Stop Leak oil additives VS. High Mileage oils

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strombony

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Friend of mine who has an old roadster prefers not to use HM in his hot rod since his father-in-law gave it to him and has only seen Valvoline, so he he has put in an additve which states on the back of the bottle will cure leaks, and if it doesn't, discontinue use and repair the leak. Not exaclty sure what his hang-up is with HM oils, but are these oil additives for stop leak any good? I'm not talking about that one which is thick and gummy, there is another one out which is the same viscosity as ordinary 5w or 10w-30.
With regard to my own HM vehicle, it still leaks, (slowly) even with the HM oil in it right now, and I'm wondering if I'm just waisting mone and should stick to the great rebate deals to be had on conventional oils? I'm sure this engine will still outliv the body....so any of you have an opinion on the HM or the additive and do you bother keeping on with them even if the motor still leaks?
 
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HM oils are meant mostly to prevent leaks from forming, not to stop existing leaks. I personally wouldn't add any snake oil to try to stop a leak. Just fix the leak and be done with it.
 
Agreed. I don't think any of the additives work for slowing or stopping leaks. People don't want to hear it, but the only way to correct the problem is to replace the leaking part.
 
I agree with you as well. I have been using a HM oil on my leaky engine for a couple months now, but I can tell you the leaks I have are too costly to repair and my mechanic told me to save my money until it is dumping a lot of oil on the ground, which it is not. He also said that the leaks I have aren't hurting anything. So, if you had a vehicle under these circumstances, would you simply use your choice of conventional, and just keep it topped off? Not bother at all with any HM or additive?
 
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I used some K&W Engine Oil Stop Leak (by CRC) and it worked at least for the 5000 miles I still had the vehicle after the leak stopped.

If it's only seen Valvoline, then let it see Valvoline Maxlife after his leak stopper does it's job.
 
I agree with you as well. I have been using a HM oil on my leaky engine for a couple months now, but I can tell you the leaks I have are too costly to repair and my mechanic told me to save my money until it is dumping a lot of oil on the ground, which it is not. He also said that the leaks I have aren't hurting anything. So, if you had a vehicle under these circumstances, would you simply use your choice of conventional, and just keep it topped off? Not bother at all with any HM or additive?
 
Originally Posted By: strombony
With regard to my own HM vehicle, it still leaks, (slowly) even with the HM oil in it right now, and I'm wondering if I'm just waisting mone and should stick to the great rebate deals to be had on conventional oils? I'm sure this engine will still outliv the body....so any of you have an opinion on the HM or the additive and do you bother keeping on with them even if the motor still leaks?


There are basically three approaches to non-repair oil leak reduction:

- add something (e.g., a solvent) to the oil to make the seals and gaskets swell

- use oil so thick it runs out the leaks slower

- clean whatever is allowing oil to seep around a seal out with something (e.g., Auto-Rx)

The first usually causes seals to fail eventually. Making a seal swell further than it was designed to compromises its integrity.

The second causes engine wear on cold starts and lower gas mileage once the car is operating.

The last doesn't do any damage at all and, if crud in a seal is the problem, could extend seal life considerably.
 
Rolf,
Good advise...
Or, I could do nothing, change the oil on a 3-4K OCI; thus, keeping the engine clean and simply deal with a drop or two of oil on the ground over night resulting in no further engine damage, correct?
 
My truck leaks from the rear main seal. I just keep cardboard on the floor to catch the drip. I know what you mean about too costly to repair. I won't pull the trans to replace a $10 seal. :2cents:
 
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Originally Posted By: umungus1122
My truck leaks from the rear main seal. I just keep cardboard on the floor to catch the drip. I know what you mean about too costly to repair. I won't pull the trans to replace a $10 seal. :2cents:


Exactly, and I have a good mechanic who is honest and very good at diagnosing problems which can be hard to find in a mechanic sometimes. He will not take my money unless absolutely neccessary; therefore, he told me to drive my leaky engine until it is really important to change those seals out.
 
