From what I've read, synthetic can do a number on metals and gaskets that haven't already absorbed all the dino oil they can get. They have such fine and precise molecules (because they're man-made) that instead of saturating rubbers and metals, they break them apart, unlike Dino, which is random, large, and more easily absorbed (but not as efficient as far as lubrication goes, due obviously to the fact that it absorbs and gets burned away more easily).