I'm considering about switching to synthetic motor oil on my prelude. was wondering if anyone had any negative experiences with it because from what i read about its all good. Considering an all stock motor, the choice seems pretty clear but I wanted to see if anyone had any complaints about it.

 

The only real benefit synthetic has over conventional oil is that it doesn't break down as quickly. If you change your oil at proper intervals this won't be an issue. There were some charts/graphs floating around illustrating this.

You could in theory keep synthetic in your engine for 10K miles, but I'd rather pay the same price and change my oil 4 extra times (I change mine <3k miles) to have the piece of mind that crap wasn't floating in there.

That being said I use synthetic gear oil for diff and tranny.

 

I run Amsoil in my prelude and have no complaints about it. I still change the oil at about every 3k though. Its kind of expensive, but since my dad is an Amsoil dealer I can get it at a really good price

 

i change my oil every 2k miles, so ill never switch to synthetic oil for price reasons.........and another reason is you shouldnt mix synthetic and conventional, but what happens if your low on oil and everybody is closed except 7-11 and your driving another 2 hours away and all they have is regular oil, that would suck.......

 

I keep an extra bottle with me at all times.

 

synthetic good for turbo cars.. i still change my oil every 3k and use synthetic lol

 

as far as synthetic lasting longer, i disagree. i change oil everyday at work, and the gunk and buildup inside a motor is just the same with synthetic as it is with conventoinal. and no, dont mix synthetic with conventional. thats why i use syntec blend

 

thanks fellas

 

You can't tell much about an oil by looking at it. My oil no matter what I put in my car is going to look about the same after 5 K. Use Blackstone Labs to test the oil if you really want to know how it is working in your car ($20).

 

I use synthetic and change it every 5,000 miles and the filter every 3,000. The oil still looks the same as it goes in. I use Pennzoil which looks darker being it has dispersants in it.

The main benefit synthetic has is its film protection for cold start ups and protects an engine at start up where conventional oil doesn't.
It also flows faster than conventional so it will keep the motor running cooler.
You can use synthetic longer than conventional. Synthetic just protects better and you do have potential problems if you try using conventional longer.
I know Amsoil can be used for over 15,000 miles and some European car companies come with 15k drain intervals. I have only seen one engine fail due to using amsoil and the longer drain interval. The oil foamed up and clogged the oiling system of the motor(Dodge Intrepid). So my customer replaced the motor with a Jasper engine. However I know plenty who go 5-10,000 miles with Amsoil products.