Anyone else notice difference - Maxlife reg versus

[Ramblin Fever]

the synthetic?

Curious if anyone else noticed a difference in their vehicle idling smoother as well as seemingly more get-up.

Ran 10w30 regular Maxlife in the summer; then used 5w30 regular Maxlife for a 4k oci; just yesterday put in Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 10w30.

Idle was kind of rough on the 5w30 regular, almost like it had a slight miss; didn't think anything about it being oil related until I was out driving today on the Synthetic - truck's smooth as silk.

Can't imagine there are any *big* differences between these two oils.

Engine has 166k miles, raised on Havoline 10w30

 

[AndyH]

Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 5w30: 11.65 @ 100°C (cSt)
Valvoline MaxLife (conventional) 5w30: 10.61 @ 100°C (cSt)

So the MaxLife Synthetic is 1 cSt thicker than the conventional MaxLife. The could make your engine idle smoother.

 

[sefocus]

is the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic better than pp i have 67,500 mile on the car

 

[TallPaul]

I'd take the Maxlife Synthetic over anything but Redline, Amsoil, or other Group V and IV oils. Is Maxlife Synthetic better than PP? In some ways I believe it is: 1) it's thinker, 2) if it indeed has PAO (Valvo techs say it does), that's better, 3) has about 300 ppm moly (does PP?).

 

[INDYMAC]

I prefer the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 10w30 in my Honda S2000 (30K), but prefer Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 in my Toyota Tundra (125K). I've received excellent used oil analysis on both lubricants in both cars, but this is my preference for now. My G35 (59K) currently has Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, but has seen Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 5w30 before. I will compare used oil analysis on the next drain and fill.
As a rule, I don't believe in one size fits all. So asking which is the best is a trick question IMO.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Good info - thanks.

I'm definitely not asking which one is best, I do believe one has to figure that out on their own for each vehicle; you're right, there are no rules or one size fits all.

Definitely will stick with the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 10w30 permanently at this point; do believe truck likes the thicker edge.

This is good down to say, -15F?

 

[INDYMAC]

Wow, I haven't seen -15F since I lived in Winter Park, CO. back in the 70's (some mornings were below -40F!). If that's your situation, I would recommend you switch to 5W30 Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic and get a heater. FWIW, I like the Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 better for very cold weather starts in my V-8 Tundra. That's my only reason for a preference over Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic in the truck.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Yeap, I'm in the same neck of woods, roughly.

Couldn't find ANY 5w30 here, at least not within a 40 mile radius, got tired of looking frankly. Colorado's on a shortage of a lot of things due to our weird weather lately.

It's typically normal to go down to -5F, but it *can* get down to -15F; the end of this week for instance is supposed to get real cold.

If it matters any, it seems to fire right up immediately with the 10w30 synthetic versus the 5w30 regular it had in it before. Is there a reason for this?

 

[TallPaul]

Maxlife Synthetic Product Data Sheet says

Parameter: 5w30, 10w30

Vis @ 100C (cSt): 11.8, 11.8
Vis @ 40C (cSt): 74, 71.6
Viscosity Index: 154, 160
Pour Point (C): -42, -42
CCS cP: 6000@-30C, 4700@-25C
MRV TP-1 cP: 18700@-35C, 12700@-30C

Those are some pretty impressive cold properties numbers. Compared to Synpower 10w30, the Maxlife has lower pour point and MRV. Hey, 5w20 All Climate is not much better:

Pour -36C
CCS: 4400@-30
MRV: 16000@-35

 

[427Z06]

Does Maxlife Synthetic pass any of the manufacturers cold temperature requirements like DCX MS-6395, MS-10797 or GM 6094M, 4781M? What about just the Sequence IIIGA?

 

[TallPaul]

It lists on the product sheet:

API SM/SL/CF
ACEA A3/B3/B4/C3
BMW Longlife 04
Volkswagen 502.00, 505.00, 505,01
DiamlerChrysler MB 229.3, 229.31, 229.5, 229.51

This is the current product sheet as they emailed it to me a couple weeks ago.

