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Out of all the high mileage oils,which one/ones have the best seal conditioning (or seal swelling,if in fact they do)?
High mileage oils vs high mileage oils
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I have no idea how you would measure this.
I'm guessing that all you're likely to hear is anecdotal evidence. That said, Pennzoil High Mileage did cure a weeping rear main seal over the course of two oil changes and about 10,000 miles in a '90 Volvo 240 I had. Car had about 200K at the time, was sold soon afterward and wrecked a year or so later by the new owner, so no idea if the weep ever came back. I recently put some Valvoline MaxLife in the '88 Volvo 240 in my sig - rear main seal still weeping after the first few hundred miles, car is at 223K now.
"Best" is subjective. Not all seals are made the same and not all seal swell additives are made the same either. One brand might work really well for a type of car but be near us less on the next.
None the less if I had to give a vote mine would be for MaxLife. Its worked excellent on every car iv ever used on it with the exception of my old Volvo which leaked about a quart every 1k miles. Needless to say the rear main seal was shot.
None the less if I had to give a vote mine would be for MaxLife. Its worked excellent on every car iv ever used on it with the exception of my old Volvo which leaked about a quart every 1k miles. Needless to say the rear main seal was shot.
A devoted ML user here. Both myself and friends who have me service their cars will tell you it is cheap and very high performing!
Until tests are done for all the chemical compounds that may be used as seal rejuvenators, it is likely to remain anyone's guess.
PQIA has started testing HM oils but only for the usual tests, attached link. I find the results interesting for other comparisons and hope that pqia is in the future able to further test for some of those seal rejuvenator chemicals..
http://www.pqiamerica.com/index.html
PQIA has started testing HM oils but only for the usual tests, attached link. I find the results interesting for other comparisons and hope that pqia is in the future able to further test for some of those seal rejuvenator chemicals..
http://www.pqiamerica.com/index.html
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I personally never used HM oils in my cars. they're old and the subie is 125k now and the taurus is 80k. The kawa is 39k. Aren't they middle mileage yet? Sure the seals are old but not leaking at all, neither the sump gasket, they're all original from factory. Got a lot of heat cycles though.
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"You're going to end up trying them all. Keep using the one that works."
I have to agree with that DemoFly, because a person likely doesn't know and can't see exactly what they they are trying to fix and therefore which of all the various chemicals would best help that, I say this generally as I don't know whether OP is trying to fix something or not or if the question was just asked to learn in general...
excellent read here: with other links in the post itself to other discussions,
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1751276
excellent read here: with other links in the post itself to other discussions,
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1751276
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Try them all or at least a couple and check to see if you need to top off.. Mobil 1, Royal purple, Valvoline max life, Pennzoil,and Quaker state ect.
Summer driving verus winter driving may have an effect as well ..
Summer driving verus winter driving may have an effect as well ..
I only have experience with MaxLife based on all the positive reviews I had read about it on this site.
For us, it did cure a small leak in our Impala within the first OCI. Results vary depending on many different factors, so it would be hard to call one "the best". I have been happy with the performance of MaxLife though so I have stuck with it so far.
For us, it did cure a small leak in our Impala within the first OCI. Results vary depending on many different factors, so it would be hard to call one "the best". I have been happy with the performance of MaxLife though so I have stuck with it so far.
Originally Posted By: Rosetta
I personally never used HM oils in my cars. they're old and the subie is 125k now and the taurus is 80k. The kawa is 39k. Aren't they middle mileage yet? Sure the seals are old but not leaking at all, neither the sump gasket, they're all original from factory. Got a lot of heat cycles though.
Not old at all in my fleet. We routinely keep both fleet trucks and personal cars far longer than 80-125k miles...
I personally never used HM oils in my cars. they're old and the subie is 125k now and the taurus is 80k. The kawa is 39k. Aren't they middle mileage yet? Sure the seals are old but not leaking at all, neither the sump gasket, they're all original from factory. Got a lot of heat cycles though.
Not old at all in my fleet. We routinely keep both fleet trucks and personal cars far longer than 80-125k miles...
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
A devoted ML user here. Both myself and friends who have me service their cars will tell you it is cheap and very high performing!
My best luck was with ML, too, but at the time when I made the choice, the options on the market were a little more limited, too. The only head to head comparison I did was against Mobil Super 2000, which is an ILSAC rated HM oil up here (MaxLife wasn't at the time), and it didn't fare as well as the Valvoline product.
A devoted ML user here. Both myself and friends who have me service their cars will tell you it is cheap and very high performing!
My best luck was with ML, too, but at the time when I made the choice, the options on the market were a little more limited, too. The only head to head comparison I did was against Mobil Super 2000, which is an ILSAC rated HM oil up here (MaxLife wasn't at the time), and it didn't fare as well as the Valvoline product.
A lot of good products available and the above posters are right, about all you'll get is anecdotes. That said based on my experiences I would start with Maxlife.
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Originally Posted By: Y_K
I did not use HM oils much, but when I needed to take care of seals, I would just pour a bottle of Red Line into the mix. Esters took care of it. But it happened once or twice in over a million miles
I've often wondered how well that would work.
I did not use HM oils much, but when I needed to take care of seals, I would just pour a bottle of Red Line into the mix. Esters took care of it. But it happened once or twice in over a million miles
I've often wondered how well that would work.
I've had good luck with Pennzoil HM and Valvoline MaxLife in terms of stopping or greatly reducing leaks. Mobil 1 HM did nothing for the leak in the Firebird but Pennzoil HM slowed it down almost entirely.
All I've ever tried as far as a high mileage oil is concerned is defy,but the engine wasn't leaking anything. It was on sale so I bought a few jugs.
If I've got a leaker I use liqui-moly motor oil saver. It has yet to let me down and I can add it to whatever brew I'm using at the time,so I'm not tied in to a specific brand.
I read great things about Maxlife though I've only used the Maxlife tranny fluid,not the engine oil.
It's never on sale when I'm looking for oil......
If I've got a leaker I use liqui-moly motor oil saver. It has yet to let me down and I can add it to whatever brew I'm using at the time,so I'm not tied in to a specific brand.
I read great things about Maxlife though I've only used the Maxlife tranny fluid,not the engine oil.
It's never on sale when I'm looking for oil......
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Originally Posted By: Clevy
All I've ever tried as far as a high mileage oil is concerned is defy,but the engine wasn't leaking anything. It was on sale so I bought a few jugs.
If I've got a leaker I use liqui-moly motor oil saver. It has yet to let me down and I can add it to whatever brew I'm using at the time,so I'm not tied in to a specific brand.
I read great things about Maxlife though I've only used the Maxlife tranny fluid,not the engine oil.
It's never on sale when I'm looking for oil......
Is the Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver an ester? That's what I was thinking. Can it be bought over the couter anyplace,or is it usually online order only? Can you just use it once,or do you have to use it for the life of the car (or until you can get the seals replaced)?
All I've ever tried as far as a high mileage oil is concerned is defy,but the engine wasn't leaking anything. It was on sale so I bought a few jugs.
If I've got a leaker I use liqui-moly motor oil saver. It has yet to let me down and I can add it to whatever brew I'm using at the time,so I'm not tied in to a specific brand.
I read great things about Maxlife though I've only used the Maxlife tranny fluid,not the engine oil.
It's never on sale when I'm looking for oil......
Is the Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver an ester? That's what I was thinking. Can it be bought over the couter anyplace,or is it usually online order only? Can you just use it once,or do you have to use it for the life of the car (or until you can get the seals replaced)?
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