onan generator synthetic oil filter

[amerkanch]

I have a onan 5500 generator, model #5.5HGJAB-1038K.I am trying to get a part # for a synthetic oil filter so that I can run mobil 1 synthetic oil in my generator. Im hoping someone has already found a good part# and can share that with me. not having any luck with cross referances.

[mr_andyj]

Dougrainer, yes, really. It is really made from crude oil. If that is synthetic then so be it. lol, but it is oil made from oil nevertheless....

So, what is the big deal if a higher grade of oil does find a place to leak? You mentioned microscopic cracks or paths, so some microscopic oil leak occurs?? so? This does not sound like a blown out gasket oil leak where the entire oil pan drains out...
Put synthetic oil in and if a bit drips out then drip a bit back in down the road, right?

[bucky]

I won't argue the chemical points here but the vehicle manufacturers started pushing various products to lengthen service intervals. This so that they could boast about how little their products cost to own over x miles or months.
In reality the synthetic oil users still had us change the oil at 3K miles "because that's what my Dad did".
To each his/her own.

[camper19709]

My 06 motorhome has a 5500 Onan gas generator with 5,000 hrs. Been using the Onan oil filter and Mobil 1 Full Synthetic. No problems so far.

[NRALIFR]

I switched my home generator to synthetic when it had over 1000 hours on it. No oil leaks, and I hear how much easier it starts every Saturday morning regardless of how cold it is. I also know it’s sump temperature is very close to 300* when it’s running under load in 95-100* ambient temps.

I switched the generator in my camper to synthetic when it had about 100 hours on it. It rarely gets used, and has about 150 hours on it now. It leaked oil before and it leaks oil now. It’s not bad enough to make me want to spend time or money on fixing it.

I switched my ‘95 F350 PSD to synthetic when it had over 150K miles on it. It had over 250K miles on it when I sold it. No oil leaks.

Both my 2010 and 2016 F450’s spec either a conventional Diesel oil and a “severe service” oil that can only be met with a full synthetic oil. Both trucks got conventional oil when the dealership was changing the oil, and synthetic when I started changing the oil. No leaks.

I think the potential of leaks is real, but overstated. There are just too many that don’t leak to base a decision on that.

:):)

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Jeezo, back in the day propane engines leaked oil easier, but I never heard of the synthetic oil leakage issue. The way gasket sets for newer engines cost ($$$) you'd think it wouldn't be an issue. PS: Two cents... I put Costco oil in a 26-year-old Mitsubishi engine, and it has stayed leak free.

[Gjac]

dougrainer wrote:

NRALIFR wrote:
The possibility of a leak exists in any engine, or any type. So therefore you should never use synthetic oil in any engine. :R

I have to wonder about the advice given by some of these so-called experts. Full synthetic oils are clearly superior to conventional oils. This isn’t even debatable. At both low and high temperatures, synthetic oils have better viscosity and thermal stability than conventional oil or synthetic blends. Full synthetic oils are designed to flow quickly in winter temperatures and resist extreme heat. So now the “experts” are advising that we not use it because it “might leak”. Maybe I should just start using an old fashioned non-detergent oil so a healthy layer of sludge can build up on the inside, and help prevent future leaks.

:):)

If you are using my post for this post. READ it again. What the Mobile engineer stated was, in a "used" engine it is not advisable to start using Synthetic oil. In a NEW engine, continue using Synthetic oil. IF your NEW engine does not have Synthetic oil then use it at the first Oil Change. All my Vehicles except my 1075 Corvette came with Synthetic and I use Synthetic for replacement. I change the OIL FILTER every 5K and do NOT change the Synthetic oil at that time. I change the Synthetic OIL every 10k. I could go longer, but I am old school and feel better at 10k. Remember Mobil 1 was touted as a 25k life oil 40 years ago. Oil Filters are there to trap the contaminants that are produced from Metal on Metal to prevent them from circulating thru the Engine. Which will cause problems if allowed to circulate. Doug

I believe what your oil engineer friend told you based on my experience. About 12 years ago I switched to synthetic oil in my genset, tow car and MH. Genset had about 300 hrs on it, my 2002 Toyota Corolla about 80k miles and the MH about 35k miles. Both the genset and the tow car leaked oil the MH was OK and never leaked and now has about 130,000 miles on it. I had to tighten the pan gasket about 3 times to stop the leak in the tow car and switched back to dino oil in both the tow car and genset. Genset still has a minor leak probably because I rarely use it. My other 2 cars I have used syn oil since new and never had a problem with oil leaks.

