Should I start using synthetic oil?

Question

I just bought a 2000 Grand AM SE 4cyl with 170,000 KILOMETERS (105000 miles).

The previous owner had the oil changed every 4000 KM and the engine runs great. Would it be worth it to start using synthetic oil at this point in the cars life and is there anything I need to do other than an engine flush to prep the car for the change over?

Answer 1

You could and your car would probably burn a little oil is all, the regular oil is not all the same the particles are not one uniform size, there are some bigger(that can plug up minor leaks) and some smaller, in synthetic you have all the same uniform size, relatively small, its actually better for your gaskets i think, but if you dont switch to this oil within the first 25 thousand miles, its more or less worthless, i changed my car 160,000 miles on the odometer to synthetic because my friend had extra and it runs fine, Its your call here, I would say a mix is best.  

Answer 2

i wouldn't.

i've heard that synthetic oil is bad for some gaskets.

probably not yours.

but if the car is running well, do you really want to upset the apple cart?

i wouldn't.

Answer 3

There are some high mileage synthetic oils that have additive packages to help stop the leaks that may form. With synthetic oils all the molecules are the same size to help flow better. just as another user said before it is loaded with detergents to clean out sludge and may clean so much that tiny cracks in the gaskets are exposed and this is where the leaks from the gaskets come from that they were talking about. The oils with the high mileage additives have chemicals that swell the gaskets up to stop the leaks from forming. Valvoline max-life synthetic is one of the best synthetic oils out there (4x better than Mobil 1) and it has the additive package i was talking about.  

Answer 4

Yu don't want to use full synthetic oil in a car with high mileage because it has detergents in the oil than will clean away deposits that create seal in the gasketed areas and metal pits. This will result in oil leaks. I recommend using a semi synthetic oil such as castrol gtx or similar.  

Answer 5

yes it keeps the friction down and helps cool the engine.

Answer 6

ok????

Answer 7

you can change it to synthetic oil it wont hurt nothing, all it does is make the engine last a lot longer,all the stuff you hear about people changing to synthetic and  having major problems isn't true,all that oil does is lubricate a lot better and last longer in any engine,and it helps make any engine last longer if its in good shape,it wont hurt it,only help it to last a lot longer,but that's up to you,it cost more than regular oil does,but i have changed a lot of those over to synthetic oil and it hasn't hurt any of them yet,i changed mine over at 120 thousand it actually helped it,good luck.