[DML] Re: Synthetic Oil

[Mark Noeltner <mnoeltne@xxxx>]

At 05:50 PM 6/24/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>> Also, does anyone have experience with synthetics, pro or con? Any
>> recommendations?
>

I run synthetics in my everyday car, but I also autocross it (amateur level
racing - visit http://www.autocross.com/ for more info!). The biggest
advantage to synthetics are the resistance to breakdown under heat. This
leads to fewer contaminants in the oil overall.

But, for a DeLorean, you may want to stay with conventional oil and just
make sure the oil gets changed regularly. Synthetics, being man made, have
all identically sized molecules. This means that if you have a leak, a
synthetic oil will leak a LOT more than the natural oils since if one
molecule can go through the hole all the rest can too. This is what led to
all the old stories about not running synthetics in older cars. It wasn't
that it would hurt the car, it was just that older type oil seals weren't
as tight as modern ones. The DeLorean probably has new enough type seals in
it, but most of these cars have sat around for a number of years leading to
drying out and aging of some parts including seals. Personally, I'm
sticking with a quality conventional oil (Castrol 10w-30) and will just
keep it changed often.

Mark N
VIN 6820

------------------------------------------------------------------------

eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/dmcnews
http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications