Engine oil ?

[PTloser32805]

Just a quick question....


2001 pt cruiser. What oil comes from the factory regular or synthetic?

Does the car call for synthetic? There was a Mobil one synthetic sticker on my engine cover. Looked factory. I made a bet with my freind and I think I lost.

Anyone know?

[LionPT]

Regular oil came from the factory. Some uses changed/use Synthetic in the Turbo models.
You can use it the N/A PT's, but there is no advantage.

[quicksilverdon]

All PTs came with regular oil.
Synthetic oil is better, period. The only reason not to use synthetic is to save some money when buying the oil, but there is no question that synthetic oil is better, particularly at low and high temperatures. It is favored for turbos because of higher temperatures encountered in parts of turbo engines.

[NitroPT]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

Synthetic oil is better, period.

until you start burning oil then none synthetic is a better choice

[thecabinguy]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

All PTs came with regular oil.
Synthetic oil is better, period. The only reason not to use synthetic is to save some money when buying the oil, but there is no question that synthetic oil is better, particularly at low and high temperatures. It is favored for turbos because of higher temperatures encountered in parts of turbo engines.

I don't deny the fact that synthetic oil can be beneficial in numerous ways in these PTs. However, my question is how long used in the car would the benefits of synthetic start outweighing conventional? My '02 N/A LTD, bought new and still have, has never had a drop of synthetic in it ever, yet at 15 years old and 118,000 miles, the engine is doing great. Uses little oil between changes (which have been between 3500 to 4000 miles) and even after 3,000 miles the oil has darkened up a bit but is still clear. Where I live the temperature range throughout the year runs from 15 to 95 degrees. Just wondering.

[Handy_Cruiser]

Originally Posted by PTloser32805

Just a quick question....


2001 pt cruiser. What oil comes from the factory regular or synthetic?

Does the car call for synthetic? There was a Mobil one synthetic sticker on my engine cover. Looked factory. I made a bet with my freind and I think I lost.

Anyone know?

A 2001 PT Cruiser does not require synthetic motor oil. Synthetic oil (such as a PAO like Mobile 1) is recommended for the turbocharged PT Cruisers because the engine oil circulates across the turbocharger "bearings" which are actually just bushing in these little toy turbos. Since the turbo is fairly hot, it can cause conventional motors oils to sometimes break down. This can clog the oil lines running to the turbo among other things. And that can cause turbo failure. PAO synthetic oils often have better resistance to this.

With a non-turbo engine like in your 2001 PT, there's no problem with this. So conventional oil is fine and it's what Chrysler used in it.

There are other advantages to synthetic motor oils and someone likely put it in your PT in the past. That's likely why you have the Mobil 1 sticker. You can continue to use Mobil 1 or go back to conventional oil. It will likely not make a substantial difference in your PT one way or the other.

My personal preference for any PT would be 0W30 weight oil which is usually only available in a synthetic or synthetic blend. The 0W weight oils seem to cut down valve train chatter at cold startup. And I believe it protects better at cold start up too. But that's just my preference. Motor oil seems to be something every car enthusiast has a personal preference about. And I don't won't to turn this thread into an argument about motor oil nor a long science lesson. It's just what I like.

[quicksilverdon]

Originally Posted by thecabinguy

I don't deny the fact that synthetic oil can be beneficial in numerous ways in these PTs. However, my question is how long used in the car would the benefits of synthetic start outweighing conventional? My '02 N/A LTD, bought new and still have, has never had a drop of synthetic in it ever, yet at 15 years old and 118,000 miles, the engine is doing great. Uses little oil between changes (which have been between 3500 to 4000 miles) and even after 3,000 miles the oil has darkened up a bit but is still clear. Where I live the temperature range throughout the year runs from 15 to 95 degrees. Just wondering.

Not sure what you are asking. I have used synthetic in mine since it was new, change it every 5,000 miles, and do not use any oil, and I just passed 130,000 miles.
Yours and mine are single examples and statistics don't apply to samples of 1.

