question on going from conventional oil to synthetic on smaller engines

[Bearsixty7]

Mobil 1 in my Duramax with a 25k rated oil filter, change it once a year, Mystic synthetic blend in my old Kubota tractors. Synthetic or synthetic blends in everything else including mowers. Been told you want your oil to look somewhat dark cause it's doing its job of collecting impurities.

LOL! no, it turns black due to blow by. Modern diesel engines are real bad about doing this. All pickup diesel engines in the past couple decades are notorious for this, change the oil, drive around the block and the oil already looks a little dirty.
I did oil analysis a few times on my first couple diesels for this reason when the oil had 5k, 10k, 15k miles (Using Amsoil synthetic oil) and it visually looked bad but came back good.

On gas engines, if your oil comes out looking almost new, then you have a great running engine with tight rings. I had a Craftsman riding mower for ~14 years and used Amsoil oil and filters from the first oil change and the oil always looked new. I sold it to upgrade and the JD mower I've had for many years is the same way.
Even our Car and Jeeps the oil looks pretty new even after a year with Amsoil oil and filters (we don't drive 10K miles a year on the jeeps and just over 11K on the car).

 

[Bearsixty7]

DMW, this quote below is from a retired FORD mechanic of 38 yrs after seeing 1000's & 1000's of EcoBoost [EB] Direct Inject [DI] engines and noting the types of synthetic oil that was used. I asked him what Synthetic oil I should be using:


"Let me put it this way, IF I had an EB engine, there's only one oil I would put in it= Pennzoil Ultra 5w-30. It has the lowest NOACK of all of the oils including the high dollar boutique oils. It's not a cheap date and finding it is another issue. If you cannot find it, Quaker State is right there. For any DI engine, it's imperative to use an oil that yields fewer particulates to the PCV system as it ends up in the intake with no means of removal. Ultra yields the lowest. Here's a list of how the oils stack up.


Pennzoil Ultra 6.6%
Mobil One 10.1%
PLatinum 9.3
SynPower 11.6
Super Tech 11.1
Royal Purple 10.9
Quaker State Ultimate 8.8
Lucas Synthetic 14.9 (almost out of spec at 15%)
Kendall GT W/Titanium 10.9
Formula Shell 9.7
Castrol Edge 11.1
Amsoil OE 10.9
MotorCraft Blend 14.3"

End of quote.

Maybe I do not go with QS for the farm stuff, but it's been great for my F-150 and is readily available.

This is a little misleading.
First, Amsoil OE is their bottom tier oil, step up to Amsoil XL or Signature and guess which one performs the best.
Plus there are a whole lot of other performance factors to consider as well and Amsoil and Mobil 1 will be the ones holding the top test results.
You can't just look at one test criteria.

 

[SARG]

To the OP
Just opinion .... You will never notice any difference.

 

[jjeff]

LOL! no, it turns black due to blow by. Modern diesel engines are real bad about doing this. All pickup diesel engines in the past couple decades are notorious for this, change the oil, drive around the block and the oil already looks a little dirty.
I did oil analysis a few times on my first couple diesels for this reason when the oil had 5k, 10k, 15k miles (Using Amsoil synthetic oil) and it visually looked bad but came back good.

On gas engines, if your oil comes out looking almost new, then you have a great running engine with tight rings. I had a Craftsman riding mower for ~14 years and used Amsoil oil and filters from the first oil change and the oil always looked new. I sold it to upgrade and the JD mower I've had for many years is the same way.
Even our Car and Jeeps the oil looks pretty new even after a year with Amsoil oil and filters (we don't drive 10K miles a year on the jeeps and just over 11K on the car).

Lol well then I have lots of blow-by and most of my engines must have a perpetual filing mechanism. Isn't modern oil supposed to clean and absorb/ suspend sludge/ carbon deposits?

 

[5030]

Not sure about that. I use Nano-Borate additive with my lube oil.

 

[jjeff]

Not sure about that. I use Nano-Borate additive with my lube oil.

I was getting at modern oils with detergent additives to suspend dirt and wear particles. Still have yet to completely destroy a 4 stroke engine, small or large so must be doing something right.

 

[5030]

I use the same oil in everything. Shell Rotella T6. Little engines, big engines, don't matter, old or new.

 

[jjeff]

if you really want to throw a monkey wrench in this discussion, what's the consensus on using non detergent 30w oil in smaller 4stroke splash lubricated engines, without a spin on oil filter? lol. Been told you shouldn't change between non detergent and modern detergent oils periodically in smaller non pressurized oil system 4 strokes.

 

[5030]

Only thing I use 30 weight non detergent motor oil in, is my pressure washer pump because it specifies it.

 

[jjeff]

Only thing I use 30 weight non detergent motor oil in, is my pressure washer pump because it specifies it.

I run it in my compressor pump also.