Finally had to...antifreeze was found on the main seal, so out they went, in with the new Felpro. Now all I have is a leaky oilpan gasket that the HM oil isn't curing.....wonder if I should just go back to conventional?
 
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If you have a serious leak you need to go ahead and bite the bullet.

That being said I now have a 04 Ford Taurus that had a small leak around the valve covers and burned a little. I decided to see if Valvoline Maxlife really worked and gave it a go. I couldent tell a difference with the first oil change, but with the second the leak/burn off really slowed. I am on my 3rd oil change with Maxlife and the leak has all but dissappeared.

The problem is that now I dont have a hobby of buying oil to add to my car, it is boring to read up on all your lubrication sudies on this site and realize that you have another 3000 miles to travel before you can put anything else in your car. Right now I top it off at the oil change and leave it. Sure you can check it every week or two weeks, but the oil lvl dosent change all that much, I think I have added 1/4 a quart after the change due to making sure it is "topped off". (I cant be to sure of the exact amount cause when I went to see my sister the oil in her car was barely touching the dipstick and I used that quart to top her car off without noteing the difference.)

Will the high mileage oil cause all my seals to go bad and my car fail one day? I have no idea, but with the results I have seen I will take the chance that it wont. BTW, it also runs exceptionally well for the miles it has 129,000 miles as of tonight.
 
ILSAC GF-5 will mandate the incorporation of oil seal conditioners in all ILSAC certified oil for passenger car use. (See www.gf-5.com.) The BITOG board participants who think these conditioners will dissolve their seals may want to stock up now on ILSAC GF-4 oil before the new standard is adopted.
 
Hey guys....sorry to drag up such an old thread. But I want some opinions. From what I'm reading in these posts is that most of you don't really believe in these stop-leak products.

Here's my deal. I just bought an '86 Mazda B2000 pickup with a 155K miles as a weekend "run to Home Depot" kinda truck. The old girl runs and looks pretty good. I bought it really cheap and don't want to pay to have the leaks fixed. At this point I'm not really sure just where it's leaking from...though it doesn't look like something simple like a valve-cover gasket. It's not pouring out...just leaking as you would expect a 26 year old engine would.

Anyway...found a couple of products that make some big claims.

Might VS7 Engine Sealer http://www.mightyautoparts.com/products/products_vs7_oil.html

Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak http://www.lucasoil.com/products/display_products.sd?iid=83&catid=7&loc=show

Would you guys give one of these a try? I figure it couldn't hurt. Or would using some sort of high-mileage oil be as good?
 
Try some red line for a couple of OCI'S that will help clean your engine and it will also make your engine seals more pliable. But you may discover more leaks. I have no experience with the engine stop leak stuff it is the same concept has HM oil but the best way I can explain how it works is an HM oil will slowly increase the pliability of your seals. The engine stop leak will do a nice shock treatment and swell your seals. I prefer the HM oil treatment.
 
I may give one of HM oils a try along with one of the sealers and see what happens.

In terms of the seal conditioners, do you feel there is a difference between the HM M1 and the HM Castrol?
 
Originally Posted By: FamilyBuggy
I may give one of HM oils a try along with one of the sealers and see what happens.

In terms of the seal conditioners, do you feel there is a difference between the HM M1 and the HM Castrol?



I tried both, M1 HM 5w30 the M1 HM was far more effective for my issues and its Mobil 1!
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: FamilyBuggy
I may give one of HM oils a try along with one of the sealers and see what happens.

In terms of the seal conditioners, do you feel there is a difference between the HM M1 and the HM Castrol?



I tried both, M1 HM 5w30 the M1 HM was far more effective for my issues and its Mobil 1!


I would never use a Mobil 1 product, not anymore anyway. can't trust them. Best to go with Valv HM full synthetic type.
 
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