Suggestions on HM Oil to treat consumption

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I have used Valvoline maxlife blend and synthetic. Didn't seem to slow consumption. What others would you recommend? I was thinking of trying Pennzoil High mileage for my next change.
 
In the Honda, I’m not sure if the Pilot was affected by this but other J series Hondas certainly were - the variable cylinder management causes oil consumption and here’s why.

When the second cylinder bank “shuts off”, those cylinders cool down. This makes the piston rings contract, causing blow-by, and that is exacerbated by the fact that the heating and cooling of those combustion chambers and rings cause carbon buildup. The rings get stuck with carbon deposits, making it so that they can’t seal to the cylinder wall as well, also causing blow-by.

I have this issue with my car and a real like tribologist (oil scientist) that I know outside of this forum recommended I run a high PAO oil to free up the stuck rings. I have read on this forum that PAO has zero cleaning abilities as told by armchair quarterbacks, but this is what this oil professional told me, so I’m trying it via Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 which has around 60% PAO content going off of its Safety Data Sheet. It’s too soon to tell if it worked. Previous to this change I ran Platinum HM which seemed to help but did not stop the oil loss, although for some reason consumption went up initially before dropping again with the Pennzoil. I would high reccomend running full synthetic oils in these engines to help prevent further deposits at least. And now with all the HM varieties of full synthetics you can get those seal swellers with them if so inclined.

Also, if your spark plugs haven’t been done in awhile it may be a good indicator of this condition to replace them. I did mine on schedule and the plugs that came out of the rear cylinder bank were completely black and carbon fouled worse than I’ve ever seen before, while the other bank’s plugs looked like new.
 
How long have you been running the Maxlife? It doesn’t work instantly. If you have major leaks then the best thing is to fix them.

What kind of consumption are we talking about? (Quarts per xxx miles )
 
Well, oil is good for preventative maintenance, but it won’t rebuild your engine once damage is caused.
I figure those HM oils contain an extra portion of gasket protective additives that can make your old and dried up gaskets a bit aofter again, but they don’t fix a major leak. Furthermore it should have a low NOAK to compensate for more blowby happening in a slightly more worn engine.
Is it certain that the engine burns all the oil or does it also leak?
 
I currently run PP HM in my cad which previously used about a quart every 1k (just like many 1st gen CTSs with the 3.6 engine). Consumption is now relatively normal, and I haven't added any oil in over 3k. I have not tried other HM oils, so I cannot say that PPHM is better. Just that it works for me (at least for now).

My Ody runs maxlife and doesn't use any oil, but it didn't use any before using maxlife.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
In the Honda, I’m not sure if the Pilot was affected by this but other J series Hondas certainly were - the variable cylinder management causes oil consumption and here’s why.

When the second cylinder bank “shuts off”, those cylinders cool down. This makes the piston rings contract, causing blow-by, and that is exacerbated by the fact that the heating and cooling of those combustion chambers and rings cause carbon buildup. The rings get stuck with carbon deposits, making it so that they can’t seal to the cylinder wall as well, also causing blow-by.

I have this issue with my car and a real like tribologist (oil scientist) that I know outside of this forum recommended I run a high PAO oil to free up the stuck rings. I have read on this forum that PAO has zero cleaning abilities as told by armchair quarterbacks, but this is what this oil professional told me, so I’m trying it via Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 which has around 60% PAO content going off of its Safety Data Sheet. It’s too soon to tell if it worked. Previous to this change I ran Platinum HM which seemed to help but did not stop the oil loss, although for some reason consumption went up initially before dropping again with the Pennzoil. I would high reccomend running full synthetic oils in these engines to help prevent further deposits at least. And now with all the HM varieties of full synthetics you can get those seal swellers with them if so inclined.

Can you say whether that tribologist is a member here?
I said PAO is a lousy cleaner of engine deposits. Check the literature if you don’t believe it.
 
To me, once the seals are starting to harden and oil starts to leak or seep, the engine is heading to its demise. HM oils allow you to get some extra miles out of your engine. My Rav4 has seeping front and rear main seals and who knows what else. Was going through almost a quart every 500 miles on ST HM blue jug but switched to green bottle Castrol HM and that seems to stay in the crankcase a lot better. But who knows what will better for you. If can get another 100k miles by switching to HM oils without too much drama, it's a win.
 
