dodgethis Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Hey guys its been a while, I have been busy with the house, and just started going back to school. Well, here is what happened. I was with a buddy of mine, and he had shown me how to change my oil. I wasn't paying attention, I bought the 5w-30 oil, and before i knew it, I realized it was synthetic and not conventional. I just converted the car, and wondered do you think on the '98 lumina, that the 3100 can support synthetic? I am right now at 115,000 miles. I asked someone else about it, and he was suggesting to switch back over to conventional as soon as possible as it may start to leak more do to the smaller molecules in the oil. Like I said, I know its been asked before, but I didn't see any posts that particular dealt with the 3100 in question.. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 A lot of people think that it'll start leaks. I used to kind of think that, but I've done it to 4 different vehicles I've owned and none have started any leaks. I think the misconception arises from a pre-existing leaks that sometimes are made worse by switching to synthetic. Unless you already have puddles on the ground everyday, I wouldn't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psych0matt Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I switched my cutlass to synthetic for a while, made no difference, so I switched back, and nothing ever happened because of switching oil type Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted August 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Sounds good to me, I know i might have a bad seal around the oil pump drive, but im not worried about it. I think i just sit with it, and change it out maybe 7 thousand miles then, it has a wix oil filter on it. I think they can hold on for the 7k run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted August 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 BTW, does anyone know what that wire is thats real close to the oil filter? I had unplugged it to get the oil wrench on there. I was just curious to know what is, or did? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemis Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 BTW, does anyone know what that wire is thats real close to the oil filter? I had unplugged it to get the oil wrench on there. I was just curious to know what is, or did? I think thats the knock sensor. Could be oil pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted August 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Thanks Artemis!, funny if its oil pressure, after doing oil by yourself for the first time, and forget that plug......damn what a scare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbex Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I have HEARD that if you already have oil leaks, it could free some of the "gunk" up around the leak making it bigger. Not sure if it's true or not...since my Lumina has always dripped oil since I bought it so I never switched. The HHR I do run Mobil 1 in. However, my truck had the engine rebuilt in about 1996 or so I believe. About 70k miles since. If you look inside that engine it looks brand new...oil changed every 4k miles with conventional oil the whole time. When I had the intake gasket replaced on the Lumina back in '07 with 130k the tech couldn't believe how clean the engine was. Said he'd never seen a car with that many miles look so clean in the engine. And it's had conventional oil as well, being changed every 3k miles by the previous owner. So I firmly believe the type of oil isn't a big deal, so long as you take care of it and change it when you should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaPrix Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Yeah I've done the same to both my cars, my 86 Grand Am 2.5L 4 Tech runs synthetic its had no leaks attributed to the switch...that car is quite a bit older and far more worn, I beat the hell out of it. Iron Duke ftw! You'll probably be fine if the engine has been taken care of like Urbex has said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted August 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I have HEARD that if you already have oil leaks, it could free some of the "gunk" up around the leak making it bigger. Not sure if it's true or not...since my Lumina has always dripped oil since I bought it so I never switched. The HHR I do run Mobil 1 in. However, my truck had the engine rebuilt in about 1996 or so I believe. About 70k miles since. If you look inside that engine it looks brand new...oil changed every 4k miles with conventional oil the whole time. When I had the intake gasket replaced on the Lumina back in '07 with 130k the tech couldn't believe how clean the engine was. Said he'd never seen a car with that many miles look so clean in the engine. And it's had conventional oil as well, being changed every 3k miles by the previous owner. So I firmly believe the type of oil isn't a big deal, so long as you take care of it and change it when you should. Thanks for the replies guys. Since im new to the Synthetic world, how long do we normally let it go for? I know conventional is usually 3k to 4k, but is 7k sufficient especially on the oil filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbex Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I would say 7k is good with synthetic. I usually change mine once a year in the HHR, but I don't even put 10k on in a year. I wouldn't want to go much more, unless you