Should I give Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak a try?

[AP9]

2000 Ford Explorer with OHV V6, a little over 183,000 miles. Minor leak at the rear main seal but virtually no drop in oil level during entire OCI.

I have a quart of Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak lying around. Now I know this is thick stuff and have read concerns people have had about clogging the filter and what not.

Would it be worth adding a little bit on next oil change, using 5W-20 or 0W-20 synthetic? I normally use 5W-30 synthetic.

 

[SigQAEngineer]

IMO you're better off with oil that has good seal conditioner such as Valvoline H.M.

My 97 Silverado had similiar issue, nothing to worried about since it's just few drops per week so next OC I used Valvoline H.M. approximately 1500 miles later leak stopped.

But if you're already using good synthetics & still has a leak, chances of stopping it with a dino/syn blend might be slim. Might want consider a different brand synthetic & heavier wt. as well.

 

[JethroBodine]

I would stop using synthetic oil and switch to maxlife or pennzoil high mileage dino oil only. Then toss 1/2 a can of the Lucas in at each oil change.

 

[Kuato]

IMO no additives needed.

If the minor leak doesn't drip on the ground, (and with virtually no loss in between oil changes) I'd just drive it.

 

[SatinSilver]

Valvoline MaxLife HM or similiar. Skip the mouse milk products.

 

[NHGUY]

Lucas products are considered "stay away" stuff here....basically "mechanic in a can" and there's no such thing.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Valvoline MaxLife HM or similiar. Skip the mouse milk products.


+1

 

[walk23]

QS Defy

 

[Clevy]

Liqui-moly makes a product called motor oil saver. It's a fantastic stop leak. Use a can of it with your favorite oil and your leak will be non existent.

 

[Rand]

lucas is not um.. good.

Try valvoline maxlife.

 

[RobS]

Really? I'm honestly shocked to hear any of these 'snake oils' actually work

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: RobS
Really? I'm honestly shocked to hear any of these 'snake oils' actually work


Everything liqui-moly makes works exactly as advertised. They are the only additives I will use simply because its not snake oil.
They are regarded highly in Europe where they are located and we all know how much further ahead in the oil quality department the Europeans are with their extended oil drains and the high quality those lubricants have to be in order to meet the industry standards that are set for them.
If it says liqui-moly the product performs exactly as advertised.

 

[edvanp]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Liqui-moly makes a product called motor oil saver. It's a fantastic stop leak. Use a can of it with your favorite oil and your leak will be non existent.


I had good luck using this too. Takes about 500 miles, but it worked.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: RobS
Really? I'm honestly shocked to hear any of these 'snake oils' actually work


Everything liqui-moly makes works exactly as advertised. They are the only additives I will use simply because its not snake oil.
They are regarded highly in Europe where they are located and we all know how much further ahead in the oil quality department the Europeans are with their extended oil drains and the high quality those lubricants have to be in order to meet the industry standards that are set for them.
If it says liqui-moly the product performs exactly as advertised.

I agree. I didn't hear anything bad about Liqui-moly.

 

[AP9]

So it seems the general consensus is no.
If the "high-mileage" oils are just dino oils with extra seal conditioner additives, why not sell a product that's just those additives (or at least a high concentration of the additives)? Is that not what Lucas and Liqui-moly have done here? Or is that an incorrect assumption?

 

[bigt61]

"virtually no drop in oil level during entire OCI"

Why would you want to change anything?

 

[EricF]

I'd put a bottle of ATP's Re-Seal (AT-205)
It works. If it doesn't, you have bigger issues.

according to the MSDS for lucas's oil stop leak,
there's no "additive" or any other chemical noted that will help with a leak.
at least their oil stabilizer has 30% of some sort of addtive, although its probably desperately needed since residual oil is the primary oil.

once again, it's just lucas trying to fix a problem by thickening something up, whereas it masks a problem and worse, could even cause more down the road.

 

[MrRPM]

QS DEFY fixed my 4.0 rear main seal leak.

 

[Danh]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Liqui-moly makes a product called motor oil saver. It's a fantastic stop leak. Use a can of it with your favorite oil and your leak will be non existent.


Tempting, but Liqui-Moly's msds for this product describes its "physical state" as "liquid (paste-like)". I know the company has a great rep, but...

Also, the instructions are to add at each oil oil change (one 300ml bottle per 3-4 liters of engine oil), so not an inexpensive avenue.

 

[artificialist]

Use HM oil, and if that doesn't work, get ready to replace it, or just park where nobody can see the oil drops.

Also, is your PCV system in good shape? Clogged PCV systems can increase crankcase pressure past the point where the rear main seal can hold oil. I highly recommend using OEM parts if you can get them.