I am probably going to change my oil tomorrow and was wondering what people think about putting Mobil 1 in. Occasionally...say once every month or two, I will see a few drops of oil under the car after being parked, but it does not leak much. I have heard that it might not be the best idea to put a synthetic in an older car since it might leak more, is this true? My car only has about 88.5k on it anyway, but could someone recommend a brand if Mobil 1 is not appropriate?

This is for a 1990 Bonnie with 88.5k on it.

Thanks,
Dave

I use Valvoline dino oil, but that'* because I care too much to use cheapo Meijer brand, and not enough to spend the $$$ for Mobil 1.

What I've heard is that if you switch to synthetic and then switch back, you might have leaks. The reasoning for this, I was told, was that the synthetic would swell the seals slightly, they would wear like that, and then if you went back to dino, they would shrink and leak. Not sure if that'* true or if that'* an old mechanic'* tale.

Been a year (I can't believe it) since 0w30 Tech2000 Wal-Mart synthetic was run once and then it'* been dino ever since. No leaks.

Basically we found out it was 0w30 *after* opening the bottle... it wasn't run in for long (definately shorter than your standard oil change), I remember it coming out water-thin...

Whether or not you can run this stuff for prolonged periods, I dunno.

I've been running Mobile 1 Full Synthetic, 5W30, ever since I put the car on the road, just over a year and a half now. No problems yet cause of the oil. Plus it just turned 200,000kms a couple weeks ago.I also use it in my 2003 Malibu that has just about 155,000 kms

Why don't you get a new gasket, and sealer for your oil pan? If its got high miles, you might find it could use a good cleaning. Replacing the gasket should be easy, since nothing is in the way, except the starter.

The basic behind a car leaking if you use synthetic is that if sludge or slight residue is built up and sealing a possible leak area the syn detergents can clean it off and cause a leak to occur. Has nothing to do with switching back to dino.. just using syn enough.

Syn is great and doesn't break down but if you aren't pushin hard or running high mileage between changes.. dino is fine and costs less.