On the last post I set off to ask if synthetic oil is OK to use on a V12 … I have only ever used regular type … are there any pros? Cons?
Synthetic would be very expensive… and you certainly need a lot of it! 20W50 is not a common synthetic weight either. It’s available out there, but not like light weight synthetics you can get anywhere.
I use the cheapest oil I can find, which is typically the Walmart store brand “supertech” but the 5qt jugs are hard to find now too!
Ian, Look up Synthetic Oil in the archives. You will be reading opinions for an hour! More leaks seems to be the main issue with using synthetic oil, anywhere on the car.
That’s one good thing about the complete V12 rebuild 16K ago . there isn’t the slightest oil leak anywhere … i don’t want to cause one either … there’s plenty of life left and I want to keep it that way
Synthetic would be very expensive… and you certainly need a lot of it! 20W50 is not a common synthetic weight either.
But synthetic 15W-50 and 5W-50 are not difficult to find. I used synthetic in my '83 when I
had it, and I credit it with cleaning the varnish out of the engine and freeing up some sticky
valve tappets. The only downside of synthetic – other than cost – is that it tends to
exacerbate any leaks, probably because it dissolves varnish and it’s the varnish that’s been
plugging the leak! Of course, if you have a leak you should fix it, not use crummy oil in hopes
that the sludge minimizes the drippage.
Pushing the Jaguar V12 hard before it’s fully warmed up is seriously dangerous, there is
virtually nil oil flow, it’s all being bypassed, you can seize a bearing if you’re not careful.
Running synthetic also helps minimize risk there, since it flows much better when cold than
dino oil.
I always left synthetic oil in there for the full interchange interval specified in the handbook. If
I were to run dino oil, I’d change it far more often, at least every 3000 miles. That brings the
cost difference down a bit. While running synthetic oil, I also make a habit of changing the
filter twice as often as the oil, since oil filters are relatively cheap and I’m not convinced they
really work well for an entire oil change interval.
– Kirbert
My po used Mobil 1…15-50…I have continued the use of it…I wait for it to go on sale in 5 qt containers …brings price down. .about 28 bucks for 5 quarts. …about 5 .60 per…x 12…67.20. Thats reasonable to me.
I put 20/50 synthetic in my 5.3 and it staryed leaking like a sieve.
Quite a few have mentioned leaks with synthetic… think I’ll go with regular … thanks for the advice