brians96Z

Can Synthetic Oil stop oil leaks? I have heard that it can in the past, and wanted to know if any of you guys have heard of it helping leaks. As expensive as LT1's are to work on, I am willing to give this a try first, if you guys think there is a possibility of it helping. I currently use Castrol GTX 10W30, and am thinking of switching to Castrol Syntec 10W30.

detroit1994z28

I dont think it would - But I can help you with this one. My 95 neon had a oil leak every 2-3 days I would have to put a whole quart of oil in. I went to my local auto store which was autozone and they had a bunch of products to stop oil leaks - I bought the best one - forget the name and ever since then - no leaks been about 6 months know. Just go to the store and best some really good stuff. -Mike

ChevyTuffD.A.

I have actually heard that synthetic oil will cause leaks. I believe the molicules in synthetic oil are smaller allowing it to sneak past gaskets easier. Anyone else have any input??

99BlackTA

Get some LUCAS Oil Stabilizer. That stuff works AWESOME! I sell it like crazy at my work. It is by far one of the best oil additives on the market.

brians96Z

I have used Lucas in it before, and it didn't help.

BlackMamba

If your motor has an oil leak its gonna leak faster if you use synthetic. To my understanding, synthetic oils are more viscous and sneaks past seals faster. I had this problem in an old datsun 280z. I could not afford to keep pouring synthetic into it. I would recommend you find the leak and fix it because you should be using synthetic oil anyways in an lt1.

96capricemgr

Sythetics can leak more but not due to being tinner it is because the clean out the old sludge that was keeping a leak plugged. DO NOT use Lucas oil stabalizer search here http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi there are guys there that have forgotten more about oil than what many people here know about the f-body. If you want to try Syntec try the 0w-30 the stuff labled made in Germany is about the ultimate LT1 oil. As far as should be using synthetic anyway, WHY? The Vette speced synthetic due to a tight engine bay causing heat and no room for an oil cooler and that was with stock fan temps. Lower fan temps like I am sure the vast majority of us have since you can drop them 20 degrees without even changing the stat and can drop more if you go to a 160 stat and then you are clearly in a safe range for dino oil not to mention that during the last 10 years dinos have gotten better as well as synthetics so even if the dinos then were not up to the task they could be now.

I suggest that anyone looking for oil info go to that oil board you will get much better info than you get here and if you get good info here it most likely came from that board.

brians96Z

I don't have the extra money to fix it right now, I have to buy tires for it, buy Christmas, and get my wisdom teeth out. So, I was looking for an easier way. Guess I'll just wait until I do have the extra money. I can go 3000 miles without adding anyway, but by that time it is down to add.

detroit1994z28

It's only like $3.00 for a really good brand to stop oil leaks. Every vechile I had with oil leaks it went away after I put some oil leak stop into it. - Mike

Tanker Don

96capricemgr...
Just wondering why you believe a 0-30W synthetic would be best for an LT-1? Yes, a 0W multi-vis oil will cycle faster through an engine at startup and yield superior cold weather flow numbers, but I'd be concerned that it wouldn't provide enough film strength on an LT-1 (cam, valvetrain) until the motor warmed up. I ran 0-30W Mobil-1 for a while in my Toyotas when I lived in North Dakota, as with winter temps that routinely hit -30F and occasionally drop to -50F, cold startup was of particular concern. But I stopped doing this when I did my own cold temp pour test of synthetic vs. conventional at -30F... and 5-30W Mobil-1 pours just fine while conventional congeals. Given that a 0W oil will have more polymers in it (as it has to achieve a greater viscosity gap) and I've heard many express concerns about these polymers causing paroblems in a motor, I stopped using the 0-30W since the 5W-30 worked fine. If you've got some good info on the benefits of 0W vs 5W multi-vis I'd be interested. Thanks.

moparman

Search for posts by Patman for info on the Castrol 0W30 synthetic. The oil has been analyzed and it's numbers are better than any other oil for the LT1. It's closer to a 40 wt, while Mobil 1 and others are thinner.

96capricemgr

The polymer thing to get a large viscosity spread is MUCH less of a concern than it once was. The recommendation of specifically the German made Syntec 0w-30 comes from seeing actual wear metal content results from oil analysis. Recommending oil based solely on viscosity is not a great idea since oils vary signifigantly between brands, as an example the 0w-30 Syntec is almost a 40wt. as noted the M1 5w-30 everyone MISTAKENLY thinks is a good oil for this motor is closer to a 20wt as is thier 10w-30. Most people would say that the 0w-30 is thinner but they would be wrong. Like I said the link I provided above is THE place to do oil related research, many guys there really know their stuff and many religiously have their oil analysed which is real world proof of an oils performance. Sort of like how much power a car makes only matter in how fast it goes down the track, dyno numbers mean jack till then right, well this is the real test of oils.

ScreamingChicken

achem, gear oil, achem, fix the damn leak, achem

96capricemgr

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...696;p=1#000010 Lucas thread, I didn't realize how bad the stuff was till todays post on the oil board.

speed_demon24