Pro - Peace of mind, if you think paying more for oil is betterAnvantages and disadvantages between the 2?
Thats a pretty objective report.Note that synthetic oils have dropped their "extended oil claim" changes. They get dirty, turn acidic and use up their additive packages just like regular oils.
Take a look. This is one of the best and most factual articles I've found.
http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm
First, thank you for that oil link. I've never seen it before and it seems to be "objective" which is more than I can say for most informational oil sites.In my career as a mechanical engineer I worked for a major oil company. When synthetics came out the company I worked for never claimed extended oil changes as a benefit because testing had already shown that synthetics were no better at resisting dirt or blowby or other causes of deterioration.
If your owner's manual said to use only synthetics then they had a reason. Shear resistance could be one of them. SV engines are very easy on oil, so shear resistance isn't an issue. The only reason I recommend diesel specific oils is because they work very well in motorcycle transmissions. Note that the high mileage king on this site went over 130,000 miles on an SV using "whatever oil the dealer put in" during servicing.
The only way to find out if your oil is performing is through engine oil analysis. Experience on this site says almost anything decent will work fine.
Ask yourself these questions: How much did your car or truck cost and what kind of oil do you use in it? How much less did your bike cost? Do you use uber-expensive oils in it?
So, I've heard that going between synthetic and conventional can be "dangerous" in terms of causing leaks or whatever. True? or fable?Pro - Peace of mind, if you think paying more for oil is better
Con - More expensive
When synthetics first came on the market some seals did start leaking (some BMWs had problems, for example). It was a problem in seal shape and tension, not a problem with the synthetics attacking the elastomers. It wasn't a problem with every vehicle, just a few and then just a couple of seals here and there.
Since then troublesome seals have been redesigned so there shouldn't be a problem with anything newer than, say, 1995.
If you put synthetics in any vehicle and the seals leak, just go back to regular oils.
mavfan, meet andyauger. andyauger, this is mavfan. now, you two play nice!Yeah, if you've used conventional for a while, switching to synthetic could lead to oil leaking from the seals. The synthetic particles are smaller or something like that. so stick to conventional.