[cruserdad1976]

I used to drive a dodge intrepid loved that car it was a great car good MPG ran awesome looked nice and could haul a lot of stuff mine had been a company car I got with 75,000 my guess was it never saw synthetic
I drive almost 200 miles a day so I change my oil every month
the car had over 200,000 and it blew the intake gasket I had a mechanic who did a lot of my stuff he found out it also had a Leakey head gasket so he tore into the motor
he called me and told me to come over which I did,
the inside of this motor with over 200,000 was super clean and I mean really clean it had some tarnish and a little gunk in the corners but all in all you would never have know how many miles were on it
The point is this
With out a turbo if you keep the oil changed I just don't think it matters what oil you use as long as you change it its kind of like the lifes blood of the morot don't let it get all gunkey keep it changed
im done

[NitroPT]

There are few funny things in this thread..


I want to first say that in the practical sence I always try to use Synthetic motor oils now for everything. My post about using none synthetic oil is it burns better in the combustion chamber than synthetic oil. I have a valve guide issues at the moment so I would rather have the oil burn in stead of making a mess of my exhaust system.

Turbo Charged engines with the Turbo having bushings have been used for decades without any more failures or longevity use with or without synthetic oils. There has never been empirical data (that I have ever read) to demonstrate that a normal driven and regularly serviced engine benefited by the use of the anyone of the specific 3 popular types of motor oils, None Synthetic,synthetic blend and full synthetic oils up to 100K miles or more. There are lots of wonderful claims and manufactures sponsored ads about synthetic lubricating products.
BlackStone Labs have been analyzing oils for years and having seen dozens and dozens of their reports I have personally never read the analysis that synthetic's being superior over none synthetic oils.
I have never read of anyone on any of the auto forums actually testing the MPG between the use of the synthetic oil and none synthetic over 20k miles changing engine oil and filter between each at 5k miles and reporting the MPG averages. I have never had in any vehicle I have ever owned MPG increase that I can exactly say was because of the use of changing from none synthetic oil to synthetic.
We actually did a back to back chassis DYNO run on a 1983 280ZX in 2001, first with using 10w30 Castrol and then Mobile 10w30. NO HP or TORQUE difference!
The inside of the engine as far as how clean it looks specifically in he crankcase is mostly from the condition of the reciprocating parts,rings, head valve train components and there ability to control fuel contamination into the crankcase, if regular oil and oil filter service are performed on a regular basis and no engine part wear then the crankcase and head valley should be clean with little or no varnish. The use of synthetic oils or none synthetic oils is more about the ability of the additives in the oils to support crankcase cleaning and not so much if it is or is not synthetic oil or not.
Auto Manufacturers generally use a recommended oil based on the contract with a motor oil company and not any ENGINEER or draft designer suggesting one type of oil is better then the other for any specific engine.
The "W" , example 0w-30, the 0w, W = winter, not weight means that the oil must have a certain maximum viscosity/flow at low temperature. The lower the "W" number the better the oil's cold temperature/cold start performance.
There are specif charts to choose the best motor/engine oil for your engine operating area.
There are other factors to choose a motor oil which the general condition of the engine has a large factor in the choice.
And for some worried about warranties and what oil to use I recommend to read the complete Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act

Now in conclusion and IMHO I rarely recommend anything except the use of SYNTHETIC OIL in an engine mostly because it's exhausting debating with many internet information seekers to use it or not anymore.

[Gold2006]

I use AMSOIL's top of the line chemical synthetic oil for the following reasons.

1. I change the AMSOIL and AMSOIL filter the recommended/warranted 25,000 normal miles, 15,000 severe service miles or once a year whichever comes first. AMSOIL reports no oil failures for the past 45 years when used as directed, and I have verified this works with used oil analysis.

2. Ford Motor Company and Auburn University showed 3-6.5% improved fuel economy with AMSOIL full synthetic over Texaco/Chevron conventional in truck testing using EPA protocols. More than pays for the cost of the oil.

3. A Houston bus fleet tried 7 brands of motor oil that all failed used oil analysis after 3,000 miles, yet AMSOIL passed at 15,000 miles.

4. I retired at Shell Oil's Westhollow Technology Center in Houston where they lab, bench, dyno and road test the major oils. They told me AMSOIL outperformed them all. A Mobil 1 engineer and a Chevron tribologist told me the same. It's what they use.

All the above showed AMSOIL saved time and money over conventional oil. AMSOIL says they outperform all other oil on the market, and no one has data to dispute this. The other oil companies would take them to task if they could, but haven't in 45 years. They have yet to show they outperform AMSOIL.