Synthetic Motor Oil Question

[TedN]

I own a 2007 Honda Element wth 217,00 kms on the clock. For the first 7+years, I used conventional motor oil 5W20 year round. I recently decided to switch to synthetic oil. The The Honda dealer says using 0W20 synth oil is okay and that Honda recommends it. I've seen other comments which suggest I should stick with 5W20 synth oil due to the mileage on the engine (mostly highway driving).

I'm not sure which one to use. Anyone else made the late switch to synthetic? Am I wasting my money? Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Ted

[Tifosi24]

I own a 2007 Honda Element wth 217,00 kms on the clock. For the first 7+years, I used conventional motor oil 5W20 year round. I recently decided to switch to synthetic oil. The The Honda dealer says using 0W20 synth oil is okay and that Honda recommends it. I've seen other comments which suggest I should stick with 5W20 synth oil due to the mileage on the engine (mostly highway driving).

I'm not sure which one to use. Anyone else made the late switch to synthetic? Am I wasting my money? Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Ted

I have an 03 Element with about the same mileage. I changed to synthetic at about 105,000 miles (was my dad's previously). I haven't run into any issues, and I prefer the synthetic because it gives some flexibility on service intervals since I do it myself. I don't recall what viscosity I put in it, but probably what the manual says. If you have an automatic you are due for a fluid transfer, apart from needing 10 quarts of fluid, a very easy job.

Off topic hijack but service related, has anyone run into alloy wheel corrosion causing a slow tire leak? That is what the tire shop says happened with my Element. Naturally, they want to sell me rims, and naturally, I don't want to drop $400 large on new alloy rims because I will need new tires this summer. So, does corrosion normally impact all four corners around the same time or should I just deal with one rim? Also, if I do rims, should I just go with steels and hubcaps to save some cash or spring for alloys? Also, if anyone has experience, how long will the temporary fix work?

[G.]

I own a 2007 Honda Element wth 217,00 kms on the clock. For the first 7+years, I used conventional motor oil 5W20 year round. I recently decided to switch to synthetic oil. The The Honda dealer says using 0W20 synth oil is okay and that Honda recommends it. I've seen other comments which suggest I should stick with 5W20 synth oil due to the mileage on the engine (mostly highway driving).

I'm not sure which one to use. Anyone else made the late switch to synthetic? Am I wasting my money? Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Ted

Purely anecdotal: I am not a material scientist.

My uncle uses only synthetic, due to research his company did on motor oils (Caterpillar). He gets his synth oil changed at 10k miles. This last part offsets the cost.

Generally speaking, all the "experts" recommend synthetic oil as far superior. Then again, the "experts" used to recommend electro-shock therapy for bedwetting, so you got that going for you. ;)

As far as the weight of the oil, my understanding is that modern engines ask for lighter weight oil than the "standard 10W-30", purely for gas mileage reasons. I have no idea if this is accurate.

[G.]

Off topic hijack but service related, has anyone run into alloy wheel corrosion causing a slow tire leak? That is what the tire shop says happened with my Element. Naturally, they want to sell me rims, and naturally, I don't want to drop $400 large on new alloy rims because I will need new tires this summer. So, does corrosion normally impact all four corners around the same time or should I just deal with one rim? Also, if I do rims, should I just go with steels and hubcaps to save some cash or spring for alloys? Also, if anyone has experience, how long will the temporary fix work?

I have found that the tires will leak at the bead on alloys.

I have had wheels fixed by having the shop pull the tires off, and use a wire-wheel and a drill to clean off the salty corrosion all along the edge. You need to find a shop that will actually do this, and do it well, because it's a pain.

[Napoleon]

Purely anecdotal: I am not a material scientist.

My uncle uses only synthetic, due to research his company did on motor oils (Caterpillar).

I use to race cars and my engine builder told me that you could see the difference in wear between the two different types of oil.

[Tifosi24]

I have found that the tires will leak at the bead on alloys.

I have had wheels fixed by having the shop pull the tires off, and use a wire-wheel and a drill to clean off the salty corrosion all along the edge. You need to find a shop that will actually do this, and do it well, because it's a pain.

So, you're telling me the wheels can be saved, I just need to go to a shop that isn't a chain?

More anecdotal support of synthetic, I was going 7,500 to 10,000 miles between changes in grad school and it wasn't until about 10,000 miles before the synthetic oil would look worn, and that was in a 3.1L Chevy V6 that ran really hot. In my experience, regular dino oil would look the same at between 3,000 and 4,000 miles. My general opinion is that if you choose to change your own oil, go with synthetic, but if you pay someone to do it, look into the warranty information for the car. Our old Jeep had a lifetime powertrain warranty, but there was no synthetic exemption, so if you really wanted to do synthetic you were locked into a 5,000 mile change interval to keep the warranty, which kills any cost savings associated with going synthetic over conventional.

[cameraman]

So, you're telling me the wheels can be saved, I just need to go to a shop that isn't a chain?

Depends on how deep the corrosion is but generally yes. The simple replacement is to buy a set of tires already mounted from Tire Rack, their steel wheels are not expensive. That's where I got my second set of wheels for my Subaru, those wheels have held up for well over a decade now.