Turbo and Synthetic oil

[Mocoso]

So I asked the service dept when I bought the car when they recommended the first oil change... they told me 3k (which Ive yet to verify from owners manyal) and I asked them what oil the MS3 used? brand and type... didnt get the brand but I did get a "its a turbo.. it cant use synthetic and has to use normal" - note that I dont think any of the real mechanics were there but rather just the crew that does the write ups....

Im calling the "it cant use synthetic" BS but given Im totally new to turbos Ill ask: is there truth to this? does the MS3 really require normal oil and if so what the hell would the reason be?

 

[protojason]

I'm only replying because I happened to be up so late, ... I'm sure one of the guru's of the site will enlighten us..,

However, I wouldnt think turbo + synthetic oil would present a problem.

Maybe they were thinking of rotary engines...I've heard of folks advising against using synthetics in those...I imagine it has to do with the unique characteristics of the engine design...I believe a small amount of oil is actually combusted along with fuel in rotaries intentionallly.

However, I've never owned one, (a rotary or a turbo car) so we'll just wait for the enlightened ones..


-J

 

[jbiird317]

my ms3 is runing on synthetic oil which was put in by the dealer, not a problem

 

[exNeon]

I have gotten horrible info from mazda techs before, and have heard both the 'you should put in synth' and the 'dont use synth' comments from different techs at the same dealership. the jiffy lube guys always say i should use synth.

personally i think synth is fine, but have no actual info to back that up.

 

[Bakrauf]

I just hit 6oo miles and plan on changing my oil today or tommorrow. I think the first oill change should come right after the break in period. I dont plan on using synthetic until my 2nd oil change to make sure the car is good an broke in.

 

[zoom-zoomhatch]

I'm only replying because I happened to be up so late, ... I'm sure one of the guru's of the site will enlighten us..,

However, I wouldnt think turbo + synthetic oil would present a problem.

Maybe they were thinking of rotary engines...I've heard of folks advising against using synthetics in those...I imagine it has to do with the unique characteristics of the engine design...I believe a small amount of oil is actually combusted along with fuel in rotaries intentionallly.

However, I've never owned one, (a rotary or a turbo car) so we'll just wait for the enlightened ones..


-J

I don't see why it would be any different than a regular car except that the turbo also relies on the oil to cool itself, I've ran it on my srt, integra(which was boosted), and my lightning.

And rx-7s have a unique motor that in fact does burn oil with the gas to lubricate the rotor housing, but people have run synthetic in those too I've heard of a couple at least.

 

[dread]

Its the opposite of what the dealer told you. Turbo cars require synthetic oil once they are broken in, thats why the manual says you only need to change the oil every 5k miles. Synthetic is less likely to break down at the high temperatures that turbo cars run at.

 

[B1GHAM]

Its the opposite of what the dealer told you. Turbo cars require synthetic oil once they are broken in, thats why the manual says you only need to change the oil every 5k miles. Synthetic is less likely to break down at the high temperatures that turbo cars run at.

Bingo!! Synthetic oil is less likely to break down/burn off which is why they are not recommended for use in Rotaries (which have oil squirters to spray apex seals and burn off in combustion, synthetic doesnt burn as easily and can mess up compression in the rotary engines IIRC). HOWEVER, oil in a turbo charged car is quite the opposite. Turbos use oil to cool off. The temp. that turbos run @ cause regular oil to breakdown faster and therefor requiring more frequent oil changes. With synthetic, because it breaks down slower, is actually better.

 

[Mocoso]

Thanks for all the replies... guess they had the MS3 confused with a rotary engine.... good to know I have a choice to go either synth or not depending on freq. of oil changes...