Well, I wouldn’t even say that.
My car doesn’t visibly consume any oil, the oil level stays the same through all the interval of 5000mls.
The engine is very clean inside, the old oil I drain still looks very clean. The seals are in surprisingly good condition, despite of the age, the engine is dry outside.
Because I want it to stay like that I use the Valvoline Maxlife. It contains much more ZDDP than any modern oil designed for fuel economy... This ZDDP works as a protective layer covering the critical parts e.g. the camshaft and reducing wear.
It also contains a lot of Calcium that ensures a good cleaning performance and the extra seal caring additives can’t hurt a 30 year old engine as well...
I would always say those HM oils can be a very good alternative for older engines with less miles.
smile.gif
 
My recommendation is to do one OCI with Valvoline Prenium Blue Restore, which was designed to clean rings and pistons with esters. Get the 10W-30 version. There is only one good place online to buy it that I found. If you search well, you’ll find it. It’s expensive at $71/gallon but in the grand scheme, the cost is minor. The esters should also cause the seals to swell some. After that, use some HM oil.
 
I would use Castrol Edge 0/40. Good stuff and low noack. I use it in my Acura 3.7L. Runs so smooth and so does vtech. Shell AU recommend 5/30. Honda engines aren't too picky about weight of oil
 
Maybe we should first make clear how and in what forms this oil consumption happens, we dont know how much it consumes and we don’t know if it burns it or leaks somewhere. We can’t tell if the consumption comes from dirt or wear, is the engine clean inside, how is the average driving profile?


If the spiston rings are sticky and the engine is dirty I would suggest running some sort of engine flush, then removing the spark plugs and soaking the cylinders in some sort of cleaner/detergent over night, the next day you suck that stuff out, change the oil for a good fully synthetic and see what happens with your consumption. If you have a dripping engine maybe try adding some Lecwec to the mixture, this contains higher concentrated leakblocking additives than any HM oil.

Many new engines have problems with burning oil due to under-engineered, sticky piston rings. As the car is quite new, I expect th seals to not be that much of a problem. I don’t think a car can be that seriously worn internally at such a relatively low age/mileage unless you use it for citydriving exclusively in super high/low temperatures...
 
Maybe try an HDEO? Have a family member's 2001 Altima that consumes a bit of 5W-30, HM or not. She'll have to top it off several times during an OCI. She just recently took a road trip to Oregon and I put Rotella 10W-30 in it since I already had it on hand and she would be doing a lot of freeway in high temperatures. She didn't have to add any oil the entire trip. The level on the dipstick was still above the midway mark when she got back to Utah. Perhaps worth a try in your application?
 
In a Prius, I'm using PPHM on this current OCI after a few cycles of MMO and Schaeffer's Neutra 131 with M1HM and Castrol Edge HM. I got the consumption down to 1qt/2000+miles. I'm interested in trying the Valvoline Cummins Restore stuff. 4-cylinder FWD Toyotas do have a knack about sludged up rings, especially the 1NZ/1ZZ/2AZ engines.

The latest PDS for SuperTech Synthetic HM shows it has one of the lowest NOACK values for a GIII oil, you'll need to switch to a PAO/ester-based oil like Red Line or Amsoil Signature Series if you want any lower.
 
AT-205 + Synthetic has helped with consumption issues more than synthetic HM oil has for me. Both are good at sealing minor leaks, but in consumption, I haven't noticed a difference with HM oil.
 
Originally Posted By: JAG
Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
In the Honda, I’m not sure if the Pilot was affected by this but other J series Hondas certainly were - the variable cylinder management causes oil consumption and here’s why.

When the second cylinder bank “shuts off”, those cylinders cool down. This makes the piston rings contract, causing blow-by, and that is exacerbated by the fact that the heating and cooling of those combustion chambers and rings cause carbon buildup. The rings get stuck with carbon deposits, making it so that they can’t seal to the cylinder wall as well, also causing blow-by.

I have this issue with my car and a real like tribologist (oil scientist) that I know outside of this forum recommended I run a high PAO oil to free up the stuck rings. I have read on this forum that PAO has zero cleaning abilities as told by armchair quarterbacks, but this is what this oil professional told me, so I’m trying it via Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 which has around 60% PAO content going off of its Safety Data Sheet. It’s too soon to tell if it worked. Previous to this change I ran Platinum HM which seemed to help but did not stop the oil loss, although for some reason consumption went up initially before dropping again with the Pennzoil. I would high reccomend running full synthetic oils in these engines to help prevent further deposits at least. And now with all the HM varieties of full synthetics you can get those seal swellers with them if so inclined.

Can you say whether that tribologist is a member here?
I said PAO is a lousy cleaner of engine deposits. Check the literature if you don’t believe it.


They are not a member of this forum.
 
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