Posted by jdemaris on January 11, 2011 at 14:00:36 from (67.142.130.49):
Today, I reluctantly had to go out to find some 5W-30 synthetic motor oil. Not for any engine, (which I consider to be a waste of money). I need it for the five-speed Getrag 360 manual trans in my Dodge-diesel truck.
In my opinion (supported by many verifyable facts and tests) is there is little to no cost-effective or longevity advantage to using Sythetic motor oil under normal useage in engines (not extreme temps or heavy duty). I've read through countless longevity tests with pertro-verus-sythetic in rental fleets, coporate fleets, and taxi cabs. No gains in longevity were found, i.e. both oils performed the same.
Then comes marketing and hype - and the stories fly. Remember the old Mobil 1 commercials with oil in a frying pan?
Now to my point. Sythetic oil does handle extremes in temperatures better then petro-based oil. My transmission has no cooling system and I do a fair amount of towing. The Gertrag 360 five-speed calls for a 5W-30 motor-oil only in the trans - thus my desire for synthetic. Getrag has a bad rap as it is and needs all the help it can get.
OK. I walk into NAPA and ask for synthetic 5W-30. They give me Castrol Syntec 5W-30 and on the label, it states clearly "Full Synthetic Oil." Clear enough, right? NOPE.
Before I dumped the oil in my trans, I did some research. I found out that Castrol Syntec Full Synthetic is made from petro-oil and is NOT synthetic at all. Note, I am NOT talking about a blend. This is sold as FULL SYNTHETIC.
So, I did some more reading. I found out many motor oils in the USA ONLY are allowed to be sold as "full synthetic" when they are actually made from petro-oil.
Hey - I though we USA-Americans consider ourselves somewhat wary and educated. How come, only in the USA, is this allowed? That's rhetorical; I don't expect an answer.
Ends up only API Type IV synthetic oil is actually NOT made from crude-oil. Type III is. Mobil 1 and Amsoil both sell genuine synthetic Type IV oil. As to the rest? Read and research very closely before you buy. Many are not and are actuall Type III made from petroleum.
Some specs:
Group IV API base stock for sythetic oils -synthetic esters, or PAO - polyalphaolefin. Used in Mobil 1, Amsoils, etc. The first synthetic motor oil sold in the USA with an API rating was sold by Amsoil.
Group III base stocks are considered synthetic motor oil only in the United States and elsewhere they are not allowed to be marketed as "synthetic". API (category III) base oils are marketed to the general public only in the USA as fully synthetic motor oil. Within the US, there are no official specifications, or standards as to which oils can be, or cannot be, marketed as "synthetic".
In July 1996 Consumer Reports published the results of a two year motor oil test involving a fleet of 75 New York taxi cabs and found no noticeable advantage of synthetic oil over regular mineral oil. This is one of many similar tests done since the early 70s.
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