spec v oil change( Long)

[Jon Pennington]

Daniel Kort said:

> Anyone know the reasoning behind this?  I have been using Synthetic oil
> in my Spec V for the last 25k miles or so, but also purchased the
> extended warranty and don't want to run into problems over something
> that stupid.

I can't tell you why they made it global (North American?) policy, but I
can cite an anecdote.

It seems that historically, SR engines respond VERY poorly to changing to
synthetic oil at high mileage.  The conventional oil leaves behind
deposits, which eventually build up a crust in the oil galleys over time.
Specifically, the small-ISH oil galleys that feed the cam lobes.
Synthetic oil has detergent properties (not necessarily additives, but
sometimes), which will loosen these deposits, and cause them to come off
in flakes at high oil galley flow times.  These flakes head straight for
the cam squirters, land sideways, clog the squirters, and ... the cam
lobes flatten due to lack of lubrication.  It's the equivalent of a common
heart attack!

This does not happen to all SRs, and not even all high-miler SRs, but it
is common just the same.  It happened again just about a year ago to a
member of this very list.  He bought a medium-high-miler SE-R, changed the
oil with synthetic, and attempted to drive it home.  He didn't make it.
Some SRs do just fine under exactly the same conditions.  Maybe they were
cared for better in previous life?  Maybe the owner got lucky?

Some service departments see the errors and oversights in this policy,
others do not.  This is why it's important to know your service manager
BEFORE you start having regular service performed at a particular dealer.

--
-=|JP|=-        "Stays Fresh Longer!"

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