Switching to synthetic oil problem

[YarisSedan]

Originally Posted by Red Horse

I have a salvage Saturn 1996 sedan sl2 and has a 172,849 mile on it, is it ok to switch to syntetic oil?

I switched to synthetic oil on my 89 acura legend. Had 200k miles on it at the time. First the oil pan gasket started to leak. I fixed that. 2 weeks later the distributer o ring seal started to leak. Fixed that. 2 weeks later the upper valve cover gaskets started to leak. Fixed that. 2 weeks later the side valve covers started to leak so fixed that. Then about a month went by and then the oil cooler seal started to leak. So fixed that. About few months went by then the rear main seal started to leak. Finally just sold the car. All i know is i was driving about a year with no oil leaks till i switched to synthetic and then the nightmares began.

[Red Horse]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

I switched to synthetic oil on my 89 acura legend. Had 200k miles on it at the time. First the oil pan gasket started to leak. I fixed that. 2 weeks later the distributer o ring seal started to leak. Fixed that. 2 weeks later the upper valve cover gaskets started to leak. Fixed that. 2 weeks later the side valve covers started to leak so fixed that. Then about a month went by and then the oil cooler seal started to leak. So fixed that. About few months went by then the rear main seal started to leak. Finally just sold the car. All i know is i was driving about a year with no oil leaks till i switched to synthetic and then the nightmares began.

Holy crap! Good thing I read this, I was planing to go to walmart to get some motorcraft syntetic for my saturn. Syntetic is probably liquid texture that can pass through gasket.

[Sidicas]

Originally Posted by Red Horse

Holy crap! Good thing I read this, I was planing to go to walmart to get some motorcraft syntetic for my saturn. Syntetic is probably liquid texture that can pass through gasket.

Haha, yea man.. We've got 3 Saturns here..

A pair of 2001 SL-1s (one auto and one manual) and my '93 Saturn SC2. All three of them burn a quart of non-synthetic 5W-30 a month, I'd think with synthetic clearing out all the sludge, it would be even worse..

If it wasn't for my tranny dieing on my '93 Saturn SC2 at 123,000 miles, I'd still be riding it around today.. Looks like the tranny is dieing on my dad's 2001 SL1 as well at around 145,000 miles... My dad is VERY rough on automatics, always forces a downshift when he comes up to a stop light and really doesn't use the brakes much.. I tell him not to do it and he yells at me that I don't know what I'm talking about and says it doesn't hurt anything..

Oh well, all of our Automatic saturns now have tranny issues. My Saturn SC2 started refusing to downshift manually and then it lost 5th gear altogether and would always go straight into neutral after about 45MPH until slowed down to about 20MPH..

Still, Saturns have great engines in them.. My mom's manual Saturn SL1 is coming up on 200,000 miles and aside from new rotors, break pads, and a starter, it has had almost no problems. Running regular non-synthetic 5W-30 all the way..


/rant