Thread: oil question

i dont want to start a whole conventional vs. synthetic debate
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i am just asking in my personal situation
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i have a 96 b14 se-r with a sr20de with b15 clutch, I/H/E, crank pulley
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there is 206,000 miles on the chassis but about 160,000 on the engine, ive been noticing lately small amounts of oil leaking from the engine (havent had time to find out where yet), the previous owner of the engine used conventional oil but ive been using synthetic since february
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when i put the engine in I pretty much replaced all of the seals except for everything in the head
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I drive about 50,000- 70,000 miles a year, some stop and go but mostly all highway and 60miles each way trips everyday, some high rpm driving and usually I set cruise for 80mph which is right around 4000rpm for 60 miles
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everyone at the shop I work at is telling me to run conventional in it till it dies, but I have gotten better mpg with the synthetic, I usually change the oil after 4000-5000 miles which is usually every three weeks
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should I stick with the synthetic or switch to conventional?
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btw I usually use castrol syntec 10w-30

if you used synthetic they iwould personally stay with synthetic.

If synthetic works good for you then keep it up...

I'd use synthetic and get the leaks fixed. The reason synthetic may have accelerated a leak is because the detergents in it are stronger and it may have cleaned out some sludge left by the conventional oil that was clogging a leak-in-waiting.
You said you replaced all the oil seals semi-recently? Sounds like you probably have a leak from an RTV surface then. Maybe.

Yeah, id say probably the lower pan gasket. its the first one to usually start leaking.

I would stick with synthetic as there are many advantages to keeping it.

Just find the leak and fix it. And holy crap thats a lot of miles per year. haha

Synthetic mobile 1 here always. Never had a problem.

I'm going with Elf oil. Just the 10w40 the manufacturer recommends. I don't see a reason anymore to use mineral oil (dino juice) while synthetic oils are mineral based either.

Currently I'm driving a 1 gallon $7 ''wal-mart'' to flush the enige a bit. For that price and what I paid for the ''performance'' oil, I'll flush with the cheaper oil, because all my second hand cars come with black oil and I learned that when I changed my oil, it turned black (not so dark) within 30 secs of idling.

Removed pan, found a lot of gunk (this is my current car) and doing a flush. I used the old filter (5000 miles) and a ''10 minutes of idling and throw it out'' cleaner additive.

Now my oil was showing brownish, I could see black particles, so I need to do more about this.

Next try, Forte engine treatment and a top end treatment. Forte just rocks, it's a kind of Meguiars for the engine. You might have trouble buying it, this stuff isn't sold usually. Intended for professional use only (but that was said in the manual of my coilovers also and I also got those) but Forte is not really open policy on their product.

And bc. I still didn't get around to change this $7 oil, I did redlining and straight runs but only a few, it is a DD and just to see what the engine would do besides exploding.

Soo, I read the oilfilter topic for the brands I can get hold of and indeed Fram sucks, I knew it. But I'm gonna buy the cheapost filter at my ''Autozone'' and tell them anything but Fram. I also demand Nipparts for everything, just trying, but Gates snares and hoses, thermostat just rock, at a good price and still don't likey likey Fram or Bosch overhere but that is another story.

Sorry for the long post, but if you go to 10w30 instead of 10w40 and want the mineral oil, there is more not expensive and fun work to do to keep your engine smooth, I assume you also are after the oil that won't turn black.

Mission critical!!

i wouldnt switch from synthetic to mineral oils, the mineral oils can cause your gaskets to shrink causing oil leaks. the synthetics can cause your gaskets to slightly inflame creating a good seal for the gaskets, then i read alot that when people switch from synthetic to minerals that they get leakage.

I only read a lot about people that drove their engine or drivetrain to pieces. But I agree on the gasket thing, maybe I was just lucky my engine holds up well after sitting for 5 years in a barn. I do know about other leaking problems and it must be something moisture/sitting still/temp problem but why wouldn't one be able to run them dry. Again, I'm not a ricer. :P

i just had the car on the lift at work today, I believe the oil is leaking from the distributor seal, upper + lower oil pan (lower pan is warped from a cork gasket), and i have a gap in the gasket where the front cover meets the bottom of the head (the timing chain is throwing oil out at idle but not at speed) <--- is that a part of the head gasket or is that a separate gasket?
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but to really tell i need to clean the oil off of the engine then check again