M1 HM - 500k Mile Challenge

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
My car made it to 571k using bulk oil changes every 8-9k. Just saying. Still going strong at almost 576k after I took over the maintenance on it after buying it. Still squeaky clean under the valve cover, too. By the way, that test never actually states which Mobil 1 product they used. In regard to BigCahuna's post above, everything on the Accord still works perfectly fine, from the A/C to the heated mirrors and heated seats to the power seats and 6 CD changer. The underside is still extremely clean, especially for a Michigan car. All panels are original, down to the windshield and stone pitted bumper and hood.


How many miles on the Honda when you bought it?

 

[jj51702]

Awesome. How many miles do you drive per year? Also do you follow hondas recommended service intervals on everything else?

 

[njohnson]

I like Mobil 1 oils, and use them in our vehicles and equipment. They hold up better in high heat and hard use better then other oils we have tried. Having said that, I agree with other people here, this probably isn't the best test. A couple thoughts, and I'm just throwing them out here.

1. Mobil said they chose the best selling car in America. It is a Toyota Camry. Toyota know how to build really great engines and Camry have good engines, so, you almost expect good results from the test.

2. Mobil 1 is a great oil, no doubt, a good test of the wear protection would be in a car that gets around the city in stop and go traffic, going to multiple stores where the engine is stopped and then started back up, driven to another store, stopped, then started back up again. Also, if the driver shifts into gear basically immediately after starting up the engine. If you could set up a test with those conditions and manage to rack up 500,000 miles doing so (it would take a long time probably), it would be interesting to see the engine torn down and inspect the internal parts.

3. This is the one that has me curious, and I wish Mobil would be more clear on it. It was a test to show the wear protection of Mobil 1, yes, which Mobil 1 was used? They talk about the high mileage version, was this used for the entire 500,000 miles? The high mileage versions have extra anti-wear additives compared to their standard silver bottle and extended performance oils. If it was used from day one, the wear protection should be good.

 

[virginoil]

See fine print disclaimer

Delivers better high-temperature protection due to its higher base oil viscosity‡
‡Not applicable for Mobil 1™ High Mileage 0W-20.

 

[IndyFan]

I'm really not sure the big deal here. Who here has actually worn out an engine before the rest of the car was junk?

I think these tests are fun and interesting. Probably the most important thing they tell is that their oil won't do any harm to your engine. I doubt any of us really test the limits on good quality motor oil unless we run the OCI pretty far out of the OEM recommendation.

What I'd like to do is have my buddy's 1990's Tahoe torn down and analyzed. He's got around 250k miles and hasn't changed the oil since about 80k. He just keeps adding it. I won't say it runs great, but it does run, and it runs reliably. I'll bet it looks like a tar pit inside the valve cover, but who knows? My money says this engine will wear out soon, but I've thought that for years. Let' see what Mobil 1 HM would do to this thing, if the drain hole isn't too gunked up for the old oil to come out.

Truth is, I worry more about rust and corrosion on the bodies and frames of my vehicles wearing out than the engine. That and drive train and suspension parts.

 

[landtoy80]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Look at any vehicle that has high miles on it and you can almost guarantee it spends little time in the high wear area of operation cold start to operation.


My 94 Land Cruiser with 459,000 mi spent half its life in WI. Other half in CO. Lots of cold starts.
I bought it with 208,000 mi. When I removed the valve cover after buiying i, it had a nice coat of reddish varnish inside the motor.

I tried M1 at about 220,000 mi and when I drove the motor hard with high rpm's, it went through 1 qt of oil per tank of gas (250 mi). Tried other oils and found that Rotella T 5w40 (now called T6) worked best in the motor. It never consumed oil at the rate of M1.

I stopped spending money on the FZJ80 Land Cruiser when rust took over. It needs a ton of work to get it back to top condition (shocks, springs, rotors, axle seals, cv joints, headlight, seats (leather all ripped), water leaks, leaking power steering gear box, suspension bushings, paint is faded/pealing off and more) but the dam thing keeps running. It went to AK last year and will be going to AK again in Feb.

I have been trying different oil to reduce the start up smoke but found that Motor Oil Saver additive from Liquid Moly works best. I tried Chevron Delo 400 15w40 and 5w40 Syn oil. I just changed to Valvoline HM semi syn 10w40 to see how it works. Liqui Moly MOS 10w40 with Motor Oil Saver did the best job with start up smoke but was too thick for cold starts. It also got too costly to use (Napa increased the price) so I have not tried it in a couple years. Might try it again this summer of I don't like the Valvoline oil.

So when I get to 500,000 mi, I guess technically could say I used M1 to get there...even though it was one oil change interval.

 

[landtoy80]

I'm really not sure the big deal here. Who here has actually worn out an engine before the rest of the car was junk?
I doubt any of us really test the limits on good quality motor oil unless we run the OCI pretty far out of the OEM recommendation.
quote]

I think I can say I have tested the limits of motor oil.
I was playing with catch can a few years ago and ended up putting a smaller diameter hose on the PCV valve. I then cut the line and ended up putting a hose connector on the hose (even smaller diameter than hose). This caused a restriction of the PCV system. Not realizing that I had a restricted flow in the PCV line I started to get excessive pressure in the crank case. Assuming it was excessive blowby, I finally had to vent the PCV vent port to atmosphere to releave the pressure.

With the PCV system not doing a complete job of removing moisture and unburnt gasoline from the crank case, the oil got degraded/thinned and my oil consumption increased. Fresh oil change would go 1500 mi before I needed to add qt. At about 8000 mi it was up to 300 to 500 mi per 1qt of oil used.

I would say that under these condition, I tested the limits of motor oil.

Many years ago, I somehow bumped the distributor when adjusting it. The motor ran fine but my oil consumption went way up and when I hooked up a catch can, it would quickly fill up with a creamy mix.

After some time I found the timing was WAY OFF and fixed it. Once again I tested the limits of the oil.