I know any thread that deals with oil will generate a lot of opinions, but just for kicks...
I ran into an old friend yesterday I hadn't seen in over 10 years....he owns a company that services fleet vehicles. His biggest account is a telecom company, they have a bunch of heavy and light diesel powered equipment as well as a fleet of Ram trucks that use the 5.7L Hemi. I just bought a new/used diesel-powered Kubota tractor and he asked what type of oil I was planning to use...I told him on my old Kubota I used Chevron Delo (non-synthetic) but I'd probably use the synthetic version of Delo on the new tractor. He told me 'don't'.
I should add the old tractor ran for 26 years on traditional Delo and to this day is still running flawlessly.
Anyway, he said they see far better results with normal oil...he said 'I'm not an engineer, but we tear down engines that have been running synthetic and they are very dry inside. The synthetic seems to not cling as well.' He also said the famous 'Hemi tick' is usually due to a lifter (but can be other things like an exhaust leak). They go against the factory recommended synthetic oil and use traditional oil in the Hemis...lifter ticks and failures are largely eliminated. They also sometimes go a little heavier on oil viscosity, but only by 5W.
He also said the GM LS engines in particular see a greatly extended life when run on traditional oils.
My first inclination is he's full of ****....but then I remind myself he's a sharp guy, and he's talking about real-world results seen over dozens of engines and many years of service.
Food for thought....
