changing to sythetic oil??

Question

if i change from conventional oil to sythetic oil in my car is there anything else i need to do? and what weight synthetic should i use?

car is a 2001 and has about 73,000 miles on it. my friend said i have to change all the gaskets??

Answer 1

I would recommend NEVER changing to synthetic oils in older vehicles. It is terrible on an old engine. If you go to Valvoline or Jiffy Lube they will tell you the same thing, if they're honest. The thing is, most oil change places push the sale of synthetic oils because they are more expensive, hence they make more money from selling it. BUT, synthetic is primarily for use in newer engines which are equipped with the properly pressurized gaskets to handle the change, or for vehicles which carry heavy loads, such as the Ford 1500 series. Your best bet is to continue to follow the recommended oil useage listed on the sticker under the hood of your vehicle. Stick to the good ol' stuff and your car will last a lot longer while you save a few bucks in the process.

Answer 2

Change it every 3 months OR 30,000 miles, if you drive it often, even if not far. If you leave the car unused for long periods of time, then it is less necessary. I would change it about every 6 months or so. You should start your car and either drive it or at least let it idle for a short time every week or so. The oil will drain from the engine back into the oil pan and the engine will be left virtually unprotected. As for regular vs synthetic, you really only need synthetic if you are driving a car with a big powerful engine and/or driving hard. Otherwise, regular is just fine...

Answer 3

No, you don't have to do or change anything on your engine. Being a 2001 car you should use 10w-30. But be careful, once you start using synthetic oil, can't go back to conventional, that will create a real expensive headache.

Answer 4

It depends on how old your car is. I wouldn't recommened to change to synthetic if you have over 75,000 miles on your car as it could cause your car to actually leak oil. But if you don't the best synthetic oil in AMSOIL. Yes you would end up changing all the gaskets. My recommendations is to just run the standard oil as changing all your gaskets will be costly and it will take you awhile if you don't konw what you are doing.

Answer 5

Buy a drip pan for underneath your car while it's parked to catch all the oil that's going to leak out.

ADDED:
Your friend is right.
The older gaskets are petroleum based and will dry out with Synthetic based oil, as opposed to petroleum based oil.

Answer 6

NOTHING, what ever the manufacturer recommends usually 5W-30 then use the same thing in synthethic.