I came across the following in the Winter 2000 edition of Organica Magazine
Great read. Check it out...
When is Synthetic Better?
(From Winter 2003)
by V.L. Dorrough
How many times a year do you change the
oil in your car? Probably four times if you're a compliant car owner.
With each oil change, you go through about five quarts of oil, five
plastic containers holding it, a filter, and a lot of mess. Much of the
waste created comes from refined crude oil—the stuff many of us are
desperately trying to use less of in this country.
Now, wouldn't it be great if you could protect your engine
better by changing your oil just twice, maybe even once a year—and
didn't have to rely on refined crude oil to do it?
Maybe it's time you took a look at synthetic oil. It's not new—but a lot of people are still unfamiliar with it.
Synthetic oil is generally thought of as a lab-created lubricant.
Widely used by racing drivers and the factory-fill choice for several
high-performance cars, including Corvettes, Aston Martins, Porsches and
the Mercedes Benz AMG, it is believed to protect against metal wear
within an engine, increase fuel efficiency, and allow a much longer
interval between oil changes than conventional oil.
The first synthetic oils were developed in the 1930s and
'40s, and used in industrial applications and during wartime. In World
War II, the Germans began using synthetic oil, noticing that refined
crude had a tendency to freeze as they attempted to advance into
Russia. Years later when jet aircraft emerged, it became clear that
only synthetic oil could survive the high temperatures found within jet
engines. Synthetic oils designed for cars began to appear in the 1970s.
In fact, while no producer of synthetic oil outright recommends that
you ignore your car's suggested maintenance schedule, "Mobil 1," one of
the first commercially available synthetic oils, was so named because
it claimed to allow once-a-year oil changes.
One synthetic oil manufacturer estimates that "if the 135
million cars (excluding trucks, buses and taxis) in the U.S." began
using synthetic oil and taking advantage of the extended drain
interval, almost 3.4 billion quarts of petroleum oil would be saved per
year, assuming an average vehicle oil capacity of 5 quarts and driving
15,000 miles per year. Synthetic oil is also claimed to increase a
car's fuel efficiency. Estimates vary, but it seems reasonable that an
engine experiencing reduced friction doesn't have to expend as much
energy getting from point A to point B. There is not much difference in
the content of emissions between cars using synthetic or conventional
oil, because most of the emissions result from gasoline combustion.
Aside from those small but noteworthy environmental
concerns, there are selfish reasons you might want to switch to
synthetic oil. The most important is that, for most cars, synthetic
seems to work better on several levels. Refined crude oil is an odd
mixture of different-sized molecules, and it still contains some
impurities even after the refining process. Synthetic oil has molecules
of a consistent size and no impurities. In other words, on a molecular
level, refined crude oil would look more like a mixed pile of pennies,
nickels, dimes and quarters mixed in with some of your pocket lint and
the odd breath mint; synthetic oil would look more like a pile of clean
pennies.
The more consistent the molecular structure, the longer the
oil resists breakdown, and the better it does its job: protecting
engine parts from friction. Friction is one of the main forces your car
must work to overcome—particularly when you start your engine. Some
sources claim that as much as 60% of engine wear occurs during
start-up—when there is direct friction between metal parts, made worse
by the fact that oil has not yet circulated enough to lubricate and
provide a cushion between those parts. Metal-to-metal contact without
that cushion results in engine damage, which leaves small flecks of
metal floating around in your lubricant, free to scrape and harm other
parts of your car. This is one reason conventional oil must be changed
frequently, along with its filter; the metal flecks plus impurities in
the oil result in the black sludge that comes out of your car during an
oil change.
The properties of synthetic oil enable it to leave a film of
lubrication on metal parts that stays in place. This means there is
some lubricant present at the moment you start your car, resulting in
less wear and tear on metal parts. Less wear and tear means a
better-functioning, longer-lived engine, and one that doesn't have to
work quite so hard. And if your engine doesn't have to work quite so
hard, it uses less fuel. Users of synthetic oil have claimed increases
in their fuel mileage ranging from 2-5%.
There's also the question of temperature and viscosity, or
thickness of the oil. You can buy different weights of oil designed to
work better in different temperatures, of course, but there will still
be a variance in that oil's thickness depending on the car's operating
temperature and outside weather conditions. Oil that is too thick takes
longer to work its way through your car; oil that's too thin does not
lubricate as well, and is more likely to slip out of imperfections in
your seals, gaskets and joints, resulting in small oil leaks. Synthetic
oil remains remarkably stable under extreme temperature conditions. In
cold weather, you can still easily pour synthetic oil at temperatures
that would render conventional oil thicker than the proverbial molasses
in January. In very warm weather or in cars with high operating
temperatures (common with newer cars), synthetic oil retains an
effective thickness, while regular oil thins quickly and doesn't do as
good a job.
