What oil/oil filter are you guys running in your stock 340's?
Does anyone have an opinion on putting the new synthetic oils in a stock 340?
Yes. I have an opinion. LOL.
Filter: Some filters are more effective than others in keeping the oil from draining out of the galleries.
Oil: When cold (cold here being any temperature below warmed up operating temperature) 'Synthetics' tend to have bettery flow than their conventional counterparts. By that I mean a conventional oil of the same viscosity grade.
For example if the engine has a conventional 10W-30 in it now, the oil in a synthetic 10W-30 will almost always flow better during start and warm up. Also a synthetic 5W-30 can be used with really no drawbacks for any normal street use, and have even better flow during start and warm up.
At operating termperatures (coolant between 180 - and 220) it makes no difference to speak of.
"Synthetic" in the US is used more loosely than I think many people realize. A more precise description would be one that actually stated the base stock. I think looking that up for each oil is more time consuming than most people want to deal with.
But if you are looking at similar oils I feel the broad generalizations I made hold true.
One way to spot how easily an oil will flow at lower temps is to look up the oil's pour point. The pour point is an extreme. Its useful even if your car is not parked in the Upper Peninsula because clearly shows at how low of a termperature the oil will flow.
Video showing pour point of three 5W-30 synthetics and one conventional.
