MMO made my rear main seal leak!

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Update: I'm about 1300 miles into the Valvoline Max life High milage stuff and the leak has completly stopped!

Not even a wet spot on the pan.

I'll keep ya posted if anything changes.
 
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Sounds like good news, maybe the MMO cleaned things up, and the Max Life HM oil worked its magic!

Frank D
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Sounds like good news, maybe the MMO cleaned things up, and the Max Life HM oil worked its magic!

Frank D


Yes and yes. Testament to the fact that when used properly and given time to work there is some truth to the "Myth" that MMO cleans engines and HM oils slow or stop leaks.

Quote:
Update: I'm about 1300 miles into the Valvoline Max life High milage stuff and the leak has completly stopped!

Not even a wet spot on the pan.

I'll keep ya posted if anything changes.


I'm glad your leak stopped. If you switch back to another brand of oil and the leak reoccurs, try another HM oil. In my experience I had an engine that developed a leak anytime I used anything other than Castrol HM, so I "stuck" with that the duration of my ownership. Which didn't bother me, as I believe Castrol HM to be a good oil all-around anyway.

The funny thing about HM oils is that there's not much consistency to what "works" best from engine to engine. I've seen somebody go two OCI's with Maxlife and never develop a leak after switching back to synthetic or dino. I've had cars that one round of Havoline HM completely solved a minor valve cover leak with no need to use HM afterwards.

Then there's the occasional application that responds to a certain HM oil and that oil only. My unsupported theory is that each manufacturers "seal swell" formula is different and responds to different gasket/seal chemistry accordingly. It seems that Maxlife is the most well-rounded and general in terms of broad use, but Castrol HM and Havoline HM respond in applications that Maxlife seems ineffective against.
 
Originally Posted By: kingrob
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Sounds like good news, maybe the MMO cleaned things up, and the Max Life HM oil worked its magic!

Frank D


Yes and yes. Testament to the fact that when used properly and given time to work there is some truth to the "Myth" that MMO cleans engines and HM oils slow or stop leaks.

Quote:
Update: I'm about 1300 miles into the Valvoline Max life High milage stuff and the leak has completly stopped!

Not even a wet spot on the pan.

I'll keep ya posted if anything changes.


I'm glad your leak stopped. If you switch back to another brand of oil and the leak reoccurs, try another HM oil. In my experience I had an engine that developed a leak anytime I used anything other than Castrol HM, so I "stuck" with that the duration of my ownership. Which didn't bother me, as I believe Castrol HM to be a good oil all-around anyway.

The funny thing about HM oils is that there's not much consistency to what "works" best from engine to engine. I've seen somebody go two OCI's with Maxlife and never develop a leak after switching back to synthetic or dino. I've had cars that one round of Havoline HM completely solved a minor valve cover leak with no need to use HM afterwards.

Then there's the occasional application that responds to a certain HM oil and that oil only. My unsupported theory is that each manufacturers "seal swell" formula is different and responds to different gasket/seal chemistry accordingly. It seems that Maxlife is the most well-rounded and general in terms of broad use, but Castrol HM and Havoline HM respond in applications that Maxlife seems ineffective against.


Interesting analogy, I have thought about this comment you've made for a long time.

Quote:
"Then there's the occasional application that responds to a certain HM oil and that oil only. My unsupported theory is that each manufacturers "seal swell" formula is different and responds to different gasket/seal chemistry accordingly."

It makes me think that maybe changing brands of oil from time to time could be a good thing. Since the chemistry is different, its possible that changing brands might just clean things up that another brand couldn't. Maybe one oil is better at removing sludge, another better at removing baked on deposits, and another attacks varnish better. Switching brands might keep an engine cleaner than staying with one brand the entire life of a car. Food for thought.

Frank D
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: kingrob
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Sounds like good news, maybe the MMO cleaned things up, and the Max Life HM oil worked its magic!

Frank D


Yes and yes. Testament to the fact that when used properly and given time to work there is some truth to the "Myth" that MMO cleans engines and HM oils slow or stop leaks.

Quote:
Update: I'm about 1300 miles into the Valvoline Max life High milage stuff and the leak has completly stopped!

Not even a wet spot on the pan.

I'll keep ya posted if anything changes.


I'm glad your leak stopped. If you switch back to another brand of oil and the leak reoccurs, try another HM oil. In my experience I had an engine that developed a leak anytime I used anything other than Castrol HM, so I "stuck" with that the duration of my ownership. Which didn't bother me, as I believe Castrol HM to be a good oil all-around anyway.

The funny thing about HM oils is that there's not much consistency to what "works" best from engine to engine. I've seen somebody go two OCI's with Maxlife and never develop a leak after switching back to synthetic or dino. I've had cars that one round of Havoline HM completely solved a minor valve cover leak with no need to use HM afterwards.

Then there's the occasional application that responds to a certain HM oil and that oil only. My unsupported theory is that each manufacturers "seal swell" formula is different and responds to different gasket/seal chemistry accordingly. It seems that Maxlife is the most well-rounded and general in terms of broad use, but Castrol HM and Havoline HM respond in applications that Maxlife seems ineffective against.


Interesting analogy, I have thought about this comment you've made for a long time.

Quote:
"Then there's the occasional application that responds to a certain HM oil and that oil only. My unsupported theory is that each manufacturers "seal swell" formula is different and responds to different gasket/seal chemistry accordingly."

It makes me think that maybe changing brands of oil from time to time could be a good thing. Since the chemistry is different, its possible that changing brands might just clean things up that another brand couldn't. Maybe one oil is better at removing sludge, another better at removing baked on deposits, and another attacks varnish better. Switching brands might keep an engine cleaner than staying with one brand the entire life of a car. Food for thought.

Frank D


I switch oils quite a bit. I also believe that while if you have a good oil that responds well in your engine, there's no reason not to try a little variety every once in a while. You may notice something new that didn't happen with your usual choice of oil. For instance, I've had cars that I thought were oil burners being that I'd only run one specific oil brand in. Then I try a new brand and all of the sudden no more oil burning. You never know until you experiment.
 
Well it's back.

I ran the Valvoline HM oil to about 1700 miles. The engine developed a loud lifter tick. I does this @ 1800 miles on Chevron oil like clockwork.

I changed the oil and filter. Lifter tick is gone. I Used Proline 10w-30 oil. I now have 350 miles on the Proline oil and it's leaking enough that I can smell it burning on the exhaust pipe.
 
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i use mmo in my jeeps oil every time i change it. the rear main has weeped since the day i got it. it has not gotton any worse even running 0w20 in a 1994 zj 4.0 with mmo. starts very well and gets 18.5 mpg
 
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