Been running regular Castrol oil since I bought the truck. It now has 105,000 miles and I am thinking about switching to synthetic. Should i? Or should I stick with conventional?
synthetic oil
- Thread starter disco_drum
- Start date
It doesn't matter as long as you change it regularly. I've seen plenty of these trucks with the motors apart and they look brand new inside from using Castrol conventional oil.
Why do you say that? What do feel is better about it. I'm not saying your wrong or trying to pick a fight. There are more opinions on oil than anything else I think. I like to run it in my turbo motors because I feel it will hold up to the heat better. Just a feeling and I have no real studies to base that off. I think Castrol is a good oil and its a high detergent oil, I think that"s why Land Rover want's it run in there overhead cam engines with variable valve timing.
I think keeping your oil clean is more important than anything else. If you change it often enough I feel like you kind of make synthetics qualities a non issue. But who knows.
I worked with one guy way back when that insisted it was a bad idea to switch the brand of oil you used mid life of an engine. He swore by Quakerstate and I just don't want to run that stuff. He used to go on about Pennsylvania crude being somehow better, other guys would tell me that Pennsylvania crude oil makes sludge. I tend to agree with that. Something about carbon content. But all that"s just opinion, again I have never seen any kind of studies to prove any of that.
But I would say that I would stick with the castrol you've been running.It got you this far, and like Jymmie I have taken apart a lot of high mileage engines that run the stuff and they look pretty clean inside.
My number one reasoning is viscosity. A Dino 10-40 is a 10 weight oil with additives to make it 40 weight when it reaches operating temp. A synthetic 10-40 is a 40 weight with additives to drop the weight when cold. When a Dino oil wears out (life, overheating, etc) it drop its maximum viscosity. So now it might be a 10-30.
Also, in my experience synthetic just runs cleaner and lasts longer. I also agree, oil opinions are generally just that but I've done oil analyses on all my cars and synthetic always comes back healthier after a change. You can change good Dino oil every 3k and you'll more than likely never ever have an issue... I just choose (foolishly, maybe) to run a more expensive synthetic and high end filter.
If you have been using the same oil since you had it, why change now, when you know what you have.
I disagree with the synthetic holding its viscosity that is a very broad statement. Some are excellent but others are crap check a Ford Cobra forum where the viscosity is critical and read some reviews. Same for dinos its all about quality.
Is the Rover engine still aluminum?
in my old 4.0L V8 and my current 3.6 VR6 Rotella T is great. As aluminum heats up, it expands. Thus the thick Shell Rotella T oil fills in the void a hell of a lot better than thin oil created by expansion.
in my old 4.0L V8 and my current 3.6 VR6 Rotella T is great. As aluminum heats up, it expands. Thus the thick Shell Rotella T oil fills in the void a hell of a lot better than thin oil created by expansion.
Last edited:
Even if you were correct, at operating temperature CheapShit 10-40, Rotella 15-40, generic SAE40, Amsoil 0-40, and Motul bling bling Nico Rossberg edition 5-40 super ultra synthetic are all the same thickness.
But what about straight weight oils. I think synthetic might keep some of its viscosity for longer. I was always told that the smaller molecular structure of synthetic oil will leak more from the same poor seal that regular oil will leak a little from. This comes from the fact that you can't run a new design axle seal in the front of a GM truck unless it has synthetic and need to make sure the breather is the grey one if you run synthetic instead of the black one.
The other thing I take issue with is if the synthetic looks cleaner when you drain it it's because it didn't do as good a job of cleaning. Oil does 3 things, it lubricates, carries load, and cleans.
Fixed some of that. Can't post for shit from this phone.
The other thing I take issue with is if the synthetic looks cleaner when you drain it it's because it didn't do as good a job of cleaning. Oil does 3 things, it lubricates, carries load, and cleans.
Fixed some of that. Can't post for shit from this phone.
Last edited:
Synthetic definitely leaks a little bit more, but not some massive amount. Chances are your seals were leaking already anyway. I don't know about the example with GM you're talking about but it kinda makes sense. As far as coming out clean, the synthetic still comes out pretty damn black on my truck. In my fiancee's car it definitely looks cleaner but that's probably just because it has always run synthetic and its a newish little four banger.
I drive a beaten-up, 18-year old Disco pushing 170k miles. Nobody on this forum would pay me more than $1,000 for it, even with all the work I've done to it and upgrades I've made.
In all the conversations about oil I've read on Discoweb it seems that most guys get so caught up in the details that they forget we're driving old, shitty trucks that aren't worth much and weren't exactly marvels of engineering in the first place. So in the grand scheme of things it makes little difference to most of us if we're using cheapo dino oil or boutique synthetics. As long as you change it on schedule.
If my Disco makes it to 200k before I leave the country in a few years I'll be happy. I use synthetic oil and a high-volume filter, I change them every 3k miles, and my engine seems to be doing pretty well considering its age and whatever unknown abuse previous owners subjected it to. And I can't tell the difference between dino and synth when I drain the sump. Both look equally filthy after 3k miles.
If I had a 5-year old Range Rover L322, however, you can be damn sure I'd care about the oil I was using.
In all the conversations about oil I've read on Discoweb it seems that most guys get so caught up in the details that they forget we're driving old, shitty trucks that aren't worth much and weren't exactly marvels of engineering in the first place. So in the grand scheme of things it makes little difference to most of us if we're using cheapo dino oil or boutique synthetics. As long as you change it on schedule.
If my Disco makes it to 200k before I leave the country in a few years I'll be happy. I use synthetic oil and a high-volume filter, I change them every 3k miles, and my engine seems to be doing pretty well considering its age and whatever unknown abuse previous owners subjected it to. And I can't tell the difference between dino and synth when I drain the sump. Both look equally filthy after 3k miles.
If I had a 5-year old Range Rover L322, however, you can be damn sure I'd care about the oil I was using.
LOL 3k changes on synthetic? That's wild, why ever bother with the addition cost?
You guys take this way too serious, buy some decent quality oil typically whats on sale and change it regularly keep it topped up between changes. Live you life. LR's are hardly exotic in terms of their oil needs.
You guys take this way too serious, buy some decent quality oil typically whats on sale and change it regularly keep it topped up between changes. Live you life. LR's are hardly exotic in terms of their oil needs.
I would think up in Saskatoon you would need synthetic gear oil in the winter. GM and the whole switching to synthetic stuff I was hacking about was put out in a bulliten that stated regular gear oil would cause failures at -25 F . That document said to switch to synthetic gear oil you would need to replace the axle seals with the new design and change out the black breather for the grey one.
You gotta go down to the Land Rover dealer and find a kid named Brandon. Buy him a beer, stick a quarter in him and get him going on a good rant. It will be worth the cost of a beer. Tell him Skip from Chicago sent ya.