Originally Posted by deuce40s

I read an article (about rear end differentials using synthetics) that found the oil is cooler only because it is not pulling as much heat from the surrounding metals. The ring and pinions physically were hotter with synthetics, but the synthetic oil temps were lower.

Originally Posted by Twistnride

Thanks for an intelligent and enligtening answer concerning the subject. A nice departure from the urban legend bullshit that usually flies here. I run synthetics,they work,for all the reasons you stated.

Originally Posted by FNGonaRK

I just put ice in the oil fill hole if I'm going to be sitting in lots of traffic and then try to change the oil shortly afterwards, within a thousand miles or so.

Originally Posted by hdgzr

Let’s talk first about what “dino” oil is (Dino is short for Dinosaur, which is when it started forming). Dino oil is created from something called “Base Stock”. Base stock is refined mineral oil that contains no additives. It is the interim product that is reached after crude oil (that comes from the ground) has undergone refinement. From there, additives are combined with the Base Stock, to create our motor oil. There are 7 main additives which include anti-foaming agents, anti-corrosion, etc, etc. At the molecular level, dino oil contains molecules of varying sizes. Imagine the floor of a gymnasium covered with basketballs, baseballs, volleyballs, and beach *****. Now imagine that all those different size “*****” are moving around, flowing past the floor. Every time a ball surface contacts the floor surface, the ball absorbs heat from the floor. That is how oil removes heat from your engine components, from surface to surface contact.
Now imagine the same gymnasium floor covered in uniformly sized golf *****. Smaller, more uniform molecules can absorb more heat from a surface, because there are more of them AND they have a larger surface to volume ratio which means they have more surface area contact. That’s what synthetic oil is. A man-made “Base Stock”, where all the molecules are the same size, and smaller than those in dino oil. Better heat transfer, better lubricating properties, and a lot wider temperature range without breakdown, are now obtained.

Oil does not break down under normal use. This is true of both dino and synthetic oil and is also the reason why you take oil to the Recycling Center and not the trash dump. So if oil itself doesn’t ever degrade, why do we have to change it? The answer is twofold: additives and contamination. It will probably surprise you to learn that synthetic oil has all the same additives that dino oil has! The additives in oil DO break down, which is part of what necessitates oil changes. The other reason for regular oil changes is that with use, motor oil becomes contaminated (dirt, water, acids, etc). Using synthetic oil does not protect against either of these problems, which is why you CANNOT go further between oil changes when running a synthetic. You should still change your synthetic oil at the same intervals as you do with dino oil. Anyone want to guess how many claims Mobil 1 had to pay to people that were going 25,000 miles between changes?

A lot of people ask “What’s the point of running synthetic oil, if you can’t change it less often?” Here’s the answer in a nutshell.
Since synthetic oil has better heat transfer qualities than dino oil, your internal engine temperatures will be lower. Things like bearings, especially, will not operate at as high of a temperature as a result. Important note: Do not run synthetic to fix a hot running engine. Find the real reason it’s running hot, and fix it!
Another benefit is that since synthetic oil is man-made, it can be tailored to suit a wider range of needs. Synthetic oil is now being made is such weights as 5w50, and 0w30, weights that are not possible to achieve with dino oils.

Originally Posted by DresserDude

I run synthetic because it can withstand more extreme situations.

Ripsaw, I think you don't want Norman POPPING you, not poping you.

Originally Posted by hdgzr

Let’s talk first about what “dino” oil is (Dino is short for Dinosaur, which is when it started forming). Dino oil is created from something called “Base Stock”. Base stock is refined mineral oil that contains no additives. It is the interim product that is reached after crude oil (that comes from the ground) has
undergone refinement. From there, additives are combined with the Base Stock, to create our motor oil. There are 7 main additives which include anti-foaming agents, anti-corrosion, etc, etc. At the molecular level,
dino oil contains molecules of varying sizes. Imagine the floor of a gymnasium covered with basketballs, baseballs, volleyballs, and beach *****.
Now imagine that all those different size “*****” are moving around, flowing past the floor. Every time a ball surface contacts the floor surface, the ball absorbs heat from the floor.
That is how oil removes heat from your engine components, from surface to surface contact.
Now imagine the same gymnasium floor covered in uniformly sized golf *****.
Smaller, more uniform molecules can absorb more heat from a surface, because there are more of them AND they have a larger surface to volume ratio which means they
have more surface area contact. That’s what synthetic oil is. A man-made “Base Stock”, where all the molecules are the same size, and smaller than those in dino oil. Better heat transfer,
better lubricating properties, and a lot wider temperature range without breakdown, are now obtained.

Oil does not break down under
normal use. This is true of both dino and synthetic oil and is also the reason why you take oil to the Recycling Center and not the trash dump. So if oil itself doesn’t ever degrade, why do we have to change it? The
answer is twofold: additives and contamination. It will probably surprise you to learn that synthetic oil has all the same additives that dino oil has! The additives in oil DO break down,
which is part of what necessitates oil changes. The other reason for regular oil changes is that with use, motor oil becomes contaminated (dirt, water, acids, etc). Using
synthetic oil does not protect against either of these problems, which is why you CANNOT go further between oil changes when running a synthetic. You should still change your synthetic oil at the
same intervals as you do with dino oil. Anyone want to guess how many claims Mobil 1 had to pay to people that were going 25,000 miles between changes?

A lot of people ask “What’s the
point of running synthetic oil, if you can’t change it less often?” Here’s the answer in a nutshell.
Since synthetic oil has better heat transfer qualities than dino oil, your internal engine temperatures will be lower.
Things like bearings, especially, will not operate at as high of a temperature as a result. Important note: Do not run synthetic to fix a hot running engine. Find the real reason it’s running hot, and fix it!
Another benefit is that since synthetic oil is man-made, it can be tailored to suit a wider range of needs. Synthetic oil is now being made is such weights as 5w50, and 0w30, weights that are not possible to achieve with
dino oils.