Damaged Engine: Which oil to use?

[chucky2]

KieferS- Oh, I'm not worried about masking the problem, I'll tell them about it so they'll take it as easy as possible on the thing. I'm just looking for the best protection at a reasonable price...since their going to have to keep dumping oil into it, no $5 a quart oils here unless they'd somehow stop the leaking.

As for Fram, I don't use them anymore. Way too many horror stories around, and their cheap construction vs. their price vs. the price of the their competitors that do use good construction make them not a worthwhile buy at best.

Chuck

P.S. For anyone wondering, No, I didn't overtighten the filter.

 

[427Z06]

I'd run an AutoRX cycle through it with some inexpensive quality dino. It won't fix any worn parts, but if the oil coked up in certain parts engine during your 'incident', it may help.

 

[Frank D]

I'm betting on installer's error and not the manufacturer's error. I love how Fram is at fault for everything. Come to think of it, one of our trucks at work was towed in the other night with a siezed motor. It had a Fram filter on it. That's why it seized. It had nothing to do with the stuck closed thermostst that let the motor overheat or the loose nut behind the wheel who kept driving the overheating truck.

 

[tsmay51]

Fram may be a bad filter but the gasket not sealing or coming apart could happen with any brand filter. I don't imagine a wix or mobil one has a filter gasket of any better quality. A gasket is a gasket. I have used frams in the past when I didn't know any better. As far as fit and installation never a problem. I miss using them from a convenience stand point but after reading about them on here I have quit using them.

 

[mcrn]

I think the autorx idea is good, it cant hurt thats for sure. I do not agree with tsmay51 that a gasket is a gasket. There is a difference in quality in just about everything. All rubber parts are not the same so why would you think a gasket in a yugo for example would be of the same quality of the gasket in say a mercedes? I know we are talking about oil filters but we are also talking about gaskets being gaskets. I would think and hope that the gasket on an Amsoil filter thats garunteed for 15K miles or 25K miles whatever it is is of better quality than a fram.

 

[Gary Allan]

I wouldn't sweat the potential damage to the engine. Do the Auto-Rx as 427 suggested and just use any 10w-30 or 5w-30. I wouldn't sweat anything short of a rod knock or bearing rumble. The valve train can attain such lame characteristics with never having been subjected to this one time insult.

Relax. The way you're describing it ..it will perhaps consume some more oil. Just obsess on having them check it frequently.

 

[dwendt44]

Had a bad filter gasket on a new car, it was an AC.
Not as bad as this though. I had a oil pressure switch blow out on the hyway, lost most of the oil (Chevy 3.1), mechanic said computer would have shut motor down if no pressure at all, thinks nothing serious happened.
Still doesn't use any more oil than before.

Valve cover gaskets are fairly easy to change, Aerostar is a rear drive van IIRC.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would try running a quart of MMO through it. If it the noise is from varnished up lifters this will usualy fix it cheap! AUto-Rx is even better way to go but it cost a lot more and requires the user to follow some instructions. I have no idea how much you want to spend or if your family member can be trusted to change the oil after 1500 mile cleaning phase that Auto-Rx recomends.

 

[tsmay51]

Do you think the manufacturer of an oil filter makes the gaskets? I doubt it. I would almost bet they are outsourced. Odds are there are probably 3 or 4 manufacturers of the gaskets for filters and they supply the different oil filter companies. I do agree that internal seals and gaskets on some cars are different though. That's like comparing apples and oranges though. Internal stuff has to have much tighter tolerances and hold up to a different environment.

 

[ziggy]

Ide try to stay with high mileage dino oils...
like pennzoil, or try a oW or 5w 40 oil. Look at the oil spec data sheets here, and look for hte highest viscosity index number, the higher that number, the happier your bearings and rods will be. In your situation, you could try synthetic also, a true full synthetic, like mobile 1, royal purple looks like a thicker synthetic!, redline, or german castrol!
frams are garbage anyway, i used them msot of my life on various cars. Thier okay for short 3 month oil changes, with the exception of of the x2
ones. Thier thicker paper media in it.

