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I have to disagree with a couple of things that I see in this thread, such as the statement that dyno oils inheriently leave sludge while synthetic oils do not, but that is a subject for another post.
When the US went from old-style ~0.25% sulfur diesel fuel to low-sulfur 0.05% diesel fuel in the late 1990s, California went a step further and required low-sulfur low-aromatic diesel fuel. Therefore, our fuel was even more severely hydrotreated then the rest of the country's. With more straight-chain molecules and fewer aromatic (ring) molecules, the average molecular polarity of the fuel changed dramatically, though the viscosity and boiling point of the fuel did not.
What we saw were a LOT of fuel system leaks as old stiff O-rings shrank and hardened with the introduction of the new fuel. The problems were more severe in California than in the rest of the US. We also had some fuel distributor mechanical failures due to early problems with lubricity. I was mechanical engineer assigned to the Governor's Task Force to study the problems with the new fuel.
The polymer scientist on the Task Force determined that the failures of older O-rings was the result of the change in moleculary polarity. I won't try to reproduce his explanation. I didn't really understand him at the time.
He said there was no need for new seal materials, that if the seals were replaced, and the new seals spends their whole life in the newer fuel, there would be no deleterious effects on seal life or leaks. However, if old seals were exposed to the new fuel, there was a high likelyhood of premature failure, with the liklihood being a dependant on age and the exact O-ring material. Time has shown that he was correct. This experience parallels that of my Air Force clients when the Air Force switched from JP4 to JP8 in the early 1990s.
Bottom line - I am no polymer scientist, but I suspect that change in oil did indeed precipitate your seal failure, and it may result in failures of the cam and intermediate shaft seals as well. However, as noted in another post, seals don't last forever, and once you get new ones in there, I would not discourage you from using syntetic oil.
P.S. If my theory is correct, going back to dyno oil now MIGHT slow the leak, but I would not count on it.
I would not use the snake oil products that promise to swell and soften your seals and stop leaks unless you are using them as a stop-gap for a few months and are planning to replace ALL the seals in your engine.
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