is synthetic motor oil better for a 20 year old car than regular oil.?

Answer 1

synthetic oil is better. but, would it be cost effective? in that old of a vehicle unless it's in showroom condition, probably not. use a good quality conventional oil and a good quality filter.

Answer 2

I disagree Synthetic motor oils have a much higher lubrication coefficient, and "sticking z' to the parts has nothing to do with it. By the way lubricants work, "sticking" would be the last thing that you'd want the oil to do. Synthetics are also superior in another important way. The oil still on the combustion chamber walls, (and , yes, there IS a minute amount there even after the oil scraping ring does its job) burns off during the combustion process, and that's what turns the oil black. Synthetics do not burn off as much and as fast, which is why the oil stays cleaner longer. The oils are superior in the lubricating qualities. The only problem I've seen is that synthetic oils will "find " leaks that conventional oil won't.

Answer 3

Ive' owned many aircooled vw's and still do high performance and stock. These aircooled engines run a much hotter operating temp than any watercooled engines do so thermal break down and viscosity is at its worst in the vw's. Synthetic oil is great for new engines and hold up very well to those extreme conditions without even getting all dark on me and such, but the down fall is that engine gaskets and seal technology is still pretty much the same from back tthen and with runing synthetic it literaly eats away at them to the brink of leaking. In older american cars the seals and gaskets dont suffer from that so it would be ok to run it in a fresh built engines of the older type. runing conventional motor oil in my bug driving the speeds we do today results in the oil coming out like water when its time for a change. Its pretty much common knowledge amongst us mechanics that runing syn oil in a high milage motor is a no no.

Answer 4

It's not 100%, but YES! For old rotary (wankel) engines oil is intentionally burned to cool the seals. This is why many N/A rotary owners choose conventional oil.

The engine can't tell you if it's working harder. But here's my example... I have a 79 Rx-7 w/ a manual transmission. At that age shifting in the summer was fine, but in the winter it took noticeable effort. Then I switched to synthetic gear oil. The difference was noticeable. Winter shifting was like summer shifting, and summer shifting was like a decade ago.

Check the source link for hard facts.

BTW Castrol Syntec is not a REAL synthetic. It's a conventional oil with extra additives and really good lawyers.

Answer 5

There is no advantage to using synthetic oil in any vehicle unless the manufacturer says so, you are driving, or going to be driving in extremely hot or cold weather or under great load such as towing a trailer or racing. Ordinary motor oil has continued to evolve/improve over the years.

Answer 6

No, because synthetic oil is a detergent oil and washes away deposits that have formed around seals and bearings, this is bad for old valve seals and the front and rear main seals as well.

Answer 7

If i were u , i'll just put regular oil in because i heard synthetic motor oil is formulated for new generation engines. that's what i thought

Answer 8

If the engine is the original engine and has not been overhauled lately, the synthetic oil is a waste of money.

Answer 9

I use a synthetic/crude blend I found it to last longer (than strait crude orstrait synthetic) and it provides great protection.

Answer 10

no