79 Midnight Blue L82

My son has been using Mobil 1 in his Neon :smash: every since it was new. He now has topped the 100,000 mile mark and cannot get it to stop leaking after repeated attempts. He wants to know if it is OK to go back to regular oil instead of the high priced synthetic now. Any advise/experience from any of you regarding this change?

FYI - the head has been off of the engine and is not leaking and he has had the rear seal replaced 3 times in the last few months. His mechanic cannot find the leak and has pretty much told him to live with it. This car is pretty much a "beater" for him now but he hates leaving his "mark" everywhere he parks.

jerryp58

I don't think I've ever heard of a problem going from synthetic to crude.

But, there are additives for the oil that will help show where a leak is coming from. Finding the leak would be the better alternative :yesnod:

Boofers

Not sure where I read this but I did read that you aren't suppossed to go back to regular oil after you switch to synthetic. If thats true then I wonder how they can sell synthetic/regular blend oil? Do the oil companies just want to keep selling you the more expensive synthetic oil? :rant: Anyways, is there an oil stopleak additive you could try?

Corey_68

I was "told" (take it for what it's worth) from a friend that going from synethtic to conventional could casue problems w/ the oil pump. :confused:

74FLCONV

I usually run synthetic in my DD (Chevy Astro) but sometimes, when in a hurry, use dinosaur poop. Never had a problem in 140,000 mi. and it purrs as new.

FWIW - I recall reading something about synthetic turning (older) cars into "leakers" for some reason that I cannot totally remember....something about old seals allowing synthetic to sneak by whereas regular oil won't?

Switch to a "high-mileage" standard oil and see if the leaking slows or stops.

D. Ocean
Manalapan, FLA

Desertdawg

You can switch between the synth, and dino oil all you want. I have heard all the old wives tells about synth, and after researching everything I could on the internet, I can say that most of what you hear is just an old wives tell.

I had to switch back to dino oil because od leaks, to many of them to try and cure without tearing the whole thing apart.

Badger56

First thing we did after getting the wife's 72 L48 was to flush the engine and put in Synthetic. Resulted in a couple of leaks easily repaired with new gasket.

I've never heard the "don't go back" legend. We've switched back and forth a few times in my MR2 with no problems.