Overheard a customer at the parts counter change my mind about synthetic oil

I always used conventional oil in my old truck because it's cheaper and I figured it was fine. But last week I heard a guy at the counter tell the clerk he switched to synthetic after 200,000 miles and his engine still runs quiet as new. That got me thinking about all the sludge I've seen in engines that never got synthetic. Now I'm wondering if the extra $20 per change is worth it for the long haul. Has anyone else seen a real difference after making the switch?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_gibson7819d agoMost Upvoted

Isnt there a risk the switch loosens old sludge and clogs something up?

lindareed19d ago

Ask anyone who's actually done a switch on a car with high miles and they'll tell you the sludge horror stories are mostly overblown. @blair_gibson78 I've seen people flush engines with 200k miles and nothing bad happened, just some dirty oil for the first change. The real risk is if you've got a car that's been neglected for years and the oil is basically jelly, but even then a simple drain and fill usually works fine. Most of the time the sludge just settles at the bottom of the oil pan and drains out like normal. You're more likely to cause problems by not changing the oil at all than by switching brands.