Oil: synthetic or conventional

kstt · Oct 10, 2017

Hey everyone!
I bought a 2016 in March. 3.6 V-6, 14k miles. How does a fellow know if it has conventional oil, or synthetic?
I have never used synthetic in my life. I'll put less than 4k miles a year on it, so I will likely stick with conventional.
But how does one know? And if it DOES have synthetic, is there any harm to switch to conventional (with a filter change)?

smurfs_of_war · Oct 10, 2017

You can switch back and forth freely now (although that wasn't always the case in days past).

Best way to check whether synthetic or not is to look at the oil recommendation. That will tell you what it was filled with from factory. Chances are it's just conventional oil.

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SHOOT2KILL · Oct 10, 2017

Pentastar Engines: Overview and Technical Details

This website suggests traditional NON-SYNTHETIC oil that meets the GF5 standard rating...

The engine takes six quarts of oil with a filter change. Traditional, non-synthetic motor oil with an ILSAC standard of GF5 is recommended

HammerHead · Oct 10, 2017

kstt said:
Hey everyone!
I bought a 2016 in March. 3.6 V-6, 14k miles. How does a fellow know if it has conventional oil, or synthetic?
I have never used synthetic in my life. I'll put less than 4k miles a year on it, so I will likely stick with conventional.
But how does one know? And if it DOES have synthetic, is there any harm to switch to conventional (with a filter change)?

You will get a ton of opinions on oil, But they are still opinions at the end of the day. I'm putting you in contact with a mechanical engineer that does independent oil testing. 206 oils tested as of today, conventional, synthetic, semi synthetic. You can ask him questions in his Q & A section and freely view all 206 oils tested for their Anti-wear performance. Check out the link and enjoy :favorites13:

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/

Hemi395 · Oct 10, 2017

My wife's 2017 Grand Cherokee calls for 0w20 in the owner's manual and on the oil cap. There is no 0w20 or any other 0w conventional oil so I have to use synthetic oil in her 3.6.

If it were me, I'd be using a synthetic in any 3.6

Ramnewbie · Oct 10, 2017

I'm a firm synthetic believer, used synthetics exclusively for the last 15 years. I just don't buy into the 0 wt oils unless you live in the artic. Dealer put 0/20 in my wife's van one time and it was terrible. I know what they claim, I just don't buy it.

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SHOOT2KILL · Oct 10, 2017

Hemi395 said:
My wife's 2017 Grand Cherokee calls for 0w20 in the owner's manual and on the oil cap. There is no 0w20 or any other 0w conventional oil so I have to use synthetic oil in her 3.6.

If it were me, I'd be using a synthetic in any 3.6

Chrysler specs 5w20 for the RAM 1500 with the PENTASTAR engine........

Noneck · Oct 10, 2017

Always been a fan of synthetics. They don't break down as fast and I typically ran them for 5k miles. Last year I started using Blackstone labs for oil analysis on my Ram. 2500 Cummins. For $40 or so you get a detailed analysis of your used oil sample. That includes the TBN which tells you how much life is left on your oil. They suggested 9k intervals after my first sample was sent to them with 5k on it. On the sample with 9k they said I can easily do 11k so that's what I'll run this oil for. (Truck is deleted or i wouldn't run that long due to the soot and fuel contamination from post injection fueling. ) 3 gallons of rotella t6 and a napa gold filter is around $100. The Blackstone report gives me peace of mind and pays for itself in the extended oil changes.

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Ramnewbie · Oct 10, 2017

Noneck said:
Always been a fan of synthetics. They don't break down as fast and I typically ran them for 5k miles. Last year I started using Blackstone labs for oil analysis on my Ram. 2500 Cummins. For $40 or so you get a detailed analysis of your used oil sample. That includes the TBN which tells you how much life is left on your oil. They suggested 9k intervals after my first sample was sent to them with 5k on it. On the sample with 9k they said I can easily do 11k so that's what I'll run this oil for. (Truck is deleted or i wouldn't run that long due to the soot and fuel contamination from post injection fueling. ) 3 gallons of rotella t6 and a napa gold filter is around $100. The Blackstone report gives me peace of mind and pays for itself in the extended oil changes.

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Most important thing there is you're UOA's. Personally I don't run extended OCI's but if you do it's a good idea to get oil samples along the way. I've seen too many people that think just because they're running synthetic they can go 15 or 20 thousand miles and not even think about what their oil is doing. I'm just waiting to see the problems with the new mobil1 annual. I'm not knocking the oil, probably a very good oil, just not buying the yearly oil change no matter what engine.