 

[Drew99GT]

Quote:

---

Does Maxlife Synthetic pass any of the manufacturers cold temperature requirements like DCX MS-6395, MS-10797 or GM 6094M, 4781M? What about just the Sequence IIIGA?

---

I'd imagine it would just looking at the CCS and MRV numbers. However, 15 below? That's pushing it!!!

Ramblin, I guess your gonna find out by the end of this weekend.

10 to 15 below forecast on the back side of the next storm coming through the front range! If you're up in the mountains, FORGET IT!!! Over 30 below. Big mass of continental polar air straight from the arctic coming our way.

 

[Drew99GT]

Looks downright balmy up in eastern Alaska.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Yeap, guess I'll find out, this particular truck's too long to fit in the garage; don't have a block heater for it either.

Thinking of maybe setting up a heat lamp under it; the two other outside rigs are just as susceptable, but one is running GC, the other a cummins diesel won't be getting drove, but it has a heater.

Hmm, guess I'll let y'all know at the end of the week!

 

[Drew99GT]

I started my car at 15 below last winter with 10w30 trop artic synthetic blend with a full bottle of CD-2 oil additive mixed in. It fired up but was pretty nasty sounding, most likely because the CD-2 really thickened it up. Trop Artic by itself has cold weather properties equal to Amsoil ATM 10w30 or Mobil 1.

Maxlife synthetic has a higher CCS number than those two, but the MRV is right on target with the above mentioned oils. Bottom line, it may be rough, but it will be alright, especially if the battery is in good shape. something like Valvoline All Climate 10w30 has a MRV number twice what the Maxlife synthetic has. If you had that in the crankcase, I'd be begging you to drain it out!!!

 

[JGmazda]

I just started using ML 5w30 in my 94' Miata. I've tried just about every other oil including GC. So far I'm impressed by the way my engine starts and the smooth feeling. I know much is subjective here but??? I'm liking it!

I don't know why this oil isn't near the top of everyone's "A-list"? It's got great specs and it's so far... doing very well in my car.

 

[INDYMAC]

If I still had to deal with the extreme cold of Winter Park in January and February without a block heater, I would use Amsoil's best 0W30 and never look back. Since I live in Texas now, Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic and Pennzoil Platinum suit my needs very well. Good luck next week.

 

[Drew99GT]

Winter Park/Fraser river valley is one of the coldest spots in North America darn near. 40 below up there is pretty normal. I'd be using the best 0w-20 I could find if I lived up there.

Were you a ski bum up there Indy?

 

[INDYMAC]

I was kind of a ski bum, but a little more responsible. I always dreamed of skiing in CO while growing up in PA. So after college I got a sales job that covered CO, WY, and NE. I chose to live in WP. So if it snowed, I skiied; if it didn't, I worked. It was great, but decided to go fly naval aircraft in 1981. That was awesome too! Now go find a hot "toddy" and try to thaw out!

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Well, have no idea how cold it actually is, but it's colder out now then it was this morning, which was -5F with a windchill factor of -16F.

I know vehicles don't feel the windchill - but *I* did running out to start everything.

Everyone fired right up like they were born running, I want to say that the Rodeo with the Maxlife 10w30 synthetic actually fired up faster then the Tacoma 3.4L with GC 0w30 and much younger mileage did.

BUT, to give the GC & Tacoma the benefit of the doubt, the Rodeo has a much higher cold cranking battery in it. Which the Tacoma will have as well, when the OEM battery dies.

Neither vehicle had the comforts of a heater of any sorts and sit out in the open.

I will advise further in the morning, supposed to get even colder overnight.

So far I have no fears of running this 10w30 synthetic, Isuzu's are notorious for sucking in a lot of air on a cold start, and you can hear an Isuzu a mile away, but other then that, I didn't hear any unusual oil-starvation noises.