Putting synthetic engine oil in my CTD on the first oil change? Should there be some sort of engine break in period prior to switching to synthetic oils?
I have heard that it is best to wait 30-40k miles before changing to Synthetic. But I have no reason or proof to back it up...just heard it from a couple of people
Just be careful with sythetic oils. not that they are bad or anything, but synthetic oil tends to be thinner than regular oil and can find its way to a leak 100x faster than traditional oil. In other words, synthetic oils are more prone to cause leaks because of its thinness and lubrication characteristics.....but in lower milage trucks/cars it shouldnt be a problem because nothing has really had time to wear out yet.
I've got a friend who put synth in his new generator and swears that its the reason that the generator smokes now...claims the rings didnt get to seat cause the oil lubes so good....I dunno...thats what he claims...
I put synthetic in my old camaro with 45k miles on it, it had never leaked a drop in the 6 months prior I owned it, and it started leaking from both front & rear main seals. Put dino oil back in and used dino from there forward and it never leaked another drop until I sold it with 3 years later with 98k miles
I hear ya, I saw first hand what some synthetic oil did to a friend of mines truck. after that I researched it and swore to never use synthetic in any of my vehicles. I may not happen to everyone, but the fact that it happens more often than not is enough for me not to want to use it. btw, i also found that it will eat away at various oring too.
I am a Archer Lubricants dealer on the side of being a mechanic so from what ive seen the sythetic oil will not allow the engine to have a proper breakin time i tell most of my customers to atleast let the engine breakin before using sythetic otherwise you may have problems with leaks or burning oil. its always best to not change from oil to oil if you change to sythetic you may always have to run it because the gaskets and seals in you engine may leak if you use traditional oils. waytogo
synthetic i did not start running synthetic oil in my 04 and 05 ctd until they had about 30k on them and i have had no problem with seal leaks in either. they say that older synthetic formulas where the reason for seal leaks.
I took delivery of my truck on Nov 19-2002 and within a week it was 30 degrees below zero I switched to Esso 0-40 synthetic with less that 1100 kilometers (683 miles) and I have never looked back. I have heard all the stories that it won't break in properly and the rings won't seat etc. My theory is that more engines fail in cold weather because the oil did not get to the parts that needed it than failed because it was to thin when it got there. As for not being broken in properly I have over 206,000 Kms 128000 miles and it does not use any oil, It has good power, and good fuel economy and I don't care if it is broken in or not. Jim O
Cummins states that you can switch to synthetic at your first scheduled oil change, usually 7,500 miles. waytogo