Alternate thoughts on using HPL

[High Performance Lubricants]

I live in southern New England. Low temperatures in winter 0 degrees F (rare). Normal 15-25.
Summer, 90-100. Car is always garaged overnight.

My commute to work involves a long climb over a steep hill each day. We call it a mountain but that is optimistic lol.

Our PCMO oil will serve you well in your climate. It still contains AN and Ester to clean and keep clean.

David

 

[gregk24]

With a bit over 60K miles on the clock and 5K synthetic oil changes with a new filter every 10K, using oils you mentioned I can't imagine there is much of anything to clean up. FTR there's nothing wrong with giving HPL a shot if you're so inclined.

Well I have 70K on my Accord averaging less than 3,500 OCI's with Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 or Mobil 1 0w20 and the valve train has noticeable varnish. So in some cases HPL makes since even if the vehicle has been very well maintained.

 

[demarpaint]

Fortunately my oil filter is a cartridge. I check it at each oil change after letting it drain. Never any crud noticed.

You could run a quart of the engine cleaner and observe. It's a good way to prep an engine that has high miles on it or was neglected before switching over to the HPL oil. With 60K miles and the maintenance you described I have a feeling your engine is in fine shape, and you could

Well I have 70K on my Accord averaging less than 3,500 OCI's with Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 or Mobil 1 0w20 and the valve train has noticeable varnish. So in some cases HPL makes since even if the vehicle has been very well maintained.

Did it clean up the varnish for you? It's going into my 88 E-150 in another few weeks.

 

[1lieutenant]

You could run a quart of the engine cleaner and observe. It's a good way to prep an engine that has high miles on it or was neglected before switching over to the HPL oil. With 60K miles and the maintenance you described I have a feeling your engine is in fine shape, and you could

Did it clean up the varnish for you? It's going into my 88 E-150 in another few weeks.

As stated, I am currently running 1 qt HPL engine cleaner with Mobil 1 ESP 0w30. Will change the oil and filter at 5k and repeat for one more cycle.

 

[demarpaint]

As stated, I am currently running 1 qt HPL engine cleaner with Mobil 1 ESP 0w30. Will change the oil and filter at 5k and repeat for one more cycle.

I'll probably do two runs of it in my van. I have plenty of time to decide during the first run with it. I will also be running it a second time in my wife's 08 Liberty, I'll run it a full OCI.

 

[TiGeo]

To me, the near obsession with "cleaning" oils here on BITOG is out of wack. You use HPL b/c it's a high quality oil blended with the finest base stocks (sounds like a wine commercial) for those that want the best, even if "the best" may not make any meaningful difference in the users vehicle...we do lots of things like this as car enthusiasts. Franken-mixes with this and that - why bother? Run the EC product as its intention is to help dissolve deposits (that every engine has some of regardless of what oil you've used or what OCI) and run the HPL all-in or just stick with M1 or whatever.

 

[gregk24]

You could run a quart of the engine cleaner and observe. It's a good way to prep an engine that has high miles on it or was neglected before switching over to the HPL oil. With 60K miles and the maintenance you described I have a feeling your engine is in fine shape, and you could

Did it clean up the varnish for you? It's going into my 88 E-150 in another few weeks.

It’s only been in for maybe 300 miles. No significant changes yet.

 

[wpod]

With your maintenance schedule Jiffy lube oil and filters will let the engine out last your ownership of the vehicle.

 

[1lieutenant]

With your maintenance schedule Jiffy lube oil and filters will let the engine out last your ownership of the vehicle.

Probably right, but this is BITOG! Always looking for something better. Kind of like an asymptote for all you math majors.

 

[chrlsful]

that's the point (to me). Extra expense is for extra duty (tow, hi RPMs, dusty, hi speed/long duration, extreme temp, poor coolant system, extra
But, each of us is different (thank ye gods).
8^ )

 

[FZ1]

I have been following the HPL threads with great interest. There is no doubt in my mind that this oil is superior to "off the shelf" synthetics. I have questions as to whether the extra expense is worth it.

A bit of background:
I have been changing the oil in my 2015 Lexus GS350 with 0w-20 Mobil 1 AFE, Mobil 1 0w-30 ESP or Castrol 0w-20 Edge extending performance at 5K intervals with oil filter change at 10K intervals since new. The filter comes out perfectly clean at these intervals. The car now has a bit over 60K miles.

