How much did your last in-frame cost?

Ya'll gotta remember just because it says "synthetic" dosnt mean its a man made synthetic oil. Vary few oil companys make a "true" fully synthetic motor oil. If its cheap and brown it came from the ground.

 

I just rebuilt an N14 400 mechanical, kit included heads,injectors,thermostats,pistons/liners/rings,mains/bigends,plus oil/coolant, a couple of other things we needed and the cost of the Fitter came to just under $9000.00 AUD.

 

Bingo. MOst people think they're getting synthetic oil for half price at Wal-Mart when they are quite possibly overpaying for oil that isn't that much different than the standard product. Most of those half price "synthetic oils" are blends. You have to make sure you're getting a group IV oil if you want a true synthetic.

Copied and pasted this from here..... http://www.synthetic-oil-technology.info/

What is synthetic oil?
The easiest way to define what synthetic oil is, is to define what it is NOT. Conventional motor oil as we have known it for the last 100 years or so is derived from crude oil that is taken from the earth with oil wells. Through a complex distillation process the crude oil is refined into many different liquids, or fractions, each having distinct characteristics. Some are very light and are used as fuel (gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel), and some are heavier and are used as lubricants (motor oil, gear lube, grease). There are many molecular compounds present in crude oil and many of those compounds are still present in the refined product, detracting from the physical properties of that product. For instance, paraffinnic waxes are present in crude-based oil, but contribute nothing to the lubricative properties of the oil. Also, the size of the hydrocarbon molecules themselves are non-uniform in crude-based oils. Synthetic oil contains none of these contaminants and the hydrocarbon molecules are very uniform, giving the synthetic oil base better mechanical properties at extreme high and low temperature (see the sections below on physical properties). By contrast, synthetic oil is not distilled from crude oil. It is made through a chemical process known as the Fischer-Tropsch process, starting with raw materials like methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. This process was developed by Germany in WWII, when that country's access to crude oil was very limited.

Grades of oil.
Motor oils are derived from base stocks. That is, a generic oil base is modified with additives to produce a lubricant with the desired properties. A base stock oil with no additives would not perform very well at all. Base stocks are classified by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and fall into one of five categories.

Group I and II - these are mineral oils derived from crude oil
Group III - this is a highly refined mineral oil made through a process called hydrocracking. In North America this group is considered a synthetic oil, for marketing purposes.
Group IV - these are true synthetic oils, known as Polyalphaolefin (PAO).
Group V - these are synthetic stocks other than PAO's and include esters and other compounds.

 

I just got a qoute on doing my MXS ACERT...for CAT's platinum package (6 new cylinder packages, new head, main and rod bearings, water pump, oil pump, reman injectors, and all the needed gaskets), a new oil filter base, trade in the reman injectors for brand new ones, both turbos, and a four year unlimited warranty the total came to $24703.

 

Dangit!

 

You forgot to quote replacing the oil cooler, intercooler and air compressor.....lol

 

Well I replaced the air compressor 2 weeks ago...so I guess I can just replace the other two. Needles to say I didn't pony up the money for the complete rebuild.

 

What was the verdict on your engine, or did I miss it somewhere? Just the head gasket, I hope.