Synthetic Oil in Diesel Engine

[omalljd]

I have heard quite a bit about Synthetic Oil but wanted some real world knowledge. I have a Ford Powerstroke Diesel and wanted to know what you think are the advantages and disadvantages of using Synthetic Oil?

Thanks,

Jeff O'Malley

P.S. Have a Happy Holiday Everyone!

 

[Bearcat]

You should check with ford on this to insure if something goes wrong by using synthetic, you are still covered by the warrenty. I have been tosing the idea myself but remember reading somewhere on EO that someone tried it and the engine crapped out. I know the big rigs can handle it. If you do it, you must do a oil sample at 10000 to check for problems. I guess the big plus is in the winter months, the synthetic oil wont harden up like standard oil. From what I read, you don't have to change your oil but once every 100000 miles. Good luck
Happy Holidays & safe driving
Randy

 

[Weave]

Here's what I know. Synthetic oils are the best motor oil there is, and this has been proven. They have the most stable viscosity and don't tend to thicken up in the cold or thin out in heat. Excellent for race cars and other extreme duty applications.
I would not bother using synthetic oil in an OTR diesel though. No harm if you do, but it is too expensive and no, you CANNOT (you are one morbid idiot if you try) go 100,000 miles without changing it. Think about it, ANY oil in an engine crankcase gets blowby moisture and deposits, and it must be changed to remove this bad stuff. Synthetic oil cannot magically remove it. Trust me, I know a guy who tried to run 100k without changing synthetic in a CAT 3126. Yes, he killed it. Now was that one dumb experiment or what? Learn from him.
Another thing with older engines that might have small leaks. With synthetic oil, they somehow become much bigger leaks. Don't ask me why, but synthetic oil is more leak prone.
Use a good brand of regular oil and change often (I change every 10k just to be safe) and if everything else is well maintained your powerstroke will easily go past 500k without a rebuild. To sum it up, changing oil frequently is the best way to make any engine last.