Mineral Oil to Synthetic Oil and Back

[ILuvDetailing]

Are there any bad effects to the engine?

Also is it bad to constantly switch to different viscosities? like from 5w30 to 10w40 to 0w10...

[airshaq20]

Are you trying to break your engine or somethin?
Yes - its very very bad.

[ILuvDetailing]

Are you trying to break your engine or somethin?

Nope. Just verifying... I'm doin some research, some say its ok, thats why am asking you guys. Am currently using mineral oil for my ride, its almost 10K kms, am still thinking if I should switch to synthetic or not...

[airshaq20]

Its ok to switch from mineral to synthetic but there is a procedure on how to make the switch..but switching to a mineral to synth and back.......and using inappropriate and different oil viscousity will damage and may void your warranty.

If i were you, stick with the manufacturer's recommended viscousity..then...make your shift to synthetic.....and stick with it.

[jackaroo]

No problem switching from mineral- synth- mineral oil. I've done it with no ill effects. On viscosity- synth can be thinner(5w40) but mineral should be thicker(15w40). I would rather change mineral at 5k km, synth maybe a bit longer if on a gas engine. But if used only for city driving, change at 5k km- even a synth.

[airshaq20]

No problem switching from mineral- synth- mineral oil. I've done it with no ill effects. On viscosity- synth can be thinner(5w40) but mineral should be thicker(15w40). I would rather change mineral at 5k km, synth maybe a bit longer if on a gas engine. But if used only for city driving, change at 5k km- even a synth.

There may not be any visual or obvious effect on this but i have to disagree with you. I would still recommend to follow the manufacturer's suggested viscousity. The engineers who designed and manufactured our engines have MORE knowledge than someone who think any oil will do. If we can put any kind, any oil in our engines, they would have written that in the manual.

Since synthetic and mineral oil have different characteristic, mixing them by alternately using synth and mineral wont be a good idea.

Seems like everyone is "expert" when it comes to oil...but....IMO..i would "trust" my car's manual more than anyone else when it comes to my engine oil.

[chieffy]

Nope. Just verifying... I'm doin some research, some say its ok, thats why am asking you guys. Am currently using mineral oil for my ride, its almost 10K kms, am still thinking if I should switch to synthetic or not...

mas maganda kung may transition period...mineral to semi synthetic to fully synthetic to semi synthetic to mineral based oils to g ive your engine time to "adjust"...sa viscosity as long as pasok doon sa mga nakalagay sa manual okay iyan..

[Field Master]

There should be reason in making the changes, transition is done on purpose of making the engine operates better. If the car is working perfectly fine then the mineral oil at recommended viscosity is just fine. However, should there be some deterioration or the rider might want a better performance then that may be the time that we should look for ways to compensate or look some other alternatives. The higher viscosity oil can be used to compensate for gap in engine internals while synthetic oil is good for added protection but mostly its viscosity is thinner which is why we have to be very cautious in selecting correct oil for our engine condition. Its not an area where we could play on this on trial and error mode.

[GlennSter]

so is it safe if ganito:

mineral to semi synthetic

then

semi synthetic to mineral?

[airshaq20]

so is it safe if ganito:

mineral to semi synthetic

then

semi synthetic to mineral?

Here's some good reading about your question:

http://www.penrite.com.au/techbullet..._SYNTHETIC.pdf

[airshaq20]

To make it simple and short...there are advatages when shifting from mineral to synthetic but there is a bad part too (although its short term) - oil loss. But i dont see why you should go with synthetic and back to mineral - you can't mix synthetic and mineral safely. When you change your oil, there's still oil left in your engine.

So, when you decide to go with synthetic, stick with it. If you think you wont be able to afford to be consistent with the type of oil, then, you might be better sticking with your present oil - but, change it regularly.

[GlennSter]

ah..there is a risk...but not as risky as from mineral to full synth.

got it.

thanks mehn

[airshaq20]

...

A couple of words of warning:

If you've been driving around with mineral oil in your engine for years, don't switch to synthetic oil without preparation. Synthetic oils have been known to dislodge the baked-on deposits from mineral oils and leave them floating around your engine - not good. I learned this lesson the hard way! It's wise to use a flushing oil first.
If you do decide to change, only go up the scale. If you've been running around on synthetic, don't change down to a mineral-based oil - your engine might not be able to cope with the degradation in lubrication. Consequently, if you've been using mineral oil, try a semi or a full synthetic oil. By degradation, I'm speaking of the wear tolerances that an engine develops based on the oil that it's using. Thicker mineral oils mean thicker layers of oil coating the moving parts (by microns though). Switching to a thinner synthetic oil can cause piston rings to leak and in some very rare cases, piston slap or crank vibration.
Gaskets and seals! With the makeup of synthetic oils being different from mineral oils, mineral-oil-soaked gaskets and seals have been known to leak when exposed to synthetic oils. Perhaps not that common an occurrence, but worth bearing in mind nevertheless.

[jackaroo]

airshaq20,
I'm no "expert" in oils but i do my reading and use lab results. Have you heard of used oil analysis? I have my oils analyzed for viscosity, TBN, wear metals etc. which gives an unbiased snapshot of what's happening in the engine.
You can choose a viscosity based on lab tests after you benchmark the OEM oil.
Why go back to mineral from synth oil? Well, my synth oil soot levels were high at 6k km intervals so it was better to change more often with mineral.
I've used Mobil 1, Delvac 1, Conoco synth and others- most subjected to an oil analysis.