Originally Posted By: Jason Adcock
Different brands seem to just run differently. I wouldn't assume it's a mechanical problem just yet. Has Mobil 1 always been run in the engine, and now just recently it's making noise? If that's the case, then maybe I'd go along with the working assumption that there's a problem.
But oil is cheap -- change brands and types first. My '07 T&C was so loud on Mobil 1 5W-20 that I almost took it to the dealer for diagnosis. Valvetrain noise at idle was very loud. It very much sounded like a lifter tap. A change of oil (and not even the filter) "fixed" the noise. This is an OHV pushrod engine. Other folks I know run Mobil 1 in their minivan engines with good success. Sometimes people just have odd results. It's not a noise that occurs with other oils for me, so I simply don't use the Mobil 1 in it. There are tons of threads on here about Mobil 1 making noise. It's nothing that anyone should get upset about. It just happens.
I'd go along with the notion that VVT engines need the PROPER oil to perform at their peak, not "thinner" oil. Cam phasers depend on oil pressure to operate, and if the best oil is 10w30, then that's what I'd run. If the OEM specified 5W-20, then that's what I'd run. Some engines don't seem to really care. You can run 0w30 (a "thick" oil) or you can run a thin 5W-20 in a Toyota 1ZZ-FE engine and the VVT system seems to work just the same. Some, however, are more sensitive than others and require a certain grade of oil.
Thanks Jason. I've run M1 in it since 4k miles but did not hear the "noise" until recently. Didn't drive it in the winter last year so I would assume its a ambient temp issue. It doesn't make the "noise" in the warmer months.
I assume that I will not have an issue with the engine becoming a leaker by switching to MC semi from M1, which was my original question. Some myths die hard and I am old and stubborn.