There is a myth floating around that I would like to quell. There is a misconception that if you use synthetic engine oil you can extend you oil change intervals as much as twice. I am not writing this article to put down synthetic oil. It is a wonderful product in many ways. It contains super friction modifiers and has viscosity stability control that organic oils just cannot achieve. However when placed in the internal combustion engine enviroment it still catches just as many contaminates as organic oil.
While it is true that synthetic oil envelopes contaminates better than organic oil, they are still there. They envelope the contaminate particles and allow them to collect in the oil filter without harm when they pass through and over vital engine parts. I personally use synthetic oil and I do extend my oil change intervals but only by 1000 miles. There are absolutely no sludging problems with synthetics and internal engine heat handling is superior.
Idling of engines especially when cold puts gas contamination in engine oil. Now this is a contaminate that cannot be filtered out. While not harmful in small quantities it can build up with these extended oil change intervals. I cringe when I see or hear of people warming car engines up needlessly, like in the middle of summer. Why folks? With today’s fuel injected automobiles and superior lubricants you do more harm than good to your engine by prewarming. In the cold stage the PCM is sending rich fuel mixtures to your injectors. Too rich for an idling engine to burn. So it gets past your piston rings and into your crankcase to mix with your oil. Why not use that rich mixture to drive your car up to operating temperature. Driving will cause the engine to warm faster and stop dumping the rich mixture faster, saving gas and not diluting your oil.
Tags: Add new tag, auto maintenance, oil, oil change, synthetic