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69GWC · Oct 10, 2017

What ever you do dont buy the crap oil in the blue bottle from Walleyworld.
Think it's called Supercrap or somthing along those lines, think there is a picture of it on here somewhere this foolishly guy keeps posting it. lol

Noneck · Oct 10, 2017

Ramnewbie said:
Most important thing there is you're UOA's. Personally I don't run extended OCI's but if you do it's a good idea to get oil samples along the way. I've seen too many people that think just because they're running synthetic they can go 15 or 20 thousand miles and not even think about what their oil is doing. I'm just waiting to see the problems with the new mobil1 annual. I'm not knocking the oil, probably a very good oil, just not buying the yearly oil change no matter what engine.

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I'd never run past 5k without an analysis.

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smurfs_of_war · Oct 10, 2017

69GWC said:
What ever you do dont buy the crap oil in the blue bottle from Walleyworld.
Think it's called Supercrap or somthing along those lines, think there is a picture of it on here somewhere this foolishly guy keeps posting it. lol

Hahahaha!

On sale now! Walmart SuperCrap 5w20!

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69GWC · Oct 10, 2017

smurfs_of_war said:
Hahahaha!

On sale now! Walmart SuperCrap 5w20!

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I have drove 3.5 million miles in 25 different trucks with that oil and sold every truck before it blew up... lol

JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION AFTER 30 YEARS IN THE BIZ...

kevperro · Oct 10, 2017

MS-6395 is the Chrysler spec and it is pretty easy to meet compared to some the GM Dexos standards. Early on the Pentastar called for 5W-30, then 5W-20 which was probably a change based upon recognizing that the thinner oils provided sufficient protection and the push towards better fuel economy standards.

The term synthetic is an arbitrary one. The reality is all oils are much more complex than they used to be and have synthetic components. The term refers to the base oil used but most of what differentiates lubricants is the additive package. Also, Group III base stocks are derived from crude oil also but is still referred to as synthetic because of a technicality on how it is made.

Bottom line is any oil of the proper viscosity that meets MS-6395 (or Dexos) is a superb choice. Don't get too caught up in the details other than changing it based upon the OLM.

Ramnewbie · Oct 10, 2017

69GWC said:
I have drove 3.5 million miles in 25 different trucks with that oil and sold every truck before it blew up... lol

JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION AFTER 30 YEARS IN THE BIZ...

Come on now, get it right, he only had 14 trucks. LOL.

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Jeepwalker · Oct 10, 2017

Why WOULDN'T you use synthetic oil? It's way better than conventional. If you only drive 4k mi/yr, then you could go 2 yrs w/o changing the oil! No brainer. I recently bought Citgo synthetic on sale it was $2.65/qt. That's like .75 more than conventional oil when it's on sale. Again, no brainer. Just do it...

kstt · Oct 11, 2017

Jeepwalker said:
Why WOULDN'T you use synthetic oil? It's way better than conventional. If you only drive 4k mi/yr, then you could go 2 yrs w/o changing the oil! No brainer. I recently bought Citgo synthetic on sale it was $2.65/qt. That's like .75 more than conventional oil when it's on sale. Again, no brainer. Just do it...

Why wouldn't I? Just because I am old-school, probably to a fault. I have never jumped onto the "latest and greatest" bandwagon concerning anything. But even if I was to switch to synthetic, going two years without a change doesn't sound like a good idea.

grizzstang · Oct 11, 2017

For what it is worth we have a 2013 Jeep Wrangler with the 3.6. It had it's two first oil changes done at the dealer (because they were free) then I switched it to PP 5W-30 and have been running that ever since. I don't run dino oil in anything. Synthetic is better in the ball breaking cold we get in the winter and is really just better oil all around. It is your call run what you want. Chances are it has only ever seen dino oil anyway. Most people don't care to pay the extra cost of synthetics.

SHOOT2KILL · Oct 11, 2017

smurfs_of_war said:
Hahahaha!

On sale now! Walmart SuperCrap 5w20!

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Yum...Yum...This 7.4 engine enjoyed living life on it for just over 100k mi...No doubt it was a better built mousetrap than the Mopar 5.7 timebomb...tick...toc...tick...toc... :happy107:

Hemi395 · Oct 11, 2017

Yeah I can't say I'd want Supertech in my engine

https://youtu.be/uQ_vxdO_9nc

Oil: synthetic or conventional

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