Mobil Super 5w30 High Mileage

[buickman50401]

Decided to give this a try in our '01 Taurus wagon. Its only got 29,000mi on it but the valve stems are leaky so I wanted to try a HM oil to see if it could help out with oil consumption. I was surprised when I picked up the jug to see SN "resource conserving" in the donut. 10.6cSt in a 5w30 HM?

We'll see if it improves consumption issues compared against the mixed bag of 5w20s I've been running in it.

 

[SIXSPEED]

I saw this oil in a local auto parts store ad for $2.49/quart; was thinking about giving it a try in my 97 Accord.

 

[ahoier]

really, valve stem leaking at 29k? No warranty of any sort? Seems kind of "early" to have to switch to a "HM" oil.....


And yea, that's interesting, I don't think the Pennzoil HM is even RC/EC rated.....hehe. Props to Mobil for accomplishing that feat

BTW, have you tried any sort of crankcase cleaner/flush product by chance.....? To see if perhaps maybe you just have some "crud" built up around the seals that isn't allowing the valve stems to seat properly? I don't know, 29k just seems to be awfully soon for these kind of problems.....then again, I'm not too familiar with this vehicle, if this is a known problem or not....


Edit: oooo....just noticed it's a 2001....! Wow, likely no warranty there then, 11 years old! hehe.


But personally, I'd give something like Marvel Mystery Oil, or Seafoam a try in the crankcase, per the directions on the bottle. 1 qt of MMO in a 5 qt. sump (1 qt MMO to 4 qts Motor Oil); anything less than 5 qts, make it easy and just dump in a pint. Run the MMO in the crankcase for 3-4k and see if it solves the problem.


Or, give Seafoam a try, at 1.5 oz. per qt, for a 5 qt fill, you're looking at 7.5 oz. of Seafoam (a little bit more than half the can). This can added pre-oil change as well as "post" oil change, and can be safely ran for 3-4k in the oil.

 

[chubbs1]

Originally Posted By: ahoier
But personally, I'd give something like Marvel Mystery Oil, or Seafoam a try in the crankcase, per the directions on the bottle. 1 qt of MMO in a 5 qt. sump (1 qt MMO to 4 qts Motor Oil); anything less than 5 qts, make it easy and just dump in a pint. Run the MMO in the crankcase for 3-4k and see if it solves the problem.


Or, give Seafoam a try, at 1.5 oz. per qt, for a 5 qt fill, you're looking at 7.5 oz. of Seafoam (a little bit more than half the can). This can added pre-oil change as well as "post" oil change, and can be safely ran for 3-4k in the oil.


+1 good advice.

 

[mshu7]

Buickman, did the store you purchased from happen to have the 5w20 version of that particular oil (Mobil Super HM)?

Reason I ask is because I also have an '01 Taurus (Duratec) that calls for 5w20. My WM has 5w30 in the Mobil Super HM flavor, but no 5w20, yet. Just wondering if anyone else has seen it yet.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: mshu7
Buickman, did the store you purchased from happen to have the 5w20 version of that particular oil (Mobil Super HM)?

Reason I ask is because I also have an '01 Taurus (Duratec) that calls for 5w20. My WM has 5w30 in the Mobil Super HM flavor, but no 5w20, yet. Just wondering if anyone else has seen i yet.

No HM 5w20 in 5qt jugs (no shelf space for them) but IIRC there were a few lonely quarts of the 5w20 HM (at Walmart).

 

[mshu7]

That gives me hope. I've not even seen the quarts of 5w20 HM.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: mshu7
That gives me hope. I've not even seen the quarts of 5w20 HM.

I had a bottle of Pennz HM 5w20 in my hand and was going to go with that until I looked at the specs. Still SM (not a big enough mover to be new SN stock yet I guess) and when I saw the resource conserving label on the Mobil, that is what finally swayed my decision to use it instead.

I wasn't looking for a thicker oil. 5w30 up from the 5w20 recommended was already enough increase in thickness for me. I was looking for something with seal conditioning agents to address the valve stem seal issue.

The car doesn't get the greatest gas mileage to begin with 26 HWY on a good day, so dumping a thick 5w30 in was something I wanted to avoid (and seemed unavoidable till I found the Mobil HM).

For those suggesting Seafoam or MMO, the plan is to possibly dump some MMO in later during the OCI. However, this car only sees about 5k or less miles per year (its the family "trip" car - me, wife, kid in carseat, a Lab and a Weimaraner... and room for luggage).

Its our 3rd vehicle and spends a month or more at a time under a car cover (complete with tarp wraps on the tires to protect them from the sun). It sees twice yearly OCIs (fall and spring) and sets with a tank full of gas treated with Sta-bil and a 1AMP battery maintainer hooked up to it. We bought it because we needed the occaisionnal large carrying capacity without going the SUV route and were able to get it for a song an a dance ($2,800) a couple years ago.

 

[tmorris1]

5W30 is not thick. I bet you wouldn't be able to measure the difference in MPG.

 

[Mark72]

I'm running this also..lvoe it...maybe its placebo but it doesnt seem as sluggish as the non-energy conserving HM oils

 

[tmorris1]

Originally Posted By: Mark72
I'm running this also..lvoe it...maybe its placebo but it doesnt seem as sluggish as the non-energy conserving HM oils

Maxlife is also SN rated now.

 

[Mark72]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I'm running this also..lvoe it...maybe its placebo but it doesnt seem as sluggish as the non-energy conserving HM oils

Maxlife is also SN rated now.


BUT..not resource conserving. I don't buy into this notion that HM oils should be thicker. I like Mobil's idea better

 

[tmorris1]

Originally Posted By: Mark72
Originally Posted By: tmorris1
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I'm running this also..lvoe it...maybe its placebo but it doesnt seem as sluggish as the non-energy conserving HM oils

Maxlife is also SN rated now.


