Rickmay,

I appreciate your Pioneering and can-do attitude. Your commentary about synthetics is reasonable. However your commentary about MB essentially sabotaging their owners by not running syn is simply not true. The service interval paradigm was changing substantially, and in correct knowledge was abundant. We have since found that with th right lubricant, extended intervals and improved economis with consistent service life is achievable. Of course most of this capability has been due to the widespread use of syn oils, but even conventionals work well if dealt with properly.

There are lots of misconceptions on both sides of the maintenance fence. Conventionals work, tried and true. A million miles on conventional is more than doable. Syn buys advantages at high and low temperatures and some other conditions. Doing more maintenance, being truly anal about it, and using components with more headroom in terms of quality or capability always pays dividends, though sometimes not necessary or notable even in time...

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)