I would find and fix all oil leaks and not depend upon HM oil to do that. Except maybe the rear main seal. That is a difficult seal to replace so if a HM oil could solve that leak then I would consider.
Best "high mileage" oil to stop leaks...
- Thread starter gregk24
- Start date
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am leaning toward Mobil 1 HM 5w30. A trusted full synthetic that I won't feel bad leaving in for a year (with a good oil filter) plus "high mileage" EXOM additives. Combined with the current rebate this seems like the best oil for my application for the money.
Maybe im old skool, but i would like to know where the leak was coming from. My mother called me years ago and said that oil was staining her driveway... turns out that the place she got her oil changed jacked the car up by the oil pan. Put a small crack in it. Ive also seen oil filters leak by becoming loose.
Could be something simple, could end up being something major.. you should look.
Could be something simple, could end up being something major.. you should look.
I’d try Bars RMS stop leak in just a vanilla oil personally. I’ve had good results.
HM oil wise, I had good results with M1 10w30 HM. It’s an A3/B3 oil too.
Are you sure it’s not a drain pan or valve cover gasket? HM oil won’t help with that.
HM oil wise, I had good results with M1 10w30 HM. It’s an A3/B3 oil too.
Are you sure it’s not a drain pan or valve cover gasket? HM oil won’t help with that.
The Vulcan is prone to dried out leaky oil pan gaskets and valve cover gaskets. They're too dried out for HM oil to have any affect. The good news is neither is very hard to replace. Yes for the oil pan you have to drop the starter and the y-pipe a bit but that's not hard, just irritating.
Flush that cooling system before the heater core clogs and the water pump rusts.
Flush that cooling system before the heater core clogs and the water pump rusts.
I've used AT205 Reseal (endorsed by Scotty!) in my usual loads of synthetic motor oils, and it has slowed/stopped weaps/minor leaks in my '95 Dodge Dakota's 3.9 V6, and my two airhead BMW motorcycles. I haven't seen as good a result from HM motor oils, FWIW, and I wouldn't be futzing around with higher viscosities to stop leaks. Sometimes, though, renewed gaskets are the better approach, particularly for a vehicle you'll be keeping and driving for awhile.
I've had good luck with ST HM 5W30. It stopped a weeping rear main on my wife's old Malibu Maxx.
I stayed with 5W30 and back then, I believe it was conventional HM.
I stayed with 5W30 and back then, I believe it was conventional HM.
Maxlife blend has dried up my jeep in the past. Now that I'm running supertech syn in it, valve cover gasket and oil filter adapter appear wet again. I'll be going back to high mileage oil next time. It works, despite what some say. It's a lot easier than messing around replacing gaskets on old cars for slight seeps.
One of mine was a front main seal and the other was a rear main seal. It doesn't stop leaking overnight and the trick is to catch it early. I only had to use the HM oil for one OCI and went back to non HM oil.
The one you put in the car after you have fixed what was leaking rather than this poor band-aid.
I use 10W30 Super Tech Full Synthetic HM in my riding mower and the push mower. I think it works reasonable well and is very reasonably priced. I switched them over this year from Mobil 1 HM. I noticed the leaking on the rider is gone now that I replaced the crankshaft seal... 
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
Funny how when someone posts on here that their car is old, tired, and leaking everyone recommends a high milage oil. Now here I am with an old, tired car asking for advice on which oil to use and many condemn using it and say to replace the seals .
Ah, BITOG.
Anyway, I ended up purchasing Mobil 1 high mileage 5w30 and a Fram Tough guard filter, I plan on installing this afternoon. The M1 rebate made this a no brainer. Thanks for the advice everyone! We will see how this goes.
.Ah, BITOG.
Anyway, I ended up purchasing Mobil 1 high mileage 5w30 and a Fram Tough guard filter, I plan on installing this afternoon. The M1 rebate made this a no brainer. Thanks for the advice everyone! We will see how this goes.
Same here. Good success on two different vehicles using M1 10w-30HM. I also supplement it w/a few ounces of Lubegard Biotech, which makes a difference, too, as it is ester-based. On one vehicle the M1 completely stopped the valve stem leaks and lifter tick within a few hundred miles (this was before I started adding the Biotech so it was the oil, not the supplement).
10w-30 will have more oil and less modifiers than 5w-30 or 10w-40; I'd use that unless you are going to race the Taurus.
BTW, the Mobil 1 is usually as cheap or cheaper than SuperTech if you use the Mobil rebate.
Drive more. Spend less.
Get a $25 Mobil 1TM Prepaid Visa® Card* when you purchase 10 quarts of Mobil 1TM motor oil. Offer valid for NAPA shoppers only—see store for details.
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It depends on the type of leak. Coincidentally I own the exact same engine so I was speaking from experience. I've seen the factory oil pan gaskets and know for a fact they're hard plastic-like material that no seal conditioner will touch. It's probably actually cracked too. Mine also burns a quart every 5k miles.Funny how when someone posts on here that their car is old, tired, and leaking everyone recommends a high milage oil. Now here I am with an old, tired car asking for advice on which oil to use and many condemn using it and say to replace the seals
Ah, BITOG.
Anyway, I ended up purchasing Mobil 1 high mileage 5w30 and a Fram Tough guard filter, I plan on installing this afternoon. The M1 rebate made this a no brainer. Thanks for the advice everyone! We will see how this goes.
Funny how when someone posts on here that their car is old, tired, and leaking everyone recommends a high milage oil. Now here I am with an old, tired car asking for advice on which oil to use and many condemn using it and say to replace the seals
Ah, BITOG.
Anyway, I ended up purchasing Mobil 1 high mileage 5w30 and a Fram Tough guard filter, I plan on installing this afternoon. The M1 rebate made this a no brainer. Thanks for the advice everyone! We will see how this goes.
I know. Some of these responses are asinine. Let's drop the tranny and replace the rear main and every seal on a 21 year old beater that leaves a couple of drops a week.
Nice choice on M1 with the rebate. Change it out and motor on. FWIW, the rear main on the Maxx I mentioned dripped only a few years after buying the car (it was a 2004). I started using HM periodically in '08/'09 and the drip never came back until we replaced the car in '18.
Regular high mileage or extended performance high mileage, the EP high mileage is actually cheaper after rebate.
I tried PHM in my Jeep that had a small Rear main leak. It still leaked. Then came Maxlife.
The leak stopped and hasn't returned for the past two years.
The leak stopped and hasn't returned for the past two years.
Precisely, it's like some of these guys are in their own little world. I want to see them actually take apart an old vehicle (and all the risks entailed when things don't come apart nicely after 2+ decades) for small leaks/seeps, rather than at least give HM oil a shot. I don't know if it's an OCD thing, because it's not based on logic. If it works it works. It's not even as if it is a large price premium.
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