At the last oil change, I added one quart of HPL engine cleaner in place of one quart of oil to do a bit of engine cleaning. I will be changing the oil and filter at 5K and repeating this process for one additional oil change. Here are my questions/thoughts in order of increasing expenses.
1. This alone should be sufficient to clean anything left behind in previous oil changes and I will just continue what I was doing initially.
2. Go back to my initial oil change protocol, but substitute one quart of Mobil 1 or Castrol with HPL super car oil.
3. Run one oil change with HPL super car formula for 10K and then go back to what I was doing initially with the addition of one quart HPL super car per oil change (or not).

I realize running the HPL oil for all future oil changes would be ideal but at approximately $120 for each oil change this would be about twice the cost of the above mentioned oils. It is only twice the cost because I figured in changing HPL every 10K and the previous synthetic oils at 5K.

By the way, I drive about 15K per year.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Did you notice any noise, running, or mpg, differences with the oils you mentioned, above?

 

[1lieutenant]

Did you notice any noise, running, or mpg, differences with the oils you mentioned, above?

My average gas mileage does not change whether I use 0w20 or 0w30. My driving habits and commute routes have not changed in decades so I figure average fuel mileage calculations should be comparable. The engine is not any noisier with 0w20 than 0w30 nor is it more sluggish with the higher viscosity oil.

Not noted in my initial statement, but one of the oils I used, Idemitsu 0w20 seemed quieter than the rest. Purely anecdotal.

 

[FZ1]

My average gas mileage does not change whether I use 0w20 or 0w30. My driving habits and commute routes have not changed in decades so I figure average fuel mileage calculations should be comparable. The engine is not any noisier with 0w20 than 0w30 nor is it more sluggish with the higher viscosity oil.

Not noted in my initial statement, but one of the oils I used, Idemitsu 0w20 seemed quieter than the rest. Purely anecdotal.

Thank you for this info.

 

[2015Corolla]

Change the oil once a year with HPL?

 

[demarpaint]

Change the oil once a year with HPL?

Or longer with a UOA and filter inspection along the way. The product holds up very well for long OCI's and that would be a very efficient way to utilize and make it cost effective going forward. I'd speak to David, he'll take the time to explain the best way to utilize the product.

 

[High Performance Lubricants]

Change the oil once a year with HPL?

This, with our standard PCMO. Keep it full and it will work well.

David

 

[1lieutenant]

This, with our standard PCMO. Keep it full and it will work well.

David

David,
I greatly appreciate your input. I know just switching to HPL would be ideal, but I just can’t bring myself to what would be 1 year/15k mile oil change. Would there be any downside to completion of two 5k mile oil changes with 1 qt of HPL engine cleaner (doing this now). Follow this with a full 10k oil change interval using HPL 0w20 and then go back to my 5k mile oil change with “off the shelf “ synthetic with one qt of HPL as a maintenance dose?

 

[TiGeo]

David,
I greatly appreciate your input. I know just switching to HPL would be ideal, but I just can’t bring myself to what would be 1 year/15k mile oil change. Would there be any downside to completion of two 5k mile oil changes with 1 qt of HPL engine cleaner (doing this now). Follow this with a full 10k oil change interval using HPL 0w20 and then go back to my 5k mile oil change with “off the shelf “ synthetic with one qt of HPL as a maintenance dose?

Why not do 10K changes?

 

[1lieutenant]

Why not do 10K changes?

I realize there are many people on this forum doing 10k oil changes with excellent results. tig1 (I think) comes to mind. I just can’t bring myself to do this with the synthetic oils I have been using. I would go 10k with HPL, but the cost differential would be double. If the lowest tire HPL PCMO came in 0w20 or 0w30 I would do this in a heartbeat.

 

[RDY4WAR]

HPL PCMO Premium 0W-20 in a 4 gallon case would be $230.37 after discount, taxes, and flat rate 2nd day shipping. That's $14.40/qt.

Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 is ~$30 after taxes at your local Walmart for a 5 quart jug which is ~$6/qt.

Your engine requires 6.5 quarts (IIRC) of oil. Say you went ahead and bought 3 jugs of Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 to have 15 quarts on hand.

Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 = $6/qt x 6.5 quarts = $39 per oil change
HPL PCMO 0W-20 = $14.40/qt x 6.5 quarts = $93.60 per oil change

Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 = $39 / 5,000 miles = $7.80 per 1,000 miles
HPL PCMO 0W-20 = $93.60 / 15,000 miles = $6.24 per 1,000 miles

So you see, the HPL is actually cheaper in the long run. It can easily handle 15,000 mile annual OCIs. I went 20,500 miles on their 5W-20 recently (not even the premium) and still had good TBN, no shear, wear rates normal, etc...