charlie88

i have an 05 tc and i would like to run synthetic oil. ive heard mix things about it as far as mixing with some of the old oil left in the engine or oil pan. what do you guys think and what would i have to do to swap over if anything? thanks in advance.

tCizzler

Drain old, add new...easy as that. The stuff you heard was probably, "don't mix synth and conventional in large quantities". Obviously you can't remove ALL of the oil, just don't leave a lot in the bottom of the pan.

kevbow

If you've been using regular oil it is definately NOT safe to start using synthetic....it will eventually in time mess your seals up....use a synthetic blend. I had a nissan with 45,000 miles on it and I started using synthetic oil. By 70,000 miles it screwed my seals up.

draxcaliber

no. synthetic oil doesn't mess your seals up, you can start using it anytime.

just drain your oil, change the filter, refill with synthetic.

you don't have to do any blends of whatever.

i switched to synthetic oil after my first 3 free oil changes, so from 20,000 miles to my now 50,000 miles, i have been using synthetic oil. haven't had a problem with seals.

charlie88

Thanks guys my next question would be what do you reccomend for synthetic oils?

draxcaliber

there are lots of good brands, mobil1, royal purple, etc. the list goes on.

just pick a good brand, see if you like it, if you don't try another one until you are satisfied.

locondcoco

and i believe once you go synthetic, stay with synthetic. i went with mobil1. i'm not really sure that i really "feel" a difference. the one thing i CAN associate with it is that after i switched, it didnt struggle to start anymore.

stalon320

Okay, heres the facts about synthetics.. First, how many miles do you have on your car? If it's over 50K , I wouldn't recommend it , but you could go with a blend. If it's like 40K then its okay, as long as you've had regular oil changes in the past, there shouldn't be a problem with seals.
I changed to Synthetic when i had around 27K on my car. I now have over 33K with no problems.

As for oils, Mobil 1 is the most known, and is very good, I used Pennzoil. It's supposed to be formulated especially for 4 cyl. cars like ours. I didn't notice any performance increase at first, but after 4K miles i started getting like 2MPG more on the highway and about 1 more around town. I do notice so more pick up off the line, or in lane changing situations, but not sure if its due to the oil. If you do decide to run synthetics, I would suggest you use them forever, as switching back down the road would definately cause problems. Also, try switching your tranny fluid to synth as well.

charlie88

I have 32k and some change and I just got the car and wanted to change it over rite away before putting any other oil in.

engifineer

You can switch back (and forth if you like) from conventional to synthetic at any time without any problems.

Just because you switched at 45k and it leaked at 70k does not make it due to the oil. I have switched numerous cars to synth after 50k and even 80k. My saturn is one of them. It was switched at about 80k and doesnt leak a drop of oil to this day at 170k (also runs like a top). My father has had tons of customers who had him start putting synth in thier cars as well at high mileage.

But it doesnt hurt anything to switch to synth, and it doesnt hurt anything to switch back later if you wanted to for some reason.

Just do a regular oil change and put in the synth oil and you are good to go.

tc1stgen

I use synthetic and prefer it over conventional. I switched after my 3 free oil changes as well and never had a problem.

tCizzler

I'm not trying to be rude, but where are the facts that you claim to have about synthetics?

rosedaleny806

running synthetic is fine after using normal oil...the only thing that would be bad is switching from synthetic to conventional, synthetic is thinner so the oil burns quicker so u have to check it often to make sure ur oil is not low, thats y sum cars wit synthetic throw black smoke after take off while switching gears. i threw synthetic ever since i got my car and i think synthetic is best and now i have 48000 miles so its fine
btw i use castrol seems fine but i wanna try royal purple

MileHightC

Oil doesn't burn black...black smoke is typically indicative of a rich condition. Oil will burn with a blue smoke.

rosedaleny806

rich condition? is that bad or good? i dunno i talked ot alot of dealers they said the synthetic oil burns quicker thus throws black smoke from the exhaust i dunno

draxcaliber

rich means that there is too much gas being burned.

and no, synthetic oil does not burn faster, it won't burn any differently than regular oil.

if your engine burns oil, it will burn oil, doesn't matter if it is regular or synthentic.

MileHightC

Dealers are idiots...and I bet if you went into their service department you could 'upgrade' to synthetic oil at your next oil change. They'd charge you 3x what a regular oil change costs for the privilege of having oil that burns 'faster'...

trialsindude

Oil will burn no matter what. Faster or slower rate can depend. Switching to full synthetic doesn't matter what time you do it, you can switch back to regular oil if you want to. I've went to synthetic at 20K miles, changed to Mobil1 with Mobil 1 filter, did a few oil change with Mobi1 at 5k miles then swap back to OEM toyota filter. The past 2 oil changes I have been running Amsoil, first change with Amsoil was 6k, second 7K, now running the 3rd set of oil currently at 8300 miles. 82,000 miles later and still no problem.

I have observed 1/2 quart oil loss at 5k miles with all the different types of oil from conventional to mobil to amsoil. But the engine does sound a little bit quieter with amsoil oil.

rosedaleny806

yea dealers are idiots i never got an oil change there personally jus asked them about synthetic and such i usually go to castrol places...i put normal oil once and my engine sounded like it made a loud tick and it wasnt the normal valve tick it sounded like a tap almost but then as soon as i put synthetic back on the car it went away i dunno places are weird

rosedaleny806

ive seen alot of civics especially my old 02 civic si do that with an aftermarket exhaust and my brothers civic aswell and my tc now but not everytime i press the gas jus if i punch it is this bad?