Since when did officially say no synthetic oil is recommended? I called Boch here in Norwood, MA and another local dealer here in Eastern Mass and both will use synthetic versus conventional oil for oil changes / scheduled service - at a nice price premium of course.

One dealer saying "don't use synthetic oil" isn't anything of merit. There's dealers of all makes with uninformed / underinformed staff that constantly still think that synthetic is some form of snake oil. If you called 20 Buick dealers, you'd probably get that 1 out of 4 that "don't recommend" synthetic oil response. Ask them for specifics about why that's the case and usually a "I dunno, that's what we've always said" is the response. If I see a Techdata bulletin from stating their engine oil pump is incapable of pumping synthetic motor oil then I'll believe it.

About the "many" NA users reporting oil pressure problems. I'd like to see a post or two about these owners actually bringing the car into the dealer and getting it checked out. Otherwise it's verbal material at best. I'd also like to know what oil filters they were running and/or when they were last changed. The filters on our cars are t-i-n-y and if they're doing a good job of filtering, they'll quickly become constrictive towards oil flow.

DF

EDIT: After checking the shop manual, I found that the 4G94 uses a front cover style oil pump which spins at crankshaft speed. It's rated 29psi@idle, which seems stout.

 

DF huh... well my lancer is faster than yours... nahnah nahnah booboo! Love it when someone takes things i say to heart. Go ahead and use your Synthetic...Blame turbo's and call all who oppose you names as you are the expert right?? I remember in one of your posts you say your not an expert your just well read/versed. Maybe instead of posting crappy rants and going to shop manual you should talk to the director of engineering and design at Mitsubishi... I know i did and found it enlightening. Also have good connect at Mitsu who i'd trust when he says the pump sucks that is why they redesigned it and put it in the car when problems are reported. No they won't recall the engine as most won't go synthetic/performance in a Lancer. They never thought the car would get turbo'd or anything. So mister EXPERT DF post your heart out... Kontra stick with Rob he won't guide you wrong... All others take your chances if you'd like but just think about if the 2-3HP you might get from Synthetics is worth the chance your motor may be taking! Nuff said DF!

 

Diesel is just providing good and accurate information. He hasn't ripped things one way or another particularily. Not all of us have access to conacts at Mitsu.... so we have to go with plain knowledge and straight up info. Don't rip someone because they provide good educated posts. If half the people on this board posted stuff anywhere near as informed we'd be a hell of a lot better off. And also note that never once does DF claim to be an expert but rather that he just has read a lot. So ease up.

 

"Use of Synthetic Oils
Crower does not recommend the use of synthetic motor oils in any racing applications, particularly hydraulic and flat tappet camshafts. The minimum gains in horsepower are offset by the excessive wear to cam and lifter surfaces. Crower recommends Kendall GT-1 (20W50) Petroleum based motor oil in all high performance applications. If your manual suggests running synthetic oil, then do so. We have found, however, that the benefits do not outweigh the costs."

Link

 

Yeah. I read that same warning the other day while trying to find the spec sheet they need for connecting rods. Anyone want a case of Mobil 1?

 

What a coincidence, Chris. Your engine blew just days after Rob was telling me not to switch to synthetic. Rob also predicted all the flaming anyone would get for posting such a claim as synthetic being bad. Well, whether it really is bad or not, I'm sticking with my good ol' non-parafin based Valvoline.

 

i could use that case for my lawnmower and weedwhacker, haha

Link

 

I know your Lancer is faster than mine Boe and I congratulate you for it. I'd love the names of these product engineers and experts of yours to be posted, I'd be willing to pop a few of my own dimes to question them. Since when did I call someone names?

