2003 Chevy Malibu Synthetic oil

Tiny
RANDYROMAN
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 CHEVROLET MALIBU
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 130,000 MILES
I just rebuilt my engine.
Reconditioned the heads, full set of gaskets(of course)
Cleaned the intake manifold (professionally).
Cleaned Fuel injectors
new antifreeze
Should I go with a synthetic oil or stick with standard oil?
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 AT 2:23 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,014 POSTS
Honestly, that is a personal choice. I will try to give you some info to help make up your mind.

First, remember, oil doesn't wear out. It gets dirty. Both synthetic (syn) and regular (reg) do the same, so you will be changing the oil just as often, and the cost of the syn is much higher. Both oils protect the engine and provide luberication.

Here is the difference. Synthetic oil is a more stable oil. By that, I mean that its viscosity doesn't change. If you have 5W30 syn, ambient temps will not change it. Thus, you have no change and the oil protects the same no matter what the temp. Reg oil, on the other hand, is affected by ambient temps. It can actually take slightly longer for the reg oil to reach all points of the engine.

What this means is this. If you live in extreme temps, go with the syn. If you don't live in extreme temps, I feel reg (organic) oil is fine. I have 220K on a dodge and I have only used reg oil in it. I feel confident it will see 300K before it finally says enough is enough. But I won't stop until it does.

Let me know if you have other questions, and I hope this helps.

Joe
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Saturday, January 16th, 2010 AT 9:02 PM

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