HM Oils: Preventative or Curative

[Finz]

Not even sure curative is a word...

Simple question on High Mileage Oils: I know they are designed to condition seals (curative)

For an older car with increasing mileage and no apparent leaks, might an High Mileage Oil be preventative in anticipation of hardening seals?

Maybe not every oil change for a migh mileage, non leaker, but every other one? Every third?

Or does it not work that way? Once you start using it, you have to keep using it....?

 

[Merkava_4]

Some High Mileage oils not only have seal conditioners, but added viscosity and extra cleaning agents too.

 

[Hermann]

Biased here as I have had great results with Maxlife. It has reduced the leakage by about 85% on the pushrod tube seals on my BMW air cooled motorcycle. It has been working for about 10 years now. Started using it when leakage was a qt every 1K, now in 2500 miles it will use about 6-8 oz per 2.5K oil change. So curative, yes. Had the valve covers off this spring and it is clean as can be, with just a hint of varnish. Its been a good solution for a expensive $500 or so repair. As for as preventative goes, we will see in another 23 years.

 

[gregk24]

I would only use HM if you need too. If your engine is in good shape then any quality conventional or syn should keep it going.

 

[actionstan]

I've too wondered if High Mileage oils are good for preventitive. The lowest "quality" of oil a local shop near me offers is Next Gen Maxlife they don't offer any conventional oil at all. The labels on High Mileage oil say to start at 75,000 my guess is this is mainly marketing.

 

[chubbs1]

There is no documented proof that I have ever found nor have I ever seen a case where switching to High Mileage oils necessitated staying with them. You can use as you want and go back and forth if you want to do so. I have to agree that Maxlife in particular is a great oil and really cleans well while slowing leaks. If you have no leaks no need to go High Mileage but it sure does not hurt. I use it every once and a while in my relatively new engines.

 

[Barkleymut]

if I use anything but Maxlife (including Defy) in my wifes van it starts leaking pretty quickly. About a quart every thousand miles.

My Saturn has way more miles but doesn't burn/leak a drop on non High Mileage oils.

 

[fdcg27]

It's not that simple a question.
Maxlife SB is probably one of Valvoline's better oils.
You might use it for it own sake, not just because you're seeing consumption or leaks.
OTOH, if you have neither excessive consumption nor leaks, there are a host of good oils available.
High mileage alone will not necessarily results in either leaks or consumption, and 75K isn't very high.
I've had 200K+ cars that neither consumed nor leaked any noticeable amount of oil and so have many others.

 

[Lyman]

I tried Pennzoil High Mileage in my Ranger due to a little seeping I had. I looked at the ad pack and it was about the same as Pennzoil conventional. My truck stopped the seeping within the first 800 miles. It doesn't use a drop now during a 5k OCI. I plan on sticking with it.

 

[artificialist]

High Mileage oils could extend engine life if the engine benefited from a slightly higher than normal viscosity. It could also be a benefit, as High Mileage oils are almost always syn-blend which may be an advantage in an engine that usually got conventional oil only.

High Mileage oils typically have extra detergent, and in engines that generate more sludge and varnish than normal, this could be considered a preventative measure. Other High Mileage oils also have extra ZDDP. I see this as a preventative measure in flat lifter OHV engines that were rebuilt recently.

I used Maxlife for a few oil changes in a Honda I used to have, and it did slow leaking and consumption. The final oil change I gave it was Pennzoil conventional, and it didn't cause any leaks, but I sold it soon afterward.