[green03malibu]

I have a 2003 Malibu LS with 87,000 miles on it. The motor runs very smooth, it's getting excellent gas mileage, and etc. It's not leaking, burning oil, or smoking. I currently use Castrol GTX high mileage 5w-30 and its great, but I want to get the best out of my motor and make it last longer. I was thinking about switching to Castrol Syntec which is full synthetic. I want to switch because of all the benefits. Castrol, Pepboys, a chevy mechanic, and a mopar mechanic said yes switch, but my local dealership said no cause the motor has too many miles on it and could start leaking, burning oil, and smoking? anyone think it's safe?

 

[RugerRedhawk]

It won't hurt to switch, however GM still recommends regular oil in the owners manual, so that's what I use. Oh, and here's the obligatory link for all the info you could ever need:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

 

[green03malibu]

i switched, no problems what so ever and im very happy i did.

 

[Speedster]

I've read extensively on this topic, and the only advantage of synthetics is a longer oil change interval. If you change your oil according to the interval in the owner's manual, I do not think synthetic will produce any benefit for you.

 

[hoahai]

I agree. I just changed my oil last weekend and just used dino oil. I was thinking to use Synthetic but after spending 2-3 hours, reading dozen of articles on the Net, I decided not to do it. The consensus out there is that if you change your oil every 3-4K miles, there should not be much different between synthetic and dino oil.
Also, it is recommended that you don't use synthetic early to allow the engine break-in to work.

 

[Malibu Glow]

There is a bit of a difference between dino oil and synthetic. Synthetic is more resistant to burning compared to dino oil and reduces friction inside. I switched to synthetic and my engine had under 80,000 miles on it and I've had no problems.

 

[green03malibu]

synthetic has made difference in a few areas. better starting up in the cold, a little bit better on fuel mileage, motors quieter, sounds better, and pluse its nice not to change my oil every 3k miles

 

[RugerRedhawk]

synthetic has made difference in a few areas. better starting up in the cold, a little bit better on fuel mileage, motors quieter, sounds better, and pluse its nice not to change my oil every 3k miles

Yeah, the new chevy's don't require 3k changes with regular oil though. I'm 6,000 miles in and have 45% oil life remaining. Synthetic won't hurt, and because I'm changing my oil so rarely now with the new car, I might use it just for some peace of mind. If I'm only changing the oil twice a year, who cares if it costs a little bit more.

 

[slhaas]

I agree. I just changed my oil last weekend and just used dino oil. I was thinking to use Synthetic but after spending 2-3 hours, reading dozen of articles on the Net, I decided not to do it. The consensus out there is that if you change your oil every 3-4K miles, there should not be much different between synthetic and dino oil.
Also, it is recommended that you don't use synthetic early to allow the engine break-in to work.

This is somewhat true. The break-in period for new cars with synthetic vs. regular oil is a non-factor with modern cars. You may want to change your oil 1 or 2 times really early (500/1000/3000 miles) in the car's life to get any metal out of the oil, and as such may want to use regular oil during this process because it is cheaper.

You dont need to break in the seals, etc. with a modern car using regular oil anymore. In fact, a lot of manufacturers (particularly higher end auto manufacturers) ship their cars with synthetic already in the engine.

You do get other benefits with the synthetic. You get to change the oil less often, though be mindful of the filter. You also have higher tolerance to extreme temperatures in either direction. When extremely hot the synthetic oil will hold up better and thus your engine will wear less. In extreme cold the synthetic will be functional sooner and cause less wear thusly. You are also supposed to get a tiny increase in efficiency, but it's doubtful that you'd notice it.