synthetic oils

[tom rogers]

has anyone used synthetic oil such as mobil 1,also what dose lycoming say about pure synthetics thanks in advance tom

[flyboy1963]

I use Exxon Elite 20W50 in my 0-320-A3A.
I don't have a lot of engine management experience, but I do like to see the oil pressure come up in about 10 seconds even when its well below freezing.
I see that as the main benefit of the synthetic, as well as keeping a film on everything when I don't fly for a month!

[rwhittier]

Originally Posted by tom rogers

has anyone used synthetic oil such as mobil 1,also what dose lycoming say about pure synthetics thanks in advance tom

Mobil at one time (quite a while ago) did sell fully synthetic oil into the aviation market and it caused some problems. It was withdrawn, a lawsuit followed and some engines had to be rebuilt at Mobil's expense. I do not recall the specifics on why, but it was a huge problem.

Today all aviation oils that have a synthetic component are a "Semi Synthetic" blend - that includes Exxon Elite and Mobil 15W-50. The idea is to get some of the benefits synthetic oils provide and still have standard oil for its Ashless Dispersant cleaning qualities. Semi Synthetics also have anti wear and anti corrosion additives.

Found a article on the web about it, see http://www.avweb.com/news/news/182891-1.html

[hevansrv7a]

The problem with Mobil-1 for aircraft was that it did not properly scavenge lead. There is no pure synthetic for Lycomings available as far as I know.