[dougrainer]

mr_andyj wrote:
synthetic oil is not synthetic!

Literally, there is no such thing as synthetic oil.

The term "synthetic" means the oil is a higher quality crude oil distillate than the typical oil. it all comes from crude oil.

Most synthetic-anything is made from something off the crude oil distillation stack in some way or another. Hydrocarbons are a big part of modern life...

Really. Mobil advertises it as the "The Worlds Leading Synthetic Oil". Doug

Mobil 1 is a blend of synthetic and dino oils. It was originally a pure synthetic, but Mobil successfully lobbied to continue using the 'synthetic' description while changing the formulation to a blend.

[dougrainer]

NRALIFR wrote:
The possibility of a leak exists in any engine, or any type. So therefore you should never use synthetic oil in any engine. :R

I have to wonder about the advice given by some of these so-called experts. Full synthetic oils are clearly superior to conventional oils. This isn’t even debatable. At both low and high temperatures, synthetic oils have better viscosity and thermal stability than conventional oil or synthetic blends. Full synthetic oils are designed to flow quickly in winter temperatures and resist extreme heat. So now the “experts” are advising that we not use it because it “might leak”. Maybe I should just start using an old fashioned non-detergent oil so a healthy layer of sludge can build up on the inside, and help prevent future leaks.

:):)

If you are using my post for this post. READ it again. What the Mobile engineer stated was, in a "used" engine it is not advisable to start using Synthetic oil. In a NEW engine, continue using Synthetic oil. IF your NEW engine does not have Synthetic oil then use it at the first Oil Change. All my Vehicles except my 1075 Corvette came with Synthetic and I use Synthetic for replacement. I change the OIL FILTER every 5K and do NOT change the Synthetic oil at that time. I change the Synthetic OIL every 10k. I could go longer, but I am old school and feel better at 10k. Remember Mobil 1 was touted as a 25k life oil 40 years ago. Oil Filters are there to trap the contaminants that are produced from Metal on Metal to prevent them from circulating thru the Engine. Which will cause problems if allowed to circulate. Doug

[NRALIFR]

Yup, a better term (IMHO) would be “Engineered Oil”.

Whatever you call them though it’s indisputable, synthetic oils provide superior levels of protection and engine performance than conventional oils and synthetic blends.

:):)

[Cummins12V98]

NOT all "Synthetics" are equal.

[mr_andyj]

synthetic oil is not synthetic!

Literally, there is no such thing as synthetic oil.

The term "synthetic" means the oil is a higher quality crude oil distillate than the typical oil. it all comes from crude oil.

Most synthetic-anything is made from something off the crude oil distillation stack in some way or another. Hydrocarbons are a big part of modern life...

[NRALIFR]

The possibility of a leak exists in any engine, or any type. So therefore you should never use synthetic oil in any engine. :R

I have to wonder about the advice given by some of these so-called experts. Full synthetic oils are clearly superior to conventional oils. This isn’t even debatable. At both low and high temperatures, synthetic oils have better viscosity and thermal stability than conventional oil or synthetic blends. Full synthetic oils are designed to flow quickly in winter temperatures and resist extreme heat. So now the “experts” are advising that we not use it because it “might leak”. Maybe I should just start using an old fashioned non-detergent oil so a healthy layer of sludge can build up on the inside, and help prevent future leaks.

:):)

[Cummins12V98]

To run extended oil changes you should run synthetic filter media.

[dougrainer]

40 years ago I had a Engineer from Mobil that helped develop Mobil 1.
1. He stated to NOT use the Oil as a replacement in a engine that had regular oil from the OEM that has over 10k miles on it. He stated that Mobil 1 will get thru microscopic holes and cracks in engine seals and you will have leaks that you did not have before.
2. He also stated to not use in Gensets. Same reason. IF there is a microscopic hole or crack in a engine seal the Mobil 1 will find it and you will have leaks you did not have before.
3. I doubt Synthetic oils have changed from that in 40 years. Doug

PS, these questions came up because I was doing a LOF and Genset Oil change on his motorhome and wanted to know why he was not using his own companies fancy new Synthetic oil.

You will want to check with your vehicle's manufacturer to make sure, but typically any automotive filters that are made for modern vehicles can be used with any type of oil. Every major motor oil manufacturer says you do not need a special or different oil filter when using synthetic oil.