Motor Oil: Regular vs. Synthetic

[Kriesel]

Ok, I know everything there is about oil. I know the advantages and disadvantages of both. My question is, what do you guys all prefer to run in your engines? Take the poll that i've made. i personally run Synthetic. I'm kinda curious if anyone has had any leaking problems while running synthetic vs. running regular motor oil since sythetic does make older engines tend to leak. just curious what all of you other accord drivers use in your engines.

[Nycxeracer]

I was told by a reputable mechanic that synthetic is not good for older engines (like our cb7s), could anyone else back this statement up?

[Kriesel]

synthetic motor oil will make the seals and stuff in older engines shrink up and crack sometimes and this makes them leak. the seals in older engines are made out of a different material than the seals in newer engines. But I'm not exactly sure if our engines are prone to this or not. That's kinda why I started this topic to see what everyone runs in their engines.

[alb_accord]

this has been covered before. all synthetic oil does is that helps the engine not to burn oil in the seals. regual doesn't do that. unless u car burns oil u don't have any use for the synthetic one.
so regular oil and synthetic oil don't have the same purpose.

[92accordf20a]

i have a 92 with about 100k on the motor and i've being using mobil 1 synthetic. I've used it for about 12k, my engine doesn't smoke, it doesn't leak. I like the synthetic because down hear the temps are about 90 degrees year long, and the synthetic oil has high temp tolerance. So thats a plus for me.

[mrhonda]

Reguardless of what kind of oil you use, F and H motors are notorious for leaking oil anyway (especially the front seals behind the t-belt) Sooooo, the best thing to do is use whatever kind of oil your heart desires and replace all those leaking seals. As far as the oil itself, synthetic is just more resistant to breaking down under high temperatures which is the main reason its used in racing applications. However, street cars like ours don't really require this added protection. Personally, I just prefer to buy reglular old valvoline and change it every 3K miles.

[TheInfamous...]

i use syntec oil because i usually go a lil longer than 3000 mi on an
oil change....

i like syntec because it heats up and cools down quicker...
I.E. less warming up time

Plus i beat the shit out of my cars sometimes... and i like the added
protection of syn. oil

[2clean4uaccord]

As far as the oil seals leaking behind the timing belt, thats very true, if your cb7 has more than say about 100K miles and your about due for a timing belt change then go ahead and change ALL those seals out. Its well worth it, my cam shaft seal was leaking like a lil bitch, and now its all dry Also NOTE to ALL CB7 OWNERS get the $3 balance shaft seal retainer. The balance shaft seal has been known to completely back out causing almost complete loss of oil!!!! Seriously though its only like $3 and it bolts in with one or two bolts at most and it bolts right in, no mods what so ever. Cheap piece of mind where talking here.

Ok, back to the subject at hand. Bottom line is that synthetic oil is VASTLY superior to conventional $1.50 oil. Pay attension to what your buying because there are so many companies that say there oil is fully synthetic, but beware its only a blend of synthetic components and lower grade regular oil. I cannot say what company for sure uses %100 synthetic components (Do your own research!), actually i dont think there is one that costs less than $6 a quart. But there are excellent mixes like Mobil 1 which is pretty much the best shit you can buy for how much it costs. Mobil 1 is Engineered for higher-mileage cars and is fully compatible with the seals in higher mileage cars. IE will not make your car leak anymore than is does ALREADY! Reccomended for European and Japanese vehicles. Also something important to consider is the temp at which oil can protect @ Mobil 1 protects to 400 degrees F. Making is much more stable than lower quality comventional oils that start to break down at a mere 200 degrees, we talking about sitting idle in traffic with your AC on people!

How many engineeres reccomend your brand of oil for there cars?
"Mobil 1® comes as standard equipment in some of the finest production vehicles you can buy. It's "factory fill" in Chevrolet Corvette, all Porsches, Mercedes-Benz AMG models, Dodge Viper, Ford Mustang Cobra R and all Aston Martin cars... " - http://www.mobil1.com/index.jsp

No im not a spokes person, I just strongly believe in the quality of Mobil 1 Synthetic, 10-w30 is all my cb7 will ever see. To each his own, do you own research, there is a vast amount of information that you and I still dont know about motor oil.