Synthetic Oil

[jandarah]

Hi, anyone using fully synthetic oil and, if so, what grade?

[vandor]

Do not put it in an old engine or it will develop oil leaks.

[jandarah]

Ok, I use full mineral oil anyway, from an Australian supplier/manufacturer. Just thought I would check.

[4uall]

here is an interesting video about oils

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se8-W7rK0H4

[azruss]

I use full synthetic in hot, hot Arizona. The motor has all new seals and it still leaks a few drops on the garage floor. I can live with that. To me, a fiat motor is like a detroit diesel. If its not leaking, it means you are out of oil.

[4uall]

[phaetn]

Not only can switching to synthetic develop leaks, in my case it even caused a seal to fail on a vintage bike.

I dunno why, for some dumb reason, I put synthetic in my '72 CL350. Next ride (a commute to work) it blew the clutch seal and oil literally just poured out from the base of the engine. I think the less viscous oil made its way through gaps more easily and I was lucky to not have had it happened so that I rode over it with my rear tire and took a spill.

I nursed it down a short hill to work, trying to let the engine turn over as little as possible, then had to put it in a friend's pickup to get it home. Ugh.

Damn I miss that bike:


And here was my '78 Vespa Super 150 scooter that I had tricked out (carb, electronic ignition, ported head, custom free-flow exhaust) before I sold it for the bike above:


Happily I now nurse my vehicle modification habit with the Spider, but it's all the same -- aftermarket more supportive seats, swapping suspension components, jetting carbs, fiddling with ignition timing, free-flowing exhausts, keeping an eye on blow-by of piston rings, torquing this and that, and always, always having an ear out for a change in tune or any funny noise.

Here's my latest project for the 124:


Until I get my valves seals done I think the Fiat burns more oil than the two-stroke Vespa ever did.

Anyhow, yes -- stick with dinosaur oil. I told you how I know even though you didn't ask.

Cheers,
phaetn

[zachmac]

Yeah, one of the main reasons synthetic is so slick is smaller molecules. So, little leaks become bigger leaks.