Differentiating between Synthetic and Mineral
10-21-2007, 10:20 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: La Mirada
Posts: 4,319
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Differentiating between Synthetic and Mineral
I went to the dealer to get an oil change and they charged me for just conventional oil but they kept telling me they made a mistake and put in the synthetic oil I requested. I want to make sure before I start topping off the oil.
How do you tell the difference by just looking or feeling the oil from the dipstick?
How do you tell the difference by just looking or feeling the oil from the dipstick?
10-21-2007, 10:59 AM
#3
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: La Mirada
Posts: 4,319
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Argh, I was hoping I wouldn't have to just get another oil change to make sure it's synthetic. I don't mind that it's mineral, it's just have to top off my oil from time to time.
10-21-2007, 11:58 AM
#5
Registered User
Originally Posted by Silver9k,Oct 21 2007, 02:07 PM
Just run it until it gets to the bottom line on the dipstick, then change it. You should get a couple thousand miles out of it that way right?
10-21-2007, 02:04 PM
#7
Originally Posted by NVMY4N,Oct 21 2007, 11:58 AM
No, do not do this.
However, I that would be rediculous if a stock car was burning more the 1 qt. over 3000 miles.
As for mixing syn and conventional...I wouldn't. Different oils, different additives, etc. If you were stuck in the middle of nowhere and needed oil then sure. It will work, but I wouldn't "plan" to run the car like that. It would be more of a if I have no other choice thing. Then I would change it as soon as I got a chance.
Trending Topics
10-21-2007, 02:11 PM
#8
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: La Mirada
Posts: 4,319
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The only reason I brought up the mixing, was because I figured there are synthetic blends, and perhaps it's a blend of synthetic and mineral oil.
10-21-2007, 05:27 PM
#10
Originally Posted by RadioZero,Oct 21 2007, 02:37 PM
wow, you have been on here for almost 4 years and no nothing about oil but you give advice.
it is totally okay to mix syn with dino as long as you use the same weight (it is okay to mix any weight syn/dino but i don't recommed mixing weights). no "regular" in the UTH forum would recommend waiting until the dipstick is at the low mark before adding fluid. always keep your oil at or near the full mark, never near the low mark.
it is totally okay to mix syn with dino as long as you use the same weight (it is okay to mix any weight syn/dino but i don't recommed mixing weights). no "regular" in the UTH forum would recommend waiting until the dipstick is at the low mark before adding fluid. always keep your oil at or near the full mark, never near the low mark.
I never said you can't mix dino and syn, but personally I wouldn't plan to run my car that way. I also don't recommend mixing different brands. However, mixing different weights of the same brand and type, I do that all the time. There is nothing wrong with that. What basically happens is you get a product of the mixed weights. I guess being here four years and reading Road Rage's posts taught me that
Different oils have different additives, different properities, and its not the best idea to mix them because of this. I think you are giving misinforamation...
As for waiting till the low mark. I never told him to wait till the low mark to add fluid. That would be dumb of me and I could see you saying that nobody would recommend that. I didn't. I said, wait till it gets to the low mark before he changes it (or 3000 miles, whatever comes first). The low mark is the lowest amount of oil that should be in the car to run it without risk of any damage. Would I go race the car with the oil at the low mark. No, in fact any time I go to the track I always make sure its at the full line. But would I drive the car at only 1x above the bottom. Sure, I'm just not going to beat up on it. He has dino oil in there, if he doesn't want to change it out now, he can wait. If he doesn't want to add any in the mean time he can wait as long until the oil reaches the low mark. At that point he should add oil. But instead of adding some, he can just change it and go back to his full syn.
Question...do you know anything about the Lycoming I0-360 engine? Its a very popular engine in aircraft. It holds a total of 9qts. In aircraft with cowl flaps (a way to cool the engines) they can be run with as little as 3 qts. of oil. Aircraft without cowl flaps have a minimum of 6qts. It is very common for the engines to burn the first 2qts. and then just stop burning after that. It is very common to go fly with only 7qts. in the engine...and be running the engine at max RPM the entire flight!
But anyway, I have met a lot of people who think engines are such amazing things and that everything needs to be just perfect or your going to start ruining them...when that certainly isn't the case.