Base article is from Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords Magazines

Have you ever heard the story about the light bulb that doesn’t burn out or the razor that never dulls? Sure, these stories get exaggerated, but sometimes there’s an element of truth to the rumors leaking out of a manufacturers skunkworks. One particular rumor that sounds too good to be true is "an experimental motor oil that increases horsepower, practically stops internal engine wear in its tracks and improves fuel economy".

Well, synthetic motor oil is not a rumor. It’s been in use ever since World War ll (the Germans used it on the cold eastern front because conventional oil wouldn’t flow in the artic-like weather). Even though it sounds too good to be true, synthetics do reduce engine wear, improve gas mileage and increase horsepower. This is because synthetic oil molecules are superior in a number of ways to mineral based oils.

Without getting too technical, synthetics have a much higher resistance to heat than mineral-based oils. Because synthetic oil is composed of molecules that are uniform in weight and shape, its heat of vaporization is much higher (more than 600 deg. F.) compared to conventional oil, which begins to evaporate at temps as low as 350 deg. F. This added stability at high temperature means that your hard-working engine won’t burn up as much oil- and that means less sludge and fewer varnish deposits in the engine.

Please be aware that not all synthetics are created equal. There are wide differences in quality and protection provided by the various synthetics. Additionally, not all synthetics are 100% synthetic. Many are partial synthetics marketed under the perception of full synthetics to the unsuspecting consumer or even hydrocracked oils such as Castrol Syntec, for example, which is hydroisomerized petroleum oil marketed under the disguise of a synthetic of a synthetic (read this Battle Between Castrol and Mobil in article; Synthetic Motor Oil Gets All New Semantics). There are no PAO (polyalphaolefin) synthetic molecules in Castrol Syntec, yet because of legal finagling with the definition of synthesized motor oils they can legally be called synthetic. Basically, they changed the definition of a synthetic to fit their process of highly refining a petroleum base oil, called hydrocracking and fought with Mobil and the National Advertising Council to loosen the definition of a synthetic.

Film strength is important in another way- cold start protection. Regular mineral-based oil will not remain as a boundary layer (a uniform thin coating) on metal surfaces when the engine is turned off. Mineral-based oil drains off parts and out of the passageways into the oil pan. Additionally, mineral-based oils contain waxes and paraffin’s that come out of the earth and solidify when it gets colder outside, therefore making it even harder to pump the oil when cold. When you crank your vehicle the metal surfaces (crankshaft, camshaft, lifters, connecting rod bearing, piston pin bushings & bearings, piston, rings and cylinder walls) that require lubrication are not fully lubricated in the time it takes for the oil pump to pressurize the lubrication system and supply oil to the engine.

Engine start-up lubrication is on of the most critical times for lubrication. Small amounts of wear occur every time you start the engine with mineral-based oils. Over time, these small amounts of wear add up to larger amounts and results in increased clearances, reduced oil pressure, increased oil consumption and reduced life of your engine. Synthetic motor oil, on the other hand, will stay on engine parts and coat them uniformly because of its high film strength and greater heat affinity (it adheres better to hot metal parts). Additionally, synthetics prevent start-up wear and are pumped to critical passageways, surfaces and bearings much faster than mineral-based oils. With mineral-based your engine is basically running with no oil (which can be as much as 20-30 seconds, depending on the severity of cold weather, after cranking the motor). With synthetics after several hundred thousand miles you still will have a strong running engine, instead of a used-up engine that may require a re-build. This has been proven by millions of miles of customer usage and countless laboratory and field tests.

Okay. Synthetics are great. The real question is: Why doesn’t everybody use them? Manufacturers don’t use synthetics in production vehicles (except as where needed to prevent component failure during the warranty period) for at least two reasons. It is our opinion that they want to sell you a new vehicle more often, and synthetic motor oil would significantly reduce their chances of doing that. Additionally, it is our opinion that oil companies want to sell oil to keep their oil wells and refineries running and they do that by recommending the "3000 mile" oil change. Sure, they all offer a synthetic or semi-synthetic now, but it is only a very small percentage of total oil sales volume. A few auto companies install synthetic oil as a factory fill in very high performance vehicles such as the Chevrolet Corvette, for example. It’s also our opinion that basically, what you seeing here is the oil and auto companies working together so they both benefit from the "3000 mile oil change". Many of the same oil companies that recommend the 3000 mile oil changes in the U.S. also offer and recommend 12,000-18,000 mile oil changes in Europe, and have been for many years and have plans for increasing that to nearly 30,000 mile oil changes in the future. The technology is available yet AMSOIL is the only one to offer superior extended drain synthetic oil that far exceeds the performance specifications of any other type and brand of oil and back it with their own warranty.

AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants offer a 25,000 mile /1-year oil change, a 35,000 mile/1-year oil change with Super Duty Filtration (require changing every 12,500 mile or 6-months, whichever comes first). Should the consumer choose AMSOIL By-Pass Filtration, this will allow for virtually no oil changes and filter down to 1/10 micron particle size. The average consumer spending excessive amounts of time and money changing their oil every 3000 miles does not get the same level of performance and protection as the AMSOIL customer that is saving both time and money and getting maximum performance, protection and extending the life of their engine and transmission (AMSOIL also offers synthetic extended drain interval transmission fluid that will virtually eliminate transmission wear and reduce operating temperatures approximately 20-50 deg. F., depending on operating conditions).

Converting a vehicle to AMSOIL is fairly simple, but there are a few things you need to be aware of. First, if you have a brand new vehicle we recommend that you run a short cycle of petroleum oil on a gas engine passenger car or light truck (typically up to your first scheduled oil change) and approximately 5000 miles on a diesel engine in such as a Ford Powerstroke, Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel or Chevy Duramax Diesel before installing AMSOIL. This doesn't mean that you can't install AMSOIL sooner (there are even a few OEM's that install synthetics as a factory fill) it simply means these are our recommendations based on our extensive engineering studies and knowledge of this topic. Today's modern engine manufacturing and materials technology is much more sophisticated than in years past. Regular gas engine passenger car and light truck engines do not require the extensive break in process many people think they do. In addition, by the time you get your new vehicle the engine has already been through a series of hot tests also run on in-plant chassis rolls testers to check functionality of all systems and then driven around the plant and railhead in order to get the vehicle to the dealer, which also helps accelerate breaking in of the engine.

Major racing teams don’t appear to use synthetics, but things aren’t always what they seem. The racing team’s sponsor might want you to believe there’s a certain kind of motor oil in the car’s crankcase, but every successful race team in the world uses synthetic lubricants throughout the car and about 85% of them use AMSOIL. You’re probably wondering how we know these facts. It’s simple; we work in the automotive industry with many professionals involved in the racing industry.

Interestingly enough, the biggest reason that synthetic lubricants are not in widespread use is because the would-be consumer does not know the benefits provided by synthetics. Also, they are not sure where to go to ask or who to ask. Asking your local parts counterman at the auto parts store or the high school kid at the quick-lube shop is not the answer or even asking your local auto dealer that sold you the car – remember, they are usually tied in with the manufacturer’s brand of oil and the 3000 mile oil change myth. You should seek out and acquire information from a Certified Lubrication Specialist, Lubrication Engineer or unbiased automotive engineer or competent mechanic that fully understands and can explain the benefits of synthetics and the drawbacks of mineral-based oil to the consumer. But beware; there are many mechanics out there that are so engrained in the old way of thinking that they refuse to change their minds to the fact that there are automotive engineers, lubrication engineers and chemists that know a heck of a lot more about oils, filtration, vehicles and synthetics than them.

Also, even though people have known about synthetics for years, consumers continue to be brand and price driven. The rationale continues to be, "My grand pappy used brand V in his model T, so I won’t use nothing else". Or, "I have been using brand Q in my IROC for years. If I change brands now I’ll blow the motor". Or, "I ain’t payin’ no five dollars a quart, so siree, Bob, I ain’t that stupid". Or, "I ain’t using none of that synthetic oil…that stuff’s made out of beans…I want some real crude oil". This last statement was an actual statement from a customer in a snowmobile store. He was having 2-cycle spark fouling problems due to the mineral-based oil mixture he was using. The store suggested he use a synthetic oil and 2 new plugs to eliminate the fouling issue. He declined and purchased 2 boxes of spark plugs and his usual crude oil mix. Some people just won’t change.

When switching to a synthetic motor oil, it is important to keep several things in mind regarding oil consumption. Keep extra quarts of synthetic handy. Although many synthetic oil manufacturers tout the compatibility of their oils with mineral-based oils, adding mineral-based oils to synthetic oil will drastically reduce the level of engine protection that was initially designed into the synthetic oil as well as the mileage to your next oil change. Also, as the mineral oil breaks down it will contaminate the rest of the oil, leaving sludge and varnish deposits in the engine (this is because mineral oil is made up of many chemically dissimilar hydrocarbons, including waxes, all of which react differently under different operating condition). By adding a mineral oil to synthetic oil you will also see a reduction in energy efficiency; depending on how much and when, the mineral-based oil was introduced.

There are many different companies that offer synthetics. Because this overview is intended to give readers a general idea of the benefits of synthetic lubricants, we have not discussed the specific differences between all the individual brands and their formulations. Keep in mind that there are significant differences between brands of synthetics, which will affect the performance and longevity of your engine, transmission, axles, bearings and chassis components.

Please contact us with any questions or topics that are not explained in this brief overview.

BACK TO HOME PAGE