<font color="blue"> You guys know as well as I do what one of the most important keys are to good oil performance???? But I don't think most of the people on this post who argue about it do or they would stop beating this ol dog. AIR FILTER MAINTANANCE the life saver of a combustion engine!!!!! </font>
Gotta chime in here.
I have a great fondness for humor, and use it often to keep things on the "light" side, especially in situations where passions and emotions can and do enter into an issue or discussion. However, life is often a balancing act, and I feel the need to return the "balance" of this thread back to what I would like to think is "reality".
My most recent comments notwithstanding, I still firmly believe that synthetics are superior to conventional oils in every way. I also believe that one of the only "valid" topics for further discussion is cost/benefit analysis related to whether or not the added expense of synthetics is worth it. (At the end of "x" period of time, do I, or do I not, have more money in my pocket because I used one or the other?]
What I find tiresome are the seemingly endless go-rounds of anecdotal evidence that really prove very little. ("My PowerStroke engine went 47,000 hours using peanut oil, blah, blah ....). Good science often requires "control groups", which very few of us have the luxury of studying. I would be amazed if there were a single (scientifically sound) study showing any advantage to using (top-quality) conventional oil over (top-quality) synthetics, cost notwithstanding. Absent such a study, I'll stick by my contention that the only real consideration is cost.
The good news is that cost/benefit analysis alone might well provide ample opportunity for passionate debate. That reminds me of a bit of anecdotal evidence I'd like to provide, with the caveat that it is exactly that. I just bumped into my friend Joe a few days ago. Joe is a Merchant Marine Chief Engineer with 20 years under his belt, and is currently the head mechanic at a very large local construction firm (after a long stretch as head mechanic at ANOTHER large local construction firm).
"What's up Joey?", says I. "Grr, just ripping the engine out of a D8. Those idiots started it up when it was 5 below out and spun a bearing. It's gonna cost about 25 grand to fix the **** thing". "What kind of oil do you use in it?", I asked him. "Rotella", he says. "Synthetic?". "Nahh, regular - they don't use synthetic, they think it costs too much".
"Joey", I said. "How much synthetic oil will $25,000 buy?". "I know, I know - I gotta stop working for idiots, it drives me crazy".
****
Lastly - the point about maintaining air filters is a very good one. That said, I would stop short of calling it "THE life saver of a combustion engine". Just one of many.
Engine life-savers reminds me of a thread on pre-lubers that I just read. Now there's a nice debate that we could have. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif What DO you guys think of pre-lubers? They sure do make a lot of sense to me, particularly since in addition to pre-lubing, they can also be run AFTER the engine is shut down to help cool it (and turbos), and they will also help maintain oil pressure under a variety of conditions where ordinarily it would have been temporarily lost.
John
