Synthetic oil and cleaning crud

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Who knows if this is right but I'd tend to accept it as likely. Theory is 
that switching to synthetic cleans crud out of an older engine run on 
conventional oil due to synthetic's better flow and more detergent. This 
can cause worn seals to leak but, more importantly, it could dislodge a 
lump of crud that might cause a problem in the engine. The idea is that you 
should use short change intervals for the first couple of oil changes when 
switching from conventional to synthetic oil.

I have used synthetic exclusively in my Alfa since new, and switched my two 
SAAB turbos to synthetic as a result of the positive experiences with the 
Alfa. As I posted recently, the best characteristic of synthetic for street 
driving is the cold flow characteristics which make for easier starts in 
very cold weather, better lubrication earlier in the warm up, as in right 
away, and longer change intervals due to synthetic's resistance to 
contamination and breakdown.

If you drive where the weather gets very cold in winter synthetic is the 
best. I like to change the oil before winter, that way, by the time the oil 
is getting old it is running in a warm engine during the summer when 
contamination is at a minimum and the other strength of synthetic, 
extremely high resistance to heat, comes to the fore.

Cheers


Michael Smith
White 1991 164L
Original owner
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