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Originally Posted by G-Oil Guy
There is no fully synthetic "synthetic" motor oil anymore. Most "synthetics" are a hybrid. If you'd like me to explain, just say so but for now:
That's not to say that Mobil 1 isn't currently one of the industry's best motor oils.
The reason your father may be hesitant to go back to "synthetics" is because back in the day, fully synthetics would dissolve the particles and gunk formed by the degradation of traditional motor oil. This lead to the to claims that synthetic oils would cause your engine to leak when it was quite the opposite. The synthetic oils would actually clean your engine. The resulting leaks occurred because the engines didn't have the traditional oil gunk sealing the engine, so to speak.
Engines have improved greatly over the resulting decades, as have motor oils. All standard motor oils will get well beyond 3000 miles. Hell most synthetics test at over 30,000 miles between changes. However, motor oil companies are legally barred from advertising anything over 15,000 miles. The reason is safety. The government wants you to have you car checked by a professional. Ever wonder why when you change your oil yourself you can be done inside 15-20 minutes but take it to a shop or even a quick lube place it takes almost a half hour, its because the technicians are checking other parts of your car. The so-call "courtesy [insert number here] point check."
But back on topic, synthetics are the way to go. They truly do keep your engine in better condition and provide better protection from wear and tear.
Engine tests have been done on junkyard engines that have been run on traditional motor oil and then drained and run on one cycle of synthetic oil and then torn apart at the conclusion of the test. The engines components were all then sent back to the manufacturer to check their integrity. All but one piece was rated as "brand new". I do not remember the piece that was rated as "used" but it was an insignificant piece. It was not a major component.
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While you are at it, Old Sage, would you please enlighten us as to what was meant, back in the early 1970's, by detergent oil. I had some really old cars from the 40's and early 50's back then, and we young bucks were always counseled by our elder mechanics NOT to put detergent oil in our old engines.
What was the real story? Enquiring minds wanna' know.