Can You Use Synthetic Oil With Regular Oil?

Can you use synthetic oil with regular oil? This has become a common question asked by many car owners. They want to understand the consequences of using or mixing synthetics oil with regular oil.

At times, when you take your car to a mechanic workshop, the mechanic fills your car with regular oil and not synthetic. Also, there are times you may be in the middle of a long road, and all you could get at the moment is regular/conventional motor oil.

So, what happens if you use this oil for your car? Actually, there’s no apparent danger that could emerge because you mixed synthetic and conventional motor oil for your car engine.

What You Should Know About Mixing Oils for Your Car Engine

Basically, motors oils are expected to be compatible with each other, which means you could mix any two oil, and there’d be no adverse effect. However, when you mix two different oils, you will not enjoy the full benefits of using just one of them; what does this mean?

Some motor oils typically offer more benefits than others. So, when you mix them with another, you won’t enjoy the full benefits they have to offer, but this doesn’t mean any serious harm to your engine.

Notably, some people that own Turbo cars do substitute synthetic oil with mineral or semi-synthetic when they cannot buy synthetic. But you should know this; mineral oils can’t survive the temperature in turbo bearings; hence, it is not advisable to use them.

It is advisable to always keep with the specified oil type in your car’s manual or find a closely related alternative. That way, you will most likely not fall into a situation of working on your car engine for oil-related issues.

There are quite many complex additives used in making different oils; they are included to balance formulations.

Sometimes, base oils cannot be destabilized; hence, there would be no synergy when you mix oils. Plus, while mixing two oils won’t form a gel, it is not generally advisable.

Read Also: How To Tell If Oil Filter Needs Replacing

Can You Use Synthetic Oil With Regular Oil?

In a state of emergency, can you use synthetic oil with regular oil? You called it an emergency, right? Well, irrespective of your reason for wanting to mix synthetic oil with regular oil, you need to know this; most synthetic oils are specially designed for better performance and make your car engine perform seamlessly.

Synthetic oils are far better than regular motor oils (in terms of performance), even though you could use regular oils in a car.

You won’t be the first person to have mixed synthetic oil with conventional oil. In fact, many see this and do it as a norm. Mixing synthetic oil with regular oil will only affect oil performance, but won’t actually affect your engine.

What Are The Differences Between Synthetic And Regular Car Oils?

Synthetic oil is a byproduct of refined petroleum. It passes through distillation and purification processes; hence, there are not many synthetic oils found. They also have a smaller (almost insignificant) set of molecules and contain additives for the car engine’s sake.

On the other hand, regular or conventional motor oils are a byproduct of refined crude oil. They do not go through distillation and purification processes as synthetic oils.

When you pour in regular oil into your car, it circulates the engine to act as a lubricant and prevent corrosion, as well as keep the engine’s surfaces clean.

Regular oils and synthetic motor oils are byproducts of petroleum.

Synthetic oils are distilled and purified to remove impurities, while regular oils don’t get this treat.

Synthetic oils can withstand high temperatures and pressures, while regular oils cannot. A high-performance engine will push regular oils to pick up deposits and form mucks due to extremely high temperatures and pressure.

Synthetic oils are typically costlier than regular oils, but they last longer before needing to be changed.

Is It Dangerous To Continue Using Synthetic With Regular Oil?

It has been mentioned (in this article) quite a couple of that mixing oils isn’t advisable. But for the sake of emergencies, you can mix synthetic with regular oil and continue your journey.

When you continue mixing oils, it will get to a time when the different additives in the oils may start causing some issues; thus, destabilizing the mixture.

Conclusion

Hopefully, up to this point, the question, “can you use synthetic oil with regular oil?” has been answered. Synthetic oils are expensive for some reason, not limited to fostering your car’s engine performance.

When you mix synthetic with regular oil, it won’t be long, and you’ll need to refill/change the oil again. But when you stick with just synthetic oils, you’ll have enough time between oil changes.

Finally, ensure that you try as much as possible to use the motor oil recommended for your car – you can find this in the manual.