 month old 2000 KM run car if I get the right grade & if I am assured by the manufacturer that my car's warranty wont be void if I use an aftermarket synth oil instead of the 'genuine' multigrade stuff they push you to use.

Regards,

They are selling you the oil. Key is to lock in the customer as early as possible. However:

I want a certain amount of wear & tear / bedding in during this period. That's why I don't use Mobil 1 for the initial 10,000 kms.

Absolutely. Ideal is 7,500 kms. Hell, if it doesn't pinch, change every 5,000 (though thats overkill unless driving conditions are VERY severe).

Rightly said. Highly recommended holding off till the first 10k. Invariably by the 10k mark the engine is noticeably smoother with all the rouhness worn out which is when the synthetic oil is of value for longetivity

There is another issue here. A new engine gives out fine alluminium powder and possible other fine metallic grit. This makes frequent oil and oil filter change very important in the 1st few thousand km. So if you use synthetic, it would be quite expensive to dispose the oil so soon. Btw, some sources advice more agressive oil changes for the 1st few thousand km.

This is esp. true for bikes, where even most manufacturers advice 1st oil change at say around 500 - 700 km (approx), and the next one too, sooner than normal. Tho its advisable to do it earlier...

Of course the validity of all this is gonna change depending on what kind of manufacturing process the manufacturer is using. If you consider the high end stuff, like mentioned on the Mobil site, which comes with synth factory installed, then of course all this might not be valid.

Truly! Never ever miss the 1,000 km oil change.

During the 'running in period' if you use a synth you are likely to develop a glaze in the cylinders 'freezing' the engine in a semi- run-in position. The run-in period will then be very long. The exact point where one can consider the engine as run-in can always be debated.

Some years ago one of my friends had installed a magnetic drain plug on his nearly new engine (1st oil change). The amount of 'kerf' collected by the magnet in 5,000miles was an eye opener.