Synthetic Lubs for the LM383's?

risctaker · Post by **risctaker** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 3:54 pm

Anyone have any intell on whether to switchover to Synthetic Oil for the engines? I have fantatic results from my vehicles but no prior experience with using it in marine engines.

rbcool · Post by **rbcool** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:01 pm

I've seen some good debate on this matter

Personally, I'm old school

Ron

risctaker · Post by **risctaker** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:08 pm

I only know how clean the syn lube has made my Chevy Truck. With 100K miles on the clock, the oil is still amber 3k miles after it was changed. Since a marine engine is subject to a whole different stress level, I wanted to get some more reseach before jumping in .

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:35 pm

I use reg. oil my self dive most my vec to 200,000 miles no proplems see lots of vec that got 300k or more use reg oil .

asfar as oil staying clean it has more to do with the engine runing clean then the oil . in fact a oil not doing its job maybe why its clean . a oil that get dirty is cleaning you engine .

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:35 pm

Here's my 2 cents. I've used Wolfheads syn-blend in all of my fleet trucks from Ford and Chevy sb to international 444's and one is a 98 with over 400k on it. And changed my merc 454's when we bought the CARVER and have not ever had a oil failure or change over leak.15-40w

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:37 pm

And if you used reg oil you would be saying the same thing . I would bet on it .

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:53 pm

Maybe king Paul but the syn blend works well for me and with fleet trucks and my boat engines work hard and I feel better.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:41 pm

I use synthetic oil in the engine, generator and Velvet drive.

risctaker · Post by **risctaker** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:00 am

When I said that the oil in my vehicles was still amber after a couple thousand miles since the oil change that was many years since the syn lube thoroughly clean out the engine of all deposits. in the beginning when I switched, the oil had to be changed more frequently because it was black from cleaning out the entire inside of the engine. That's one of the best parts of using syn lube. Now many years after I switched, my engines don't have a chance to get dirty again so the oil is always amber right up until the point I have to change it. I only wanted to know if our hard-working marine engines would also benefit from the syn and it sounds like "yes". Thanks all.

Steve (risctaker)

Lawman · Post by **Lawman** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:06 am

The problem that most people encounter when switching a high mileage car or a marine engine with alot of hours, to synthetics is due to the detergents in the synthetic oil. The conventional oil "gunk" accumulates around the gaskets and other places, often times preventing leaks. The synthetic oil begins to remove this "gunk" and things like oil pan gaskets, main seals, and valve cover gaskets beging oozing oil.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:32 pm

both types of oil use about the same amount of detergents there used to be a reaction to the seals they say its no longer a issue

Geoff R · Post by **Geoff R** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:20 pm

I find no advantage to synthetic other than cold starting at -40. at those temps it really shines I actually lean toward the SAE 30 or 50 in the summer. I can wait for it to warm up.

Captain Blast Off · Post by **Captain Blast Off** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:25 am

I run a fleet of heavy duty diesel trucks from class 8 down to F-250 and personally have not found a suitable replacement for a good quality oil and regular service intervals; just not willing to bet any of my motors on it.

Guess I'm old school like Ron but we log over 2.5 million miles a year and we do not lose engines. Instead of synthetic blends if you really want to spend the extra cash do an oil sample every service, it's money better spent.

Steve

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:46 pm

I don't see the need for the extra expense providing a good quality regular oil is used, checked and changed regularly. Unless of course it's a newer application and recommended by the manufacturer.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:05 pm

I agree with Big D and Capt blast off