Flash point...oil... cool that motor down man! (archive)

If your engine is running at the flashpoint of your oil, heaven help you! Cool that motor down... you're headed for head gasket trouble, burned valves and maybe worse... everything I have read about the synth leak thing has nothing to do with flow, but rather that the seal material is designed to absorb a little of the organic material in dino oil and so the seals swell a bit... the oil and the seals are "symbiotic" if you want to stretch the terminology. The synth oils don't have the same organic material and so the seals tend to "shrink" relative to the way they behave in exposure to dino oil... when seals are new, it's not that big a deal, but as they wear, the slightly smaller size creates the possiblity of leaks. So you see...as your motor gets older... size does matter...;-)

Kevin

quaker state is a shitty oil. Mobil 1 is the minimum I reccomend, the next in line is valvoline, after that is Halvoline, after that Castrol, Amsoil is top of the line, synthetic is the best, but if you have an oil leak, the oil will leak because synthetic has the best flow. Replace your gaskets or get your cracked oil pan fixed. If you have a dirty engine, use Amsoil 20w-50 for 500 miles and then if you want thinner oil for better gas mileage and less drag on your engine for more horsepower, then drain the 20w-50 and switch over. Thicker oil is better protection and doesn't burn up as much as thinner oil but if you use Amsoil, it won't really matter cuz they are all good and have a high flash point, but 0w-30 is best for winter because it's the least likely to freeze up has the best flow for winter.

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