HM from the start?

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One discussion that I have never seen presented (I may, of course, just missed it): Why not run HM oils right from the start?
It seems that many here are fans of HM oils. If the makers of these oil say they help to condition seals to prevent them from leaking, and help prevent deposits and sludge from forming, help to keeps engines cleaner, etc., etc. Why wait?
I mean, if a person goes out and spends a ton of money on a new vehicle, they should run regular oil for the first 75k miles; and the seals will begin to harden, sludge and deposits will begin to form in the engine, etc., then after 75k miles a person should switch to a HM oil to fix all of the problems that have begun to develop?
This really doesn't pertain to me, as every vehicle that own has over 100k miles on it, but I have never heard this brought up before.
Thanks all.
 
Pretty much all oil companies says you can use HM oil from the beginning. The 75,000 mile is just there for marketing. As long as the oil meets the manufacturer specs, I don't see that there is anything wrong using it from the start.
 
Very good question. I was wondering about the same. Not I have a follow-up question. Can you use HM oil once in a while? Meaning switch back and forth between Hm and non-HM oil? Some threads I got an impression that once you start using HM, you have to continue using it.
 
Since new seals are a required a specific durometer, I think a high mileage oil that is stated to soften seals may lower the durometer too much.I think I will just use the standard oil for the first 75K miles. Ed
 
I know someone personally that used hm quaker state in a 2000 Grand am 2.4L the majority of it's life that ran like a top and didn't leak or use any between changes until it was destroyed by a truck texting and driving. Mileage was 185k when it got hit and scrapped.
 
Don't. Seal swellers (dubiously called conditioners) are meant to increase the size of the seal to make up for wear, while necessarily decreasing its density so it wears that much faster. Using one then switching back to non-HM oil can make the leak worse than if you'd never used it.

If this was beneficial for new engines, it wouldn't be called high mileage oil, but consider that engines now last a long longer than they used to. 75K miles decades ago is more like double that today.

I'd never use it at any engine mileageunless I had unacceptable oil loss and as a last ditch effort to keep it running a bit longer while I contemplated what to do next (unless it was a rarely used vehicle).
 
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I think most guys here only use it to try a fix a leaking issue and not as a preventative like it's intended/marketed to be used. I'm seriously thinking of switching to Valvoline HM soon in my Lucerne.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
Don't. Seal swellers (dubiously called conditioners) are meant to increase the size of the seal to make up for wear, while necessarily decreasing its density so it wears that much faster. Using one then switching back to non-HM oil can make the leak worse than if you'd never used it.

If this was beneficial for new engines, it wouldn't be called high mileage oil, but consider that engines now last a long longer than they used to. 75K miles decades ago is more like double that today.

I'd never use it at any engine mileageunless I had unacceptable oil loss and as a last ditch effort to keep it running a bit longer while I contemplated what to do next (unless it was a rarely used vehicle).




^this - 100%
if it aint broke - dont try fixing it.
 
^^ It's not a preventative, rather the opposite it stops leaks at the expense of seal swelling to do so. If the manufacturer felt that larger, lower density seals were an improvement, that's what they would've used in the engine in the first place.
 
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Used on low mileage cars and switched back and forth. Don't think it makes much difference. Mostly marketing hype although there might be raised conditioners, that's not the same as swellers. Can't change my own oil. Used to have coupons for $10 extra for MaxLife, now it's three or four times as much. Back to VWB with no probs.
 
This has been kicked around numerous time here and as far as I can remember it's been just talk. Nobody has offered any hard evidence that HM oils really do much of anything other than make oil companies big money.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
Don't. Seal swellers (dubiously called conditioners) are meant to increase the size of the seal to make up for wear, while necessarily decreasing its density so it wears that much faster. Using one then switching back to non-HM oil can make the leak worse than if you'd never used it.

If this was beneficial for new engines, it wouldn't be called high mileage oil, but consider that engines now last a long longer than they used to. 75K miles decades ago is more like double that today.

I'd never use it at any engine mileageunless I had unacceptable oil loss and as a last ditch effort to keep it running a bit longer while I contemplated what to do next (unless it was a rarely used vehicle).



That's hogwash..if anything you said was true, oil mfgs would have to slap a big RED warning sign on HiMi bottles to CYA themselves. Anecdotally, I've got nearly 170k miles on my engine and from day one I've switched back and forth from HiMi to vanilla. In fact I've got RGT in the sump right now and prior to that I ran Havoline HiMi syn blend and prior to that Kendall GT1 and after this run of RGT I plan on using M1 HiMi. I guess I should expect my engine seals to grenade any day now according to you!
lol.gif
..oh, and at 170k miles of going back and forth, I don't burn a lick of oil that I can discern between oil changes. 5.5 goes in.. and 5k miles later apprx 5.5 comes out.
 
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Originally Posted by csandste
Used on low mileage cars and switched back and forth. Don't think it makes much difference. Mostly marketing hype although there might be raised conditioners, that's not the same as swellers. Can't change my own oil. Used to have coupons for $10 extra for MaxLife, now it's three or four times as much. Back to VWB with no probs.

Whoa! The oil change places actually charge that much more for HM? Apparently I'm in the wrong business, especially since the retail cost of HM oil is only about $1 more than regular for a 5qt jug.

Regardless, both my cars have also gone back and forth between HM and non-HM in both Valvoline and Pennzoil flavors with no problems. I therefore don't foresee any problems using HM oil from day 1 (although I didn't start using HM until 49k in one of my cars. I bought the other car used, so no idea what the PO put in
 
iirc and based on what I've read on bitog, HM oil is just marketing ... I've never bought one. Use a grade higher if you want a little thicker oil.

If HM has seal conditioner, then it makes you think regular oil has no seal conditioner ... That logic doesn't make sense and that's why I've always avoided HM oils.

However if I see a commercial that an actress is adding some face lotion/conditioner to a jug of engine oil, then I may buy it.
grin2.gif
 
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Originally Posted by NH73
Actually, motor oil today all have seal conditioners additives in them.

Yep..
 
I've run lots of trucks to 250K plus miles on regular Dino oil
No HM stuff
So I personally think it's a waste of money
 
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