Synthetic oil???
 

up here in canada its coooold
and ive noticed im having troubles with starting the car when its been cold for too long
(e.i mornings).. the car starts on the second try, always.

the battery is from 2004 and its of good quality
i know my gaz has anti freeze as most canadian gazstations add it during winter.
i change oils between 3,000Kilo -5,000Kilo i never let it pass 5,000ks
i switch to 5w30 in the winter..

i wonder if switching to synthetic brands will do the trick
my bonnie has 134,000ks
????

Supposedly if you have been running non-synthetic oil for a while, it is not real good to switch.
I think it has something to do with messing up the oil pan gasket.

Never seen any issues with that in the 3800's. Many of us have switched with no problems with high miles.

I doubt switching would help your morning start ups.

I have used and seen an improvement on cold starts from Slick 50, however in Canada a block heater is probably the best long term solution for you.

Yeah,
someone else suggested to me to use slick50 both on fuel lines and on my regular oil change and i would get better starts.

someone else suggested i should switch to synthetic oils as it doesnt syrop as much in the cold and it is easier for it to crank, plus it offers better protection on older engines.
supposedly regular oils syrop up badly here in canada.

i guess now wut i need is some advice..
im going to start using slick50 on the fuelines thats for sure.
but should i just swicth to using a synthetic oil or
use the same oil and add some slick50
what do you guys think?


dont know what a blockheater is!?

it basically heats up the engine coolant to make the engine warm up faster.

Slick50 (Marvelous Mystery Oil actually) saved my 4.3 in the Sonoma. But you only need to use it once every 50,000 miles or so. It just replaces one of the quarts of oil in your change.

Slick50 fuel additive is nothing but injector cleaner. Change your fuel filter and run injector cleaner once or twice a year. Don't pay the Slick50 inflated price for theirs.

As far as Slick50 (it's not Marvel Mystery Oil, it's actually PTFE) there are conflicting independent lab results on it. For that reason, it's not proven to be any benefit conclusively.

Stick with Mobil1. It's proven, and there is no controversy.

That came out wrong on my end. I used MMO, not Slick50, but they get lumped into the same category. And was just adding my 1 bit of andictodal evidence that it works. (Wife ran the Sonoma with no oil for 15 miles and it's still running today.)

In my case I noticed a huge difference on cold starts when I used the Slick 50. As mentioned it's added to an oil changed once every 50,000 miles. Regular oil changes in between.

My first experience was a 75 Chevy p/u with about 130K miles on it at zero degrees. First day slow horrible loud start, then next day I had done an oil change it started up like a warm summer day.

The other Bill mentions there is conflicting data on it, and I believe him. I have heard of using Duralube as well...however it is an every oil change additive and I never noticed any personal gains with it.

Again, it's my experience and i do not sell any of the above mentioned products. I also run Mobil 1 in my vehicles.

A block heater keeps your motor a bit warmer than the temps outside and assists with cold morning starts as well.

Doing a search for block heaters...

So far found a simple article for those moving to cold areas that recommends using a block heater AND using synthetic oil. Here's that link:
http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-fac...t-car-cold.htm

More when I get the time.

Edit: This article from Canada Online claims up to 10% better fule economy in winter using a block heater:
http://canadaonline.about.com/od/aut...lockheater.htm

Still haven't found where exactly you can get the blcok heater for your vehicle, but...

Switch to Mobil 1 full syn. 5w/30 or 0w/30 and you'll be good to go :thumbup2:

And a GOOD battery always helps too!!!!!!

Are you telling me your Canadian and dont know what a block heater is?
there should be one on your car, Look for a long cord with a plug on the end (looks like a house hole plug) if you dont see it right awy look under your Maxi fuse cover (thats where i found mine) it might be wraped up and stuffed in there.
As for what it is, Its basicly just a heater that keeps the fluid in the engine block warm for easyer starts

BTW: I switched to synthetic and have had NO problems

HAHA!
nope, i did not know about block heaters till this post!!.

but now i know that the plug that would stick out from my grill is my blockheater.
thought that plug might have been for the battery.

amazing i learned about it know cus there is a ice storm on its way here. its gonna work miracles for me.


im going to swicth to synthetic oil.

is it a MUST to also use a synthetic oil filter??

thanks for all your help guys.

NO...........just use an AC delco filter PF-52 ;)

Let's mention the PF-52 takes more oil. The original Delco filter is a Pf-47

YUP......thats why it's better!!!!!!!! ;)

more meidia surface for dirt.

It basically prevents your block from freezing and cracking if it gets colder than your anti-freeze can protect against.