Synthetic debate

[ScottinMA]

I was about to change out the fluids on the VX. At 30K I used synthetic in the axles. Today I thought I’d price out synthetic for the tranny and transfer case (I'm at about 55K). That’s about 11 qts for of ATF. $8.50 gave me pause. Even the at discount performance didn’t think it was worth it. Thoughts anyone??

[Joe_Black]

Ask yourself this question before purchasing any maintenance items: How much is my vehicle worth to me?

If it's worth something to you, why would you ever skimp on taking care of it?

If it's not worth anything to you, then use whatever is cheapest and drive on. There's always another heap waiting for you on the next corner lot.

[Andrey]

Scott,
I am using Royal Purple in axels and tranny. When I've changed it ATF was about $5 (Performance store in Bellerica). I can not stress enough what kind of difference is there in using synthetics - very smooth shifting, quite.... the only minus is that it is hard to get Royal Purple. I think next time I'll go with Mobil 1 as it is easier to get here in Boston.
PS Yes it is worth every penny ! Your VX works hard (you are supercharged) so it needs to play hard

Good luck !

[newthings]

Actually, you will need many more quarts to do a flush and fill if you want synthetic 100%. It hurts the pocketbook.
Roy

[rowhard]

Whenever I ask our mechanics at work, (maintain mass transit fleet) or the mazda dealer for my wifes car, or the A.S.E. Master Mechanic that does my work, they all say using synthetic is not worth the money if you perform the manufacture's scheduled maintenance. Now if you abuse it, i.e., oil changes once a year, that kind of crap, then synthetic is proable worth the expense. Any A.S.E. mechanic's in the group want to weigh in on this? I'd sure like to know.

[Chopper]

Joe said it. I even pulled the wheel bearings and restuffed them, the rest is too anal to admit to. You can only imagine. MOBIL1!!

[ScottinMA]

I kinda figured that this would be the response. Joe, you are a riot. Chopper, you made a good decision to repack those bearing. When I did mine at 30K I discovered that the driver's side was full of rust. So I'm off to invest in Mobil 1 ATF, and something nice for the axles. I had gone to my local Discount Performance store yesterday and the guy was really discouraging about spending so much on synthetics suggesting that the OEM fluids are what has been used forever...Isuzus last well past 150K...negligible performance gains at an absurd price, etc. I was stunned by his adamant position and just said I consider his point and left everything on the counter. Today I drop into Autozone and see if they have what I need.

[Joe_Black]

It's difficult to ascertain the motivations of some. The counter guy at a parts shop has his weekly spiff item to push, likely his shop's branded OEM fluids. They don't make much on Mobil-1 sales. The ASE mechanics don't get much business when you go the extra mile and actually take care of your stuff.

Isuzus in general are very robust thanks to their diesel heavy-truck background and focus of the company as a whole. So using products that exceed the OEM specifications can only mean good things for us, the owners and operators.

You just can't throw a good-quality synthetic at everything as you have to understand what true requirements are for an application. Case in point: My big truck has a V8 2-stroke supercharged diesel and there isn't a synthetic formulated for it that I'm aware of. Due to the 2-stroke nature of the engine it has different detergent requirements and "regular" oils can cause issues with prolonged use.

Mobil-1 is an excellent product and I've been a user since seeing first hand it's real-world use in aviation, industrial, agricultural and extreme environments where maintenance costs make or break the operation. You can pay off all the racers and celebrities to say what you want about your product, but if it ain't out there in sub-zero temperatures making money for someone by saving literally millions in operating costs, then it's just hype.

I can't put hype in my machines, and neither should you.

[kpaske]

About a year and a half ago I switched out all my fluids to AMSoil brand synthetics and WOW, what a difference! Immediately afterwards the ride and the shifting were noticably smoother, even though I had done all the scheduled maintenance with the types of products recommended by Isuzu.

More recently I've "downgraded" my oil to Mobil1 because I can get it for a lot less than AMSoil (about $20 for a 5-Quart Bottle at Walmart) and haven't noticed any difference. Although my research indicates that AMSoil is a superior product, Mobil1 also performs very well and is probably more than adequate for the way that I drive and maintain my VX.

I suppose synthetics may not be worth the money for your beater car, but this is your VX we're talking about here, man!!

[AlaskaVX]

I will always use synthetics after I saw a couple tests done locally. First test was to put oil and water into a blender and see how long it takes to seperate oil from water, the Mobil 1 seperated while the normal oil never went back to it's original state. Then there was the pour test at -10F or something the Mobil 1 poured like new and the normal oil came out thick and didn't look like something I wanted in my engine.

[ScottinMA]

Mobil 1 ATF is what shall be then. The crankcase has always had Mobil 1 10W30. At 30K I used an axle product that looked like something florescent think it was redline synthetic. Glad I asked...now convinced. Thanks to all for your time and thoughts.

[psychos2]

First test was to put oil and water into a blender and see how long it takes to seperate oil from water, the Mobil 1 seperated while the normal oil never went back to it's original state.

The water will eventually settle back to the bottom. I have seen it with boats that have gotten water in the oil. With that said , I have used synthetic oil for awhile now and will always use it. There are many benefits to using synthetic oil in cars. As far as the price, it cost me about the same as it would to pay someone to change the oil. So I change the oil myself and use synthetic. To me its a no brainer. shawn