 

[tsunami]

either way with a turbo car i would be sure to do regular oil changes you should pick up the book "maximum boost" by corkey bell... it was written a while ago but gives great insight and knowledge of a turbo charged car.... also on maintenance of it

 

[CosmicMS3]

I got my first oil change at the dealer today (1700 miles). Mobil 1 synthetic. MS3's are shipped with regular oil. There is something in the regular oil that helps the rings and stuff seal, synthetic will not penetrate them. I did what I did with my SRT-4, waited until about 1500 miles, changed from regular to synthetic. I will continue to change oil every 3000 miles now, regardless of what is recommended. Turbos are brutal on oil because of the blazing temps they generate. I can feel a difference in the pull of the car with the synthetic, I had the same experience in the SRT-4. Synthetic outperforms normal oil in turbo cars.

 

[03.5MSP]

I have been told both by my dealer and by a few performance shops not to use synthetic oil in my MSP. Their reasoning behind it was that the synthetic oil will become thiner under higher temps than normal oil.

 

[Mocoso]

(stupid)

 

[CosmicMS3]

I have been told both by my dealer and by a few performance shops not to use synthetic oil in my MSP. Their reasoning behind it was that the synthetic oil will become thiner under higher temps than normal oil.

I am by no means a pro when it comes to these things. However, I would never take anything a dealer says at face value, and tuner shops run the spectrum from people who know how to tune, to people who can bolt on a CAI and exhaust and plug in some engine management upgrades and say they tuned a ride. I would strongly disagree that synthetic oil gets thinner at high temps, the weight of an oil (10-30 etc..) is a measure of how "thick" it is. Synthetic oil is engineered to stand up to higher temps than regular oil. It takes longer to break down (or thin out and lose its viscocity or ability to flow) and it is resistant to "coking" or gumming up that can occur with regular oil in high temp settings. And from my perspective, I don't want a thick oil, I want a free flowing oil that retains its lubrication properties. I'm not sure if the MSP is a different situation, and my experience with a turbo is with an SRT 4 and not a Mazda, but all of my instincts say to use a performance oil in a performance engine for best results.

 

[tru-boost]

synthetic is better...period.... for all cars NA, turbo, supercharged, 10HP-5000HP syn. is better. it lubricates better, it resist break down better, it last longer, its just better. use it and be happy !!

 

[jbiird317]

my guess is that any dealer or shop that tells you to use regular oil rather than full synthetic is just trying to make sure that you get your regular oil change (hopefully with them). Cars driven normally with full synth can go over 5000 miles without a change, thnk of all the money the dealer loses on that if everyone switches.... im not saying i agree, but I bet there some sort of money behind their advice

either way, full synthetic, changed every 3k miles, is just what a turbo car needs

 

[Pyr0TeK]

I switched from Royal Purple to Mobil 1 Full Synth... been running synth since the day I bought mine (used). I treat my car like a dirty wh0re (AKA: drive it hard) and it loves me like a dog in heat.

 

[dread]

I switched from Royal Purple to Mobil 1 Full Synth... been running synth since the day I bought mine (used). I treat my car like a dirty wh0re (AKA: drive it hard) and it loves me like a dog in heat.

A dirty *****, I love it LOL.

 

[Pyr0TeK]

A dirty *****, I love it LOL.

LOL... I speaks duh trufe mang!

 

[nondual]

My dealer's tech had no problem using synthetic for the first oil change. I had mine done early due to having to go to the dealership for the CEL (the first time). I said I wanted Mobil 1 and he said that's exactly what he'd recommend for synth, I just needed to give him a few days notice so that he could order it and have it ready for the oil change.

So far, I've had my oil changed twice in 3K miles - I got the second oil change when they finally installed the part that replaced the defective part that was causing my CELs. Normally, I wouldn't change it that much, but I have a 2,800 mile drive ahead of me in early February (moving to LA) and I wanted to be on the 'cleaner' side of new oil before I logged so many miles over a scant three days.

The main reason that you don't use synthetics for rotaries is cost - they WILL burn oil, so it gets expensive and doesn't necessarily provide the longer wear characteristics that it provides for most internal combusion engines. Basically, it's inferior oil for rotaries at a higher cost.