Regular vs synthetic oil - Hyundai Performance Forums

OutlawElantra · 09-05-2002, 01:41 AM

I know this may be a stupid question, but this is the first car i've had for a while, my 89 plymouth acclaim i got rid of in 3 months. I've been using Quaker state high performance 10W-40 oil since I bought the car. Is there any advantage/disadvantage or differences i'd get using a synthetic? if so could i just switch on my next oil change w/ any fear of ruining my engine?

treybrad · 09-05-2002, 02:03 AM

Ok, this is a really debated topic. I'm going to suggest that, for you, synthetic would not be a good idea. At this point your car ('97 right?) has always had conventional and all the seals are conditioned to it. If you go to syth., you should flush the engine before putting in the new oil. Flushing it will break apart all the gunk around the seals and when you put in the new oil, you may have a leak that you never had before because of all the gunk that was sealing it up.

If you do end up going w/ synthetic, you can't go back. Once the car has been conditioned to the synthetic and how "slick" for lack of a better word, it is, it isn't a good idea at all to go back to conventional oil. You can end up doing damage to your engine from what I understand.

I've never done any kind of testing on this, this is all knowledge i've acquired from other websites and people. If you do a search for it you should come up with all sorts of information. I researched it alot before I decided what to do with my car. FWIW, i'm running synth., but I have been since I bought the car with 20K mi. I'm willing to bet your '97 has a few more miles than that. So, i'm sure others will add to what i'm saying, but that's my three cents.

trey

[Edited by treybrad on Sep 4, 2002 10:05 PM]

Reminiz · 09-05-2002, 11:16 AM

Here is a link that Skierd posted somewhere awhile back on Engine oil

http://www.fernblatt.com/longhurst/

Tugger5000 · 09-05-2002, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by treybrad
[body]
If you do end up going w/ synthetic, you can't go back. Once the car has been conditioned to the synthetic and how "slick" for lack of a better word, it is, it isn't a good idea at all to go back to conventional oil. You can end up doing damage to your engine from what I understand.
[/body]

I disagree with this point. Switching from conventional to synthetic for one oil change shouldn't damage the engine.

Any car that me or my family drives has had synthetic oil in it for the life of the car. The brand that I use is Amsoil.

There was a pretty long discussion in these forums several months back about extended drain intervals, but I can't find the thread.

I would say that if you're car is still under 50K, you should be able to convert over with no issues.

[Edited by Tugger5000 on Sep 5, 2002 9:53 AM]

treybrad · 09-05-2002, 02:49 PM

Right, I wasn't saying you'd cause damage by switching from conventional to synth. I've heard that if you try to go back to conventional after running synth. you're asking for it though... Like I said, the only problem, in theory, of going to synth. w/ alot of miles, is the possibility of leaking...

trey

Tugger5000 · 09-09-2002, 02:29 PM

Here is the thread I was referring to in my post above:

http://www.hyundaiperformance.com/fo....php?t=375&p=1