Do these 930s leak much oil if switching to a synthetic type oil?

[Maxx1]

I would like to change over to a full synthetic, but hate to see the motor start leaking it out. Older engines sometimes start leaking if you switch to a synthetic, or so they say.

Any thoughts on this?

[sundevil64]

I have heard it is worse from those with first hand experience.

On the other hand I had a bmw 328i with 171k miles that I switched to a blend of synthetic and dino. tracked it a little and didn't have any additional leaks.

I would stay with a high quality oil. I'm using VR1 20-50 or even better some Brad Penn. I got the Vr1 at 2.49/qt so I couldn't resist.

[DSPTurtle]

Just put in Mobil 1. You will get a few drops and a nice light oil coating on the engine case. But that will give you a good protection barrier against corrosion. Or, you could stay with dino oil and risk clogging a cam spray bar with coked oil and cost yourself a few thousand dollars. Or spend $10 on shop rags and wipe the drips off the floor every two weeks.

[RarlyL8]

Simple answer, yes.
Synthetic oils are more slippery than dino and will find its way past smaller openings. I learned this first hand many years ago and won't make that mistake again. The engine had a couple minor drips before changing that turned into major leaks after. Changed back to dino and it took a few a month or so for the leaks to return to a couple minor drips.

[DSPTurtle]

With all due respect Mr. Brian, guru of the 930... I was under the "educated" impression that it had to do with the detergents in the synthetic oil that cleaned out the "crap" that the dino oil left behind. It is this "crap" that gummed up different seals and helped them not to leak. Have I been wrong all of these years???
I speak from a position of changing the oil to Mobil 1 within a week of every car purchase I have ever made regardless of what was in the crankcase (or oil tank) prior to me taking over the title. Never had any real concerning issues doing this... Light drips on the garage floor are the least of my concerns.
(the comment about Brian being a guru was serious... not tongue in cheek. I run his parts on my cars in case anyone questioned that sentiment)

[mark houghton]

Originally Posted by DSPTurtle

With all due respect Mr. Brian, guru of the 930... I was under the "educated" impression that it had to do with the detergents in the synthetic oil that cleaned out the "crap" that the dino oil left behind. It is this "crap" that gummed up different seals and helped them not to leak. Have I been wrong all of these years???
I speak from a position of changing the oil to Mobil 1 within a week of every car purchase I have ever made regardless of what was in the crankcase (or oil tank) prior to me taking over the title. Never had any real concerning issues doing this... Light drips on the garage floor are the least of my concerns.
(the comment about Brian being a guru was serious... not tongue in cheek. I run his parts on my cars in case anyone questioned that sentiment)

Opinions are always free, appreciated and welcomed of which I'm certain Brian would agree. Real-world experiences help to quantify the opinions. Could be something to do with detergents, could be just plain old less viscous (or for whatever reason behaving differently) synthetic. I guess it all depends on how anal a person is on that stray little leak vs. the cost of engine protection.
As to clogging the cam spray bar with coked oil (as the result of dino oil cooked in the turbo) we all know that there is a simple preventative measure that can be taken (oil filter in line with the return from the turbo). Something I've been meaning to do myself since I continue to run dino.
I love these oil topics...this forum is chock full of such discussions

[RarlyL8]

Could be detergents, could be the slipperiness index, could be a combo of all of the above. All I know is a few drops turned into a real mess that fortunately was reversible. P-engines like to leak and I hate leaks. Turbo engines like synthetic oil so the compromise is I change the dino oil often.
We're all gurus in training here on the board.

[smurfbus]

I would not swap synt on a high milage turbo engine. It starts to clean the sludge everywhere and it might clog up small passages. I switched to full synth last spring and it did not leak more but my engine was rebuild 5tml ago.

[JFairman]

I've switched from 20w-50 non synthetic to full synthetic in a BMW motor I rebuilt in '96 and my 930. I never noticed an increase in oil leaks.
Alot of people claim they have and I'm not sure why that is.

Currently I'm using Valvoline VR1 20w-50 full synthetic. It's a saphire blue color for a change from Brad Penn green or Mobil 1 amber and being full synthetic it shouldn't coke in the turbo and it has a little more ZDDP in it than the non synthetic VR1 20w-50 from what I've read.

I bought 5 cases of it when it was on sale for half price = $4.50/quart a year and a half ago at autozone.
I filled the oil tank to the top of the safe range this time and it doesn't on start up and it seems like the oil level has been dropping slower on the dipstick than the Brad Penn 20w-50 I was using before. That may be my imagination though.

