Re: Synthetic oil in older Alfas?

[Simon Favre <simon@domain.elided>]

There are a couple of issues, mostly related to how long the motor has been
running on dino juice (conventional oil). If the engine was rebuilt recently,
there should be no problem, as long as the rings have already been broken in.
If the engine has rings that need a good brake-in period, I would run it for
maybe 3000-5000 miles on dino juice and then go synthetic. Issues:

1. An engine that has run on regular oil for many years will build up a lot
   of sludge. Switching to synthetic may dislodge some of that crud which
   can cause damage. Several people reported cam and/or cam follower damage
   after switching to synthetic. The recommended procedure is to clean out
   the low places in the cam galley. If you can, I'd also pull the lower
   sump and clean it out too. Change the first batch of synthetic sooner
   than you normally would.

2. After running on dino juice for many years, the seals become hard. If you
   switch to synthetic, the seals can leak. I did this on one of my cars,
   and it leaked like a SOB. I ended up replacing the front and rear main
   seals, not a fun job. Also, anything that leaks now will leak more with
   synthetic oils because they're SO slippery.

Bottom line, if your car has run for many years on dino juice, you might be
asking for trouble by switching now. I would not run a 67 Duetto in Chicago
winters anyway, but it's not my car. If the car has had a recent rebuild, 
you will be prolonging your engine's life by going synthetic.

Eric Sands wrote:

>I purchased a 67 Duetto 1600 not too long ago which is in need of an oil
>change. I don't know what type of oil the previous owner put in it, but
>it's not a synthetic. I live in Chicago and would like to put in a
>synthetic oil, like Mobil One, that won't thicken during the cold winters.
>Has anyone used a synthetic oil in an older Alfa? If so, are there any
>tricks/tips to converting over to a synthetic that I should know? What are
>the Pros/Cons with using a synthetic oil?

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