Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Cat320
Found this on another forum...FWIW:
"(name deleted) hit the nail squarely on the head. The company I work for has the largest privately owned fleet of vehicles in the world. You can imagine the amount of money we invest in research and development. Our oil is spec'd at 15w40 Delo or equivalent. It goes in everything from a Dodge Caravan to the largest tandem diesel.
Locally, we maintain over 90 OTR tractors. Our oldest trucks, 1995 and 1996 Mack CH612, currently have 1.4M to 1.7M. Most have never been apart and they still run clean and pull hard. This is with a 30K mile oil drop interval. We use an oil spinner in conjunction with the 2 stock filters.
We DO spec full synthetic for manual tranys and diffs as there is a definate payback in terms of component life.
Synthetic's main advantage is viscosity when cold. If using synthetic oil in your crankcase make's you happy, by all means use it. Just don't expect there to be any financial payback at the end of the tunnel. If there was, we would be using it too!"
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The payback from using synthetic oils would probably only be realized if one was to use extended drain intervals as well. Say, if one was able to get an oil change interval doubled. But to safely do that, one would need to get the oil analysed just to make sure it's OK. More cost. To do it right, use synthetic oil, an oil bypass filter, and have a regular oil analysis done. Now, how do you justify that cost for a pickup truck? So my feeling is to use the synthetic just because it's a better oil, change at the factory recommended intervals, and get a warm and fuzzy feeling that your motor will really like it and will last longer. With reputable oil analaysis reports, I think one would be able to prove that the extended change intervals weren't the cause of an engine failure in the case of a warranty coverage dispute. Going after extended drains without taking the extra precautions is inviting possible trouble.