 

[hotrat]

If I were you I would not try to fix it by pouring expensive oil into a bad motor, or cleaning it internally either, I would just put some marvel mystery oil into it once, supposed to help lube top ends, and then run the cheapest 10w40 I could find, and just make sure to have them keep it full, check it every time they fill the tank, anything more would be a waste of money in my opinion because it just needs oil. Now if the MMO helps it enough that there is a definate difference then go ahead and use it frequently. There is no liquid fix for loss of oil pressure, other than to regain it, which you have.

 

[KieferS]

id run something thick- its a van anyway. I'd do like a 15w40, auto rx it, and use cheap Havoline for the life of the engine.

 

[chucky2]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies!

427Z06- I've considered that myself, the Auto-RX, as I have an unused bottle right here I've been itching to use. However, at the rate this thing leaks oil out the valve cover gaskets, I'm not really sure how effective it'd be. Of course, I have my dad's recollection of how much it leaked, which may not be all that accurate. It's pretty much sat for at least a year now, so I think I'll change the oil in it and check in with them every week at first to see how bad it's really leaking it. If they can go 500 miles without it burning off a couple of quarts, then I'll risk an Auto-RX run on it, it'd be interesting just for the sake of intersting at least.

Frank D- Nope, didn't overtighten the filter. I put it on just like every other filter I've put on, it hits the base, and I go a turn and a half. Incidentally, my Plymouth Acclaim had the same fate happen to me with, you guessed it, a Fram. I lucked out on that one though: I came out of class and was parked nose up on a slight incline. I got to see bunch of my brand new Mobil-1 Tri-Synthetic on the ground. Again, Thanks Fram! I guess I just personally have bad luck...

mcrn- I don't either...but like I described to 427Z06, the rate of seepage from the valve cover gaskets may make Auto-RX impossible to use here. We'll just have to see...

Gary Allan- Thanks for the opinions! It may very well be either of those conditions you described, however I'm not a mechanic so I cannot comment for sure. I know previous to my little low oil highway jaunt, the engine ran with no noises at all, very smooth (for a Ford 4.0L OHV V-6). However, after the incident, it now has like a cyclic (in period and duration) sort of tapping or knock or something like that. Tomorrow night hopefully the battery will be charged enough I can get a guage on what it sounds like again...it's been a year at least since I've heard it because we never run it.

dwendt44- Yep, it's RWD, however the engines in Aerostars are like buried way back in the engine bay. My dad asked the local mechanic who we trust mostly how much it'd cost to fix it (because other than the smoking done at stoplights from the oil leaking out of the gaskets, it's a great runner), and the mechanic shot him a look and said something like, "Oils lots cheaper. I don't think you want to know how much it'll take to fix it...I'd have to drop the engine just to get to the problem." Suffice to say, we've been going the add new oil route.

JohnBrowning- I don't think it's varnished lifters...whatever the low oil situation caused, it caused in about 5 hours/280 miles. Unless varnish can form that quickly, it's not varnish. MMO I'd be willing to try, do you know how long it takes to work?

ziggy- I'm not really up on the high mileage oil bit, you don't happen to have a short synopsis of what's good or a good link do ya? If not that's cool, I'll do some searching here too. Do the high milages have some better benefits for an engine like this? The 5W-40 diesel oils I'd be willing to try, like Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40, however any of the true synthetics I wouldn't, as their just going to leak out and be expensive smoke coming from underneath the van.

hotrat- Interesting advice, and another vote for MMO. Looks like it may be going in this ride... You think a 10W-40 PCMO over a 10W-30 or 5W-40 HDEO would be a better choice?

KieferS- I've seen 15W-40 flow, albeit in Chicago cold winter, and it was not flow inspiring. Unless I need to go up to a 15W-40 to stop the tapping - which I will if I have to - I'm not going that route.

Maybe an option for this thing, depending on how fast the seepage is, is to use like a 10W-30 HDEO and a quart of Redline in it for the esters (polarity) and the Moly. Or, something like SLOB or VSOT, cheap and carries high loads of anti-wear.