The cost of synthetic oil may be considered a negative—until
you take a closer look. Synthetic is hands-down more expensive per
quart. But the added cost of synthetic oil is effectively canceled out
by its longer life, if a car owner is taking advantage of the extended
oil drain interval and not changing synthetic oil every three to four
months. It is not at all uncommon for a car using synthetic oil to go
six to 12 months without an oil change—and when the oil is drained out,
it often looks nearly as clear as when it was first poured in. Filters
specially made to work with synthetic oil also help extend the drain
interval. It's usually recommended that you change the filter every six
months with synthetic oil.
It can be difficult to get a straight answer about
recommended synthetic oil-change intervals. After all, many of the same
companies that market conventional oil also market the synthetics. Even
though the major benefit of synthetic oil, aside from added prevention
of metal wear, is the longer drain interval, this is negated by advice
to switch your car over to synthetic but still keep changing the oil
every three months. As a matter of principle, synthetic oil
manufacturers will not recommend that a car owner challenge his or her
warranty by failing to observe recommended oil change intervals. (An
interesting twist resulted in a class-action suit against
Mercedes-Benz, now settled, resulting from Mercedes having told 630,000
car buyers that the oil need not be changed more than once every 12,000
miles—but apparently neglecting to inform those car owners that they
should do that only while using synthetic oil, which was the factory
fill for those vehicles.)
To confuse the issue a bit, not all synthetic oils may be
created equal. The definition of "synthetic" came into question when
the maker of Castrol Syntec began using a different base for its
synthetic oil a few years ago. As reported by Patrick Bedard in Car and Driver magazine, "Here's what happened, according to a detailed account published in the trade magazine Lubricants World.
Late in 1997, Castrol changed the formula of its Syntec 'full synthetic
motor oil,' eliminating the polyalphaolefin (PAO) base stock (that's
the 'synthetic' part, which makes up about 70% by volume of what's in
the bottle) and replacing it with a 'hydroisomerized' petroleum base
stock. Mobil Oil Corporation, maker of Mobil-1, 'The World's Leading
Synthetic Motor Oil,' said 'No fair' and took its complaint to the
National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business
Bureaus. NAD often arbitrates between feuding advertisers on their
conflicting claims." It was held that for advertising purposes, Syntec
was indeed a synthetic oil, even if its base was petrochemical and not
lab-created.
Not everyone is convinced that synthetic oil is necessarily
that much better for the average car. Plenty of authorities insist that
using conventional oil and changing it frequently adequately protects
most cars. Some may recommend a switch to synthetic if you drive in an
area with extreme temperatures where cold morning start-up is a
problem, if you use your car to tow large loads, or if your car is
subject to severe conditions. "Severe conditions," however, describes
the type of driving a lot of people do every day—stop-and-go driving, a
lot of short trips, extreme heat or cold, and driving in dusty, dirty
conditions.
If you decide to switch your car to synthetic oil, the hardest part may
be researching the various brands available. No special procedure, no
flushing, is required to switch your car over to synthetic oil; it's
the same as a regular oil change, although some mechanics recommend
that you change the oil about three months after the initial switch to
get rid of any remaining sludge from conventional oil that might still
lurk in your car. The only car manufacturer that advises against use of
synthetic oil is Mazda.
If you're primarily interested in your car's long-term
health, you also might want to switch your transmission fluid to
synthetic. This gets more complicated, because merely draining the old
fluid isn't enough; the whole system should be flushed. A garage will
do this, but it can be expensive. (If you're interested in doing it
yourself, one manufacturer's instructions can be found at this web
site: http://www.bestsyntheticoil.com/dealers/amsoil/torqueconverter.shtml.)
The synthetic drain interval is about three times that of regular
fluid, and the properties of synthetic should save your transmission a
lot of potentially very damaging metal wear. Any environmental benefit
to switching would be tiny. But if you've ever had to replace a
transmission, you understand the importance of protecting that
considerable investment.
All of this, of course, is no excuse to forget about
sticking your head under the hood every so often. You can't use longer
service intervals for the other maintenance your car requires: checking
fluid levels, belts and hoses, and all the other recommended periodic
maintenance that keeps your car safe and running cleanly. You'll still
want to check your oil level regularly, of course, and it's a good idea
to keep a few quarts of your chosen synthetic in your trunk, because
chances are you can't just pick up an extra quart or two in the
automotive aisle of your grocery store. (It is okay, in an emergency,
to mix conventional oil with synthetic, although not recommended; both
types of oil are compatible.)
Finally, if you drive a car that has developed an oil leak
or is burning oil, switching to synthetic won't decrease harmful
emissions; pretty much the same compounds will be released. There is
actually some debate regarding the possibility that synthetic oil may
slip out of seal cracks more easily, aggravating leaks. Some synthetic
users say they've experienced this; other users say they have not.
Environmentally, it's imperative that you get problems like leaks and
oil burning fixed as soon as possible.
Doing the right thing for the planet often seems to demand a
trade-off in terms of convenience, money, time or effort. Switching
your car to synthetic oil may be one of the few examples of a practice
that's not only better for the environment, but better for your car and
more convenient for you.
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