An oily observation.....

[Renthorin]

I know the debate about real vs synthetic oil will rage on until the end of the world (December last time I read)….

I took my wife’s Chevy Venture van into the dealership for some motor work. Of course they replaced the oil and used conventional oil…not sure which brand.

I had always run synthetic since the break-in period so this was the first time it had been filled with dino oil in 75k miles. I noticed right away the engine was more noisy internally….lots of clicking and clacking on start up and idle. Under acceleration it seemed louder too but not sure.

I replaced the oil the other day with Mobil 1 synthetic and right away I noticed it was noticeably quieter on startup and idle.

Just sharing what I observed. I assume the quieter means it is protecting the engine better.

 

[SS_Sean]

I just did my first oil change on my new (to me) 86 GN, and used Valvoline 10W30 synth. This is the first time I've used synth in any vehicle I've ever owned, so the jury is still out. :biggrin:

 

[klrv6]

Yep

My driver, the 03 NA Regal loves the stuff. I put Mobil1 in and the thing is near silent. Now I have to put on new struts because I can hear more road noise than before. I run the same in the Suburban and it too runs smoother. Did you notice an increase in MPG?

 

[madhat]

I use synthetic and I still hear a little chatter at startup I dont remember the days of the GN w/o so I cant tell if its any better...

 

[Renthorin]

I don't know anything about the mpg of the minivan.....ew......I don't drive it.

 

[Gary Wells]

I know the debate about real vs synthetic oil will rage on until the end of the world (December last time I read)….
I took my wife’s Chevy Venture van into the dealership for some motor work. Of course they replaced the oil and used conventional oil…not sure which brand.
I had always run synthetic since the break-in period so this was the first time it had been filled with dino oil in 75k miles. I noticed right away the engine was more noisy internally….lots of clicking and clacking on start up and idle. Under acceleration it seemed louder too but not sure.
I replaced the oil the other day with Mobil 1 synthetic and right away I noticed it was noticeably quieter on startup and idle.
Just sharing what I observed. I assume the quieter means it is protecting the engine better.

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Without knowing the brands and viscosities of the oils involved it's sort of hard to make a comparasion. In a comparasion using noise as the primary comparasion factor, I think that the viscosity of the oil would be more of a determining factor than the syn-dino difference, and I think that the quality of the oils might be a secondary factor for noise, and some synthetic & semi-synthetic oils might have enough anti-scuffing agents left in them to make a noise variation. Just a guess though.

 

[Renthorin]

The viscosities were/are the same 5w30.

 

[Gary Wells]

The viscosities were/are the same 5w30.

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Then that would lead me to believe that the remaining anti-scuff agents still left in Mobil1 was the primary factor in reducing the noise. Maybe some quality difference in there too.

 

[Renthorin]

Maybe. Don't want to get too technical...just sharing my observations