90,000 miles -Synthetic Oil?

[Kevin Clinton]

Doyt

Thanks for the response.  Still uncertain whether I will make the change.

Most of the 90,000 miles on the 200 were freeway driving between Portland a=
nd Seattle - but for the last few years don't put very many miles on the ca=
r=2E  We warm the car up for a few minutes before it gets out on the road a=
nd I change the oil every three months =3D the oil always looks pretty good=
 when I change.  Not certain how to determine how much sludge has been buil=
t up?

Kevin

--- "Doyt W. Echelberger" <Doyt at NWOnline.Net> wrote:
>Hello Kevin......It may be a bad idea. Or not.....I think that it depends
>on how much sludge has built up in and around the seals and gaskets.
>
>I use Mobil 1 in my 87 5ktq,  with 278k miles on the odometer. No problems,
>the original lifters are still there and are quiet. I use 15W-50 all year
>long, in Ohio......we saw zero degrees recently. Starts right up sitting
>outside. I drive the car mostly at 60-70 mph for trips that take about an
>hour or two each way. The engine gets hot, boils off the water, and the oil
>keeps the seals clean. I see this as the best possible type of conditions
>for keeping an engine healthy. Short trips are the hardest kind of service.
>I drive over 2,000 miles a month, highway mileage, high speed.
>
>In my old 86 4kq, (now dead and buried) I tried Castrol Syntec for a few
>years, before switching to Mobil 1.  I thought that the Syntec did a better
>job quieting the lifters than the Mobil product. But both oils were very
>satisfactory and held off the noisy lifters longer than conventional
>non-synthetic oil.  The 4kq models had noisy lifters when they were new.
>Our 10-valve turbo cars have quieter lifters to start with, in my opinion.
>
>Getting back to your question, I think that there is a chance that you will
>have some problems when you switch. I say this because you _probably_ have
>been driving short trips most of the time, and never really warm the engine
>up enough to boil off the water that gets into the crankcase from
>blow-by.  So, maybe your engine seals _are_  sludged up. Only you know what
>kind of driving you do. But short trips are conducive to engine sludge
>build-up.
>
>When you change the oil, does it usually come out black and ropey and thin?
>That would be a bad sign. If that is how your oil ends up, switching to
>synthetic would be risky, in my opinion.
>
>Incidently........when and if you ever decide to replace that ancient old
>vehicle...:~) let me know. I'm closing on 300,000 miles and I really don't
>know how long I can keep driving it after that. I guess I could swap in
>another engine.......
>
>Aren't these cars great?
>
>
>
>Doyt Echelberger.
>
>
>

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