change the filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 97 Cutlass Coupe Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Has anyone noticed that the 3100 cold start clatter is any less with the synthetic oil? My brother has a friend who is professional mechanic, and he swears everything should have the synthetic in it. My brother did all of his cars ( 4 I think ) and he says they run quieter, plus he is only changing the oil every 8 thousand miles or so. My next oil change in the Cutlass I am going to give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z34guy Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I only use Synthetic, and have had to switch the Monte to Synthetic twice now (Long story). No reported problems from switching. If anything, it runs a lot better with synthetic, which I swear by. My dad plans on switching his truck to synthetic once it reaches 10,000 miles. He's one of the old school believers in conventional. It took a lot of arguing for him to even agree to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado_735 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I had just as much top end noise with 10w30 Syn as I did with 10w30 Syn Blend, and Conventional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted August 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I had just as much top end noise with 10w30 Syn as I did with 10w30 Syn Blend, and Conventional. Yea that is true, Even when i swapped over (accidently), there is still piston tap when its cold. It does goes away after about 5 minutes so its not a problem. I will say this, and many of you will probably be pissed. I went to Wallworld to grab some oil, and I just wanted to grab castrol, as that what was in the vehicle anyway. I saw that the price on the shelf was 45 dollars, (I bought a case of it). When I was rang up at the counter, it came to be about 89 dollars. I immediately went to customer Service, and found out that they had put the oil in the wrong spot, and bascially gave me back the difference, and ultimately just charged for 45 dollars for the oil like i originally thought. It was up until when I finally put the oil back in and already had the oil filter replaced, that my buddy looked at me and said "You know you just put Synthetic in right?" It was then i realized i just converted the car without thinking. So bascially 3 5quarts of castrol synthetic with titanium or whatever costed 45 dollars. I told him the story, and he felt it was a good deal for what I got the Oil for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjOlds Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I have 3 (newer) cars that from the factory came with synthetic and are supposed to be on 16k km (10k mile) oil change intervals. The oil is clean when it comes out. My previous '90 Cutlass International with the 3.1L got switched to synthetic and I noticed that it ran somewhat smoother and had marginally better fuel economy. I just had the engine rebuilt in my '93 Convertible and am running conventional oil for the first couple of oil changes on the advice of the mechanic. His logic was that since the conventional oil is not quite as slick it will allow all the parts to wear in better. After that, he has no real opinion on synthetic vs conventional, but I will probably switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbex Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Synthetic oil shouldn't be clean when it comes out. If it is, that means it's not doing it's job of cleaning the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado_735 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I ran Synthetic Blend (Maxlife) most of the time, but when I was running short on cash, I'd use whatever conventional was cheapest, usually SuperTech or something like Pennzoil if there was a sale at advance or auto zone. I do not believe the myth, one bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbex Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I read an article once, (don't know if it's true, but I'd believe it...) that virtually all oils are the same. As far as brand goes. Kind of like gas. All comes from the same places, same refineries, same additives in each one. You just pay for the name. Now, that doesn't apply to synthetic vs. conventional... I'm talking Pennzoil vs. Valvoline or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjOlds Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Synthetic oil shouldn't be clean when it comes out. If it is, that means it's not doing it's job of cleaning the engine. Clean is a relative term. When I say clean it does not come out black as tar, but somewhere in between, but closer to golden than black. Clearly if it wasn't doing its job, then engine wouldn't have lasted over 120k km without a hiccup or loss of driveability, performance or economy (what there was in a '90s vintage 3.1L). All that said I have been changing the oil in my '98 Regal GS with over 210K km regularly at 5K km, and it runs and emissions tests like new. The moral of the story really is that as long as you maintain your vehicle properly, it should last a very long time. Too many people think that putting gas in their car is basically all the maintenance they need and do nothing until something is too hard to ignore (and expensive to fix). Of course we all know everyone here maintains their cars properly, I am talking about "other" people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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