Forum Discussion

campsmoke's avatar
campsmoke
Explorer
Nov 15, 2013

Maintenance

I have a 2005 Fleetwood Pace Arrow - GM WORKHORSE would it be wise to put in full synthetic oil or semi-synthetic oil? The engine has about 45,000 miles on it.
  • I only run synthetic in the one vehicle we have that requires it. Doing that oil change myself costs over $100.00. Thankfully it's a once a year thing. Everything else gets Dino......especially my diesel.
  • Run FULL Synthetic top to bottom and you will not be disappointed. I prefer AMZ/OIL. Been using it since around 1974.
  • Synthetic has better wear characteristics. and better lubricating properties than regular dino oil. BTW, synthetic and regular oil all come from the same place, but the synthetic is much more refined and has some more additives than the standard oil. I run synthetic and change my oil every 4k miles, mainly because I do short trips when not towing and I really don`t have a warm up cycle! and I get it for free! my 4k mile oil change interval in the winter is almost 6-7 months (oct-april).

    I would just keep running the regular oil and keep up with your normal oil change schedule. KISS.... if it aint broke don`t fix it! LOL
  • Your rig has nothing to do with "big rigs" and whether your wallet will notice the difference is entirely based on how long you have it. If you are going to use this rig well past 150~200K miles then you will reap the rewards of less wear.
    Otherwise your just making things better for the next guy.
    If you use syn. then continue to change the oil per the manufacturers recommendation. Syn. oil still gets dirty just as fast as dino unless you employ secondary filtration.
  • 4x4ord's avatar
    4x4ord
    Explorer III
    I use synthetic and run it for 15k miles. I would change Dino oil at 10k.
  • I used to be a huge synthetic oil guy but over the years I've become convinced that dino oil changed on schedule is more than adequate.

    If you're the type that might put off that oil change "until the weather warms up a little" or "eh, another thousand miles won't hurt anything" then I'd recommend synthetic for the extra protection.

    Certainly no harm in running synthetic other than price, and you can always pounce on a sale and if lucky you may be able to buy full syn for very little additional cost over dino.
  • Synthetic is far superior to Dino. Chances are you won't have engine problems with Dino provided you change the oil often enough. But, full synthetic is fairly cheap these days (about $24 for a 5-quart jug at Wally World) so why take a chance?
  • I have heard so many different explanations about synthetic oil and I am getting to point where I think it is cheaper to just use dino oil and change often or on schedule with the manufactures schedules. according to some reports dino oil is OK using it in this fashion