I guess at this point all options are open until I find out how bad the leakage really is.

Thanks again for all the opinions!

Chuck

 

[JackFish]

Tighten the valve cover bolts up to spec. Not too tight though, if they were overtightened at any time then the flange on the cover could be a bit mishaped and might need a little work. Maybe take the covers off to check the condition of the gaskets.
The lifters will clatter without oil pressure, especially at cold start-up.
And if the filter was overtightened it may have crushed the gasket.

 

[chucky2]

OK, back a few years ago I changed the oil on a 1992 Ford Aerostar 4.0L V-6 OHV with 5 quarts of Castrol GTX and a Fram filter, loaded all my dorm room stuff, and went on a 280 mile highway drive at 65mph (cruise set and not stopping once) to get my g/f, and then we'd go to the dorms to move in.

As I was getting off on her exit, I kicked off the cruise and noticed the engine was running a little rough. As I got on the road the exit comes out on, the oil guage, which had been in the middle unmoving the whole trip down, starting bouncing from where it had been, to 0, and then back. The oil light also came on and off. I shut it down as soon as I could and went through a couple of start up and shut downs.

End verdict: I had about a quart/quart and a half of oil in the engine at the end of the trip before shutting it down. The gasket on the Fram filter split allowing oil to blow out the split and out the underside of the van. Thanks Fram!

Now, the van has this tapping noise that comes on and off. It also leaks oil out the valve covers onto the engine, but it did that before

It hasn't been run in a long time, but my cousin and her husband need another vehicle, so we're probably going to give them this one.

I'm wondering if something like Rotella T 10W-30 would be a good fit for this, given the (whatever it is) damage that occurred.

Or maybe, Rotella T 10W-30 and a quart of Redline or something like that.

I'd order some of MolaKule's SX-UP, however given how much leaks out from the valve covers, the cost really isn't justifiable.

Any thoughts or observations here?

Chuck

 

[KieferS]

Well- no oil is going to fix any damage that happend, but maybe use a thick oil to mask the problem? But wow- i never liked fram, but i never used it either, i always went by what people told me, but after reading this, i'll never use fram.

 

[chucky2]

JackFish- I'll have to pop drive tunnel cover and see if I can see the valve cover bolts and if so, if I can even get back there to tighten them. For those that haven't seen an Aerostar engine setup, believe me, there is like no space to do anything on top of the engine. This isn't they put a plastic cover over the engine, this is they burried the engine under the windshield and almost inside the front passenger compartment.

I highly doubt the valve cover bolts have ever been touched though. Taking the valve covers off is not going to happen, unless my recollection of the space in there has been greatly skewed from the last time I looked.

Again, I didn't overtighten either Fram filter that has failed on me.

Chuck

 

[ekpolk]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tsmay51:
Do you think the manufacturer of an oil filter makes the gaskets? I doubt it. I would almost bet they are outsourced. Odds are there are probably 3 or 4 manufacturers of the gaskets for filters and they supply the different oil filter companies. (...snip...)

---

Fram remains responsible for the quality of the pieces they choose to include in their products. Do you work for Fram or something? Hey, he bought a Fram filter, not an "ABC O-Ring Enterprises" filter.

Having personally dissected multiple filters from Fram, Champ Labs (several brands), Puro, etc., I'd be much more willing to believe this is a maniufacturer-specific problem than I would be with the other makers. Of course, that's just my guess, but it's a well educated one. The Fram lovers and apologists can keep their orange cans. For virtually the same money, I can have so much better a product from several different suppliers.

 

[DaveJ]

Chucky, use a good filter and a cheep but good oil like Chevron Supreme 10W40 or 5W30. You could try a quart of MMO for 500 miles and then dump it. I wouldent throw good money at a vehicle thats about 3/4 used up. My 2 cents, DaveJ

 

[texasproud]

One and one half revolutions after the filter contacts the base ? I thought the instructions on the filter is 1/4 turn after contact ? Maybe overtightening and spliting the gasket ?