As I said before I'd highly recommend you (or anyone that cares) run a UOA at least twice. That way you'd get quicker proof of the amount of wear metals in your aftermarket turbo setup, conventional oil in use or not. Post all the results with the comments from the lab. If the UOA turns up a high tin number the bearings are already in the process of munching themselves away, esp the #4 bearing, furthest away in the lube circuit which gets the least oil pressure of the lot. $50 or $60 for (2)UOA runs is a hell of a lot cheaper than what Kontra is going through.

Rob knew he was going to get flamed since the quality of his statement is not backed up by anything scientific like UOA results. Hell take a pump and flow test it for gpm on a bench with synth and conventional oil and see what difference (if any) exists, that 'd be pretty quick.

Until then I'll keep my crappy rants referencing tech data on oil viscocities and such at Mobil and my lousy shop manual.

Thanks very much for clearing this up...

DF

 

I feel like trading my car in more and more every day to distance myself from people like Boe.....
Seriously, diesal fan was just trying to post his opinion, and hopefully people havent forgotten this is a forum, not "cut people down because they have a different opinion" website. I hope someone else runs faster than a 13.8 real soon........

 

Im not looking to be flammed but,

I have owned 3 mitsubishi's in my short driving career (9 years) all of which have been eclipse's(plural??) . 1993 awd turbo engine lasted 9600 miles before it blew ran synth since day 1 no mods. Car #2 1995 awd turbo this car lasted almost 20,000 then melted away on me, synth as well no mods also. 1996 Eagle talon TSi (exact same car different badging for the newbies) 215,000km 1st engine no syth since day 1. I have added everything i could afford to this car including a 16g busher racing turbo (clipped TD04) no once did I upgrade my fuel pump, injectors or MAS.

I know turbo's are oil cooled (correct me if im wrong) and I was told (way after I had to deal with 2 piece O **** blown engines) that synth is way to thin to run on a TC car. I was told this by about 6 other TC import drivers who alos went through the same crap I did. Most said synth was to thin and most cars would have oil pressure problems because of the turbo setup causing different PSI levels in the engine because of the oil return line on the turbo. I am by far no expert on this subject I just wanted to add my experience to this topic.

 

I was looking at wear ratings on a website for a very high grade purely synthetic oil (Even Mobil 1 isn't PURE synthetic) (Amsoil - www.amsoil.com) and it showed that Valvoline motor oil non-synth actually performed better for wear protection than everything but their oil... which included synth blends, our beloved/hated Mobil 1 and a cast of others. The test was conducted by "an independent lab" etc... so that makes me think Valvoline here I come!!! Except in winter when I'm not driving hard in the first place and the synth oil helps me greatly for trying to start a damn car in -15 degree weather.

 

Also, here is a link for having your oil tested:

http://www.oaitesting.com/

 

Ya know diesel i just got done reading your posts...was away for the weekend and i must appologize to you. When you put DF i didn't think you were posting your initials i thought you were ending your rant with Dumb Fu@%! Totally my bad and sorry. I don't go after people to much but the fact is people are having problems with synthetic on this motor. It's a fact that won't go away. Yes there are two sides to every story but synthetic has attracted enough attention to be a risk. Surely you must concure with this. As for beating 13.8 real soon i'll be doing that in just a few. Glad to see you are in my corner Tristar. Diesel thanks for the props and truly sorry about the mistake. I really attack those who go off on me... this time i was mistaken big time. I still say "STAY AWAY FROM SYNTHETIC!" but to each his own. Truce man?

 

hrmmm.. well I've been using synthetic for the first 10,000km but I'm thinking of switching back to regular oil.. is this ok to just switch back like this? does mobil1 make a 20w50 regular oil I can use?

 

As I stated next month, when I change my oil, I will NOT be using synthetic or a blend, it is not worth the chance. I think this is the whole point, whether you buy into the theory or not, why take a chance if there is a possibility. It just makes sense to me. I will also state that Rock, Boe and Kontra have done nothing but promote and help the lancer community, so whether you buy into the oil pump theory or not, just remember they are only trying to provide a caution to help other lancer owners avoid these issues.