BUT..not resource conserving. I don't buy into this notion that HM oils should be thicker. I like Mobil's idea better

Your foot, tire pressure, etc will make much more difference than the difference between the oils that are rated energy conserving. It doesn't sound like you put enough miles on the car to even calculate the difference anyway.

 

[Loobed]

I saw 0W-20 Mobil Super (synthetic) at O'Reilly's.

 

[mshu7]

Originally Posted By: buickman50401
Originally Posted By: mshu7
That gives me hope. I've not even seen the quarts of 5w20 HM.

I wasn't looking for a thicker oil. 5w30 up from the 5w20 recommended was already enough increase in thickness for me. I was looking for something with seal conditioning agents to address the valve stem seal issue.

The car doesn't get the greatest gas mileage to begin with 26 HWY on a good day, so dumping a thick 5w30 in was something I wanted to avoid (and seemed unavoidable till I found the Mobil HM).



I completely agree with what you've said. I've still got 1,000 - 1,500 miles before the next oil change so I'm hoping MS HM 5w20 will be on the shelves by then. These Duratec engines (I'm finding out) aren't that great on gas so I'm trying to do whatever I can to bump the MPG's.

 

[steve20]

I think it's insane to even consider a flush of any type-the vehicle is 11 years old-valve stem seals are rubberized-ever seen valve stem seals harden and crack?

 

[Scott88]

Originally Posted By: mshu7
Originally Posted By: buickman50401
I wasn't looking for a thicker oil. 5w30 up from the 5w20 recommended was already enough increase in thickness for me. I was looking for something with seal conditioning agents to address the valve stem seal issue.

The car doesn't get the greatest gas mileage to begin with 26 HWY on a good day, so dumping a thick 5w30 in was something I wanted to avoid (and seemed unavoidable till I found the Mobil HM).



I completely agree with what you've said. I've still got 1,000 - 1,500 miles before the next oil change so I'm hoping MS HM 5w20 will be on the shelves by then. These Duratec engines (I'm finding out) aren't that great on gas so I'm trying to do whatever I can to bump the MPG's.



In my limited experience, Duratecs are great on gas.. Tune ups and an easy foot are easy may help. Then again certain driving environments are hard on gas regardless of the cars.

 

[mshu7]

Originally Posted By: Scott88
Originally Posted By: mshu7
Originally Posted By: buickman50401
I wasn't looking for a thicker oil. 5w30 up from the 5w20 recommended was already enough increase in thickness for me. I was looking for something with seal conditioning agents to address the valve stem seal issue.

The car doesn't get the greatest gas mileage to begin with 26 HWY on a good day, so dumping a thick 5w30 in was something I wanted to avoid (and seemed unavoidable till I found the Mobil HM).



I completely agree with what you've said. I've still got 1,000 - 1,500 miles before the next oil change so I'm hoping MS HM 5w20 will be on the shelves by then. These Duratec engines (I'm finding out) aren't that great on gas so I'm trying to do whatever I can to bump the MPG's.



In my limited experience, Duratecs are great on gas.. Tune ups and an easy foot are easy may help. Then again certain driving environments are hard on gas regardless of the cars.


I would have to disagree. My wife drives the car and she drives the speed limit, if that. We've had the car since October/November of last year. Between now and then I've done a couple oil changes, flushed the trans., coolant, brake, and power steering fluids. I also changed the plugs/wires as well as the serp. belt. I've used a fuel system cleaner before each oil change (double-dosed first one).

With all that said, we've never gotten anything better than 24 mpg's, and that includes a few road trips. The Duratec engine in this application is rated at 25 MPG HWY so I don't see it getting much better.

In hindsight, I wish we would have bought something else that's better on gas. A Buick/Pontiac with the 3800 engine would have even done better. Live and learn I guess.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: mshu7

In hindsight, I wish we would have bought something else that's better on gas. A Buick/Pontiac with the 3800 engine would have even done better. Live and learn I guess.

3800 mmmm.

Plenty of torque/hp, roomy, and yet 30mpg on the highway.

Heck even my 3100 nets an average of 29HWY.

What really kills me is the Tech 4 with throttle body injection sporting 98hp/115ftlbs torque and a spiffy 3spd auto trans in my 87 Cutlass Ciera with its 3000lbs curb weight got 31 on the highway and 19+ in town.

 

[Scott88]

Originally Posted By: mshu7

I would have to disagree. My wife drives the car and she drives the speed limit, if that. We've had the car since October/November of last year. Between now and then I've done a couple oil changes, flushed the trans., coolant, brake, and power steering fluids. I also changed the plugs/wires as well as the serp. belt. I've used a fuel system cleaner before each oil change (double-dosed first one).

With all that said, we've never gotten anything better than 24 mpg's, and that includes a few road trips. The Duratec engine in this application is rated at 25 MPG HWY so I don't see it getting much better.

In hindsight, I wish we would have bought something else that's better on gas. A Buick/Pontiac with the 3800 engine would have even done better. Live and learn I guess.


My parents have both a Duratec and a 3800(II) in the garage... They both get similar and mileage.. High 20's on average. You put both of those on the highway, and 30+ MPG is the norm.

As far as MPG go, 24 MPG in the Taurus may not far off norm if it see a decent amount of stop and go traffic. That being said, there is a lot more to tune ups than plugs and wires. Air and fuel filter must be changed as needed. Tire pressure, clean out the throttle body and be sure the MAF senor filament is clean., etc. I would hook a OBD II scanner up to it as well and see if everything is fine as well.