hey guys i could use a little help here. i have a 2003 wrx and since iv had it, under a year, i have got it changed at the dealership. it has 39,000 and i would like to start running synthetic and doing it myself. i read that switching to synthetic could be bad. please help me with your input.
I've heard that before, then again I've heard several people say it shouldn't be a problem. I think it would only be bad if your car was really old. I think you'll be fine switching.
I would do a blend and see if any leaks and then do the full synth. Bit your car at that age and milleage should be no problem
Switching to synthetic won't be a problem. The people that are telling you that it is bad are misinformed. Many myths about synthetic oils have surfaced over the years ie. You can't switch from synthetic back to conventional, You can't mix conventional and synthetic, Putting synthetic in an old engine will cause excess wear... There are more but those are the most common. Sythetic and conventional will mix (try not to mix different brands though do to the additive packages will be different). You can switch back and forth as much as you want without any problems. The last myth I listed may have come from a specific problem. Oil is not only a lubricant it is actively keeps your engine clean. The cleaners in synthetic are a bit better at there jobs and in turn would clean the deposits left by conventionals in older engines causing seals to leak and in some cases burn oil. I have always recommended switching to sythetic if the engine is newer or has been taken care of. Oh yeah almost forgot. Never break in a new engine with synthetic. You will do more harm than good and more than likely will be rebuilding the engine. A break in should be done with conventional over a period of 1000-3000 miles.
Sorry i do not agree Synthetic cleaning prperties may be better and thats why old seals that expanded using conventional oils may not seal as well when used synthetics. I had that issue on 2 cars previously and was not able to fully rectified it on one the other i did an engine swap and of course that went away. Switching to synthetics on an old car will cause seals to leak on old or high milleage cars.
I agree with Conedodger, stick with the OEM oil for the first couple thousand miles so that everything will break in like it was designed to. You should be fine to swap with such low miles.
Why use synthetic at all if you are changing the oil every 3-4k miles? Ask yourself why you would never break a car in with synthetic but you'll switch to it later. If dino oil is good enough for break in then its good enough for me for daily use. my 2 cents
use a blend best of both worlds the castrol and valvoline blends kick ass I switched to full synth in my lex at 115k miles with no probs, I did need to change the valve cover gaskets anyway, and did right after I got the car. I then switched to blend, worked much better with the way I drive, then when I started using 1/2 quart of lucas oil stabilizer (I used the synthetic one) it ran great.
The reason you don't use synthetic oil to break in an engine is it's lubricating properties are much higher than that of conventional. If you use synthetic to break in an engine the rings won't seat, and the seals won't take a set (and therefore leak). Also synthetic oils have much better antifoaming, cleaning, and acid fighting capabilities. An added benefit to the better lubricating properties would be less friction meaning less wear and less heat. Sure synthetic may cose more but why not use it if you spent so much on your car already, it may mean the difference between an engine that will last 250k miles or 500k.
Check out unabombers thread on NASIOC.com he has links to several write ups on this. One that was interesting was done on taxis. Severe duty, and they noticed almost no difference between oils, even synthetic. That being said, I do run synthetic, always have in my hp cars. Not sure if it is really any better, but it certainly has never hurt any of them and has never caused leaks that I am aware of.
I switched to synthetic in the 03 WRX at about 45000 miles. I had no problems for 15k miles making the switch. Not sure what I'll do with the STI after the break in period.