If you ever want to add break in oil additive to increase the ZDDP percentage, the Redline stuff has alot of ZDDP and it's the only oil additive I know of that is made from synthetic base stock.
Using it in the oil theoretically shouldn't increase the chances of oil cokeing in a red hot turbo and a full throttle run to 6500rpm in third gear makes my B&B headers where they join together below the turbo visably red hot at night according to people behind me. I've seen plenty of videos of turbo's glowing red hot during 3rd gear dyno pulls too.

FWIW, according to the chart below from Redline a half bottle added to 12 quarts of VR1 20w-50 non synthetic will bring the ZDDP levels up to around what Brad Penn racing 20w-50 already has in it.

Red Line Synthetic Oil - Motor Oil for Racing - Engine Oil Break-In Additive
Red Line Synthetic Oil 81403 - Red Line Engine Oil Break-In Additive - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Bottle (16oz) contains:
33.8 grams total ZDDP (zinc dialkyldithiophosphate)
17,000 ppm, 7.8 grams Phosphorus (P)
20,500 ppm, 9.4 grams Zinc (Zn)
16.6 grams Sulphur (S)


Increases of antiwear per quart by using one bottle (16oz.): Oil capacity:
Phosphorus Zinc
15 quarts 610 ppm 736 ppm
12 quarts 763 ppm 920 ppm
10 quarts 915 ppm 1104 ppm
8 quarts 1145 ppm 1380 ppm
7 quarts 1307 ppm 1577 ppm
6 quarts 1525 ppm 1840 ppm
5 quarts 1830 ppm 2208 ppm
4 quarts 2288 ppm 2760 ppm
1 quart 9160 ppm 11040 ppm

Half Bottle (8oz.) When Treating:
12 quarts 382 ppm 460 ppm
10 quarts 458 ppm 552 ppm
8 quarts 572 ppm 690 ppm
6 quarts 763 ppm 920 ppm
5 quarts 915 ppm 1104 ppm
4 quarts 1145 ppm 1380 ppm

[Miguel Antonett]

Are you talking leaks or markings?

Leaks - No.

Markings - Yes, regardless of oil used. That's the main contributor to the typical "smell" of our garages - priceless!

[Maxx1]

Hmmm! Thanks for the opinions!

Considering that I'm really easy on my car and haven't abused the engine with any long wide open runs anywhere, I'm going to play it safe and stay with dino oils. I had an 87 Carrera and that thing leaked like crazy, especially when it was cold outside and it was very annoying.

So, installing a filter between the turbo oil return line and engine will provide a margin of safety from coked oil? Any how to's on that?

[Hirevtuner]

Originally Posted by RarlyL8

Could be detergents, could be the slipperiness index, could be a combo of all of the above. All I know is a few drops turned into a real mess that fortunately was reversible. P-engines like to leak and I hate leaks. Turbo engines like synthetic oil so the compromise is I change the dino oil often.
We're all gurus in training here on the board.

Synthetic oil is slippery very slippery and will make more hp on the engine dyno for the most hp rating. In the real world with our cars unless you have a fresh motor dino oil is the way to go hands down. I run penzoil 20w50 and have no leaks. Yes I warm it up before boost but once under load i have protection.

[mark houghton]

Originally Posted by Maxx1

So, installing a filter between the turbo oil return line and engine will provide a margin of safety from coked oil? Any how to's on that?

Here's a starting point. There have been other discussions and examples posted....spend some time searching key words.

Oil Filter Relocation/Addition Question

[Hirevtuner]

Ahh... Mark nice can of worms for a cold nights topic. Choice of oil is so very personal as we see on the board.

[mark houghton]

Originally Posted by Hirevtuner

Ahh... Mark nice can of worms for a cold nights topic. Choice of oil is so very personal as we see on the board.

Yeah, these oil threads are timeless and highly polarized. My opinion: If you're running with an old motor (by that I mean not recently rebuilt) then best to keep with dino oil...especially if you have even the slightest tendency toward anal retentiveness re: oil drips. For added protection against the dreaded plugged cam spray bars from turbo-cooked dinosaur juice, then the added filter makes good and very economical sense. Now, if I would just get off my dead ass and put my money where my mouth is, I would add that filter in a heart beat. Maybe I'll do it this winter while she sleeps....

[DSPTurtle]

Mobil 1. Tried and true. And if you look at all the new cars, Mobil 1 is what the sticker says.
There Is No Substitute.

[RoninLB]

I've been running M1 15w-50 since 1995 but I'm switching to Redline 15w-50.
I checked and it also has 1,300 ZDDP like M1 but I'm getting spooked by oil regulations etc. As of late I have more confidence in Redline that Exxon

If I had a 930 turbo coking would be an issue with oil selection along with ZDDP