MAXLIFE OR MOBIL 1 SYN HM?

[SFCP]

My 3.3L has 2 or 3 minor oil leaks…(not a rear main seal), would my engine leak even more with the new Mobil 1 HM oil, or would Maxlife be better? Mobil's web site says their HM syn is for engines were conventional was previously used...

 

[Steve S]

Fix the leaks.

 

[SFCP]

My mechanic advised me against fixing the leasks because they are so labor instensive, and nothing is wrong with the egnine. He said I shouldn't mess with it until I'm dumping a quart of oil onto the ground, which am not.
Would the new Mobil HM syn be good for this car?

 

[bmwtechguy]

This oil has been out only a short time and until some collective experience is gained, your guess is as good as anyone's. My experience is that no synthetic oil is good at stopping or slowing a leak once it has started. My vote goes to the Maxlife, based on price and performance, especially when purchased in the 5 quart jug. It has a blend of synthetic and conventional base oils and a great add pack. Mobil HM syn might hold up better for longer oil change intervals or extreme temps, but I don't know that for sure. It costs about twice as much- that's all I'm really seeing right now. TallPaul has been very happy with this oil in his older vehicles, and I've used it way before the suggested 75k miles with nothing but good results so far. Try one and see how it does! (there's lots of other choices out there as well)

 

[TurboJim]

I would change out the PVC valve because that could be the cause of your leaks.

Either oil is worth a try.

 

[PT1]

Maxlife is less expensive.....I really like the stuff.

 

[wgtoys]

We know nothing about the M1 HM, so I would try Maxlife. I have found Maxlife to be helpful on one of my older vehicles where I was constantly fighting small oil seepage/leaks. I did several repairs such as replacing the valve cover and oil pan seals but still had a minor leak at the front crank seal. Maxlife seems to have cleared up that small leak for me without the labor of tearing apart the front of the engine.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Quote:

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Maxlife is less expensive.....I really like the stuff.

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It's not less expensive if the thread-starter is discussing Maxlife Synthetic & Mobil-1 HM.

 

[SFCP]

I was discussing Maxlife "syn blend" vs HM Mobil full syn.
I called Mobil, and they advised me against using HM syn in my car and stick with a blend at the very least...So I'm staying with Val Maxlife. Also...I asked them if the seal conditioner swells the seals and they told me that it condtions and swells them. There has been discussion in this forum regarding this issue, so it is ver likely that Val Maxlife actually swells the seals as well as any other HM products. Tallpaul...your thought?

 

[JAG]

As I thought. Shrunken seals need to be swelled if the goal is for them to do a better job of sealing. It would be dumb for a company to make a high mileage oil that does not swell seals some amount relative to their regular line of oils.

 

[SFCP]

I agree... My thought; however, goes back to this notion that expanding seals in an engine that presently leaks no oil could creat a problem. Does anyone see any potential problems to this notion? I'm running Maxlife in my van and it leaked no oil before I began using Maxlife.

 

[JAG]

If I put in an oil that started leaks and there was no strong reason why I need that oil, I'd not use it again. If you can keep the leak from making a mess, run it a normal length OCI, but if not, dumping it early to spare a mess may be worth it.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Quote:

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I was discussing Maxlife "syn blend" vs HM Mobil full syn.
I called Mobil, and they advised me against using HM syn in my car and stick with a blend at the very least...So I'm staying with Val Maxlife. Also...I asked them if the seal conditioner swells the seals and they told me that it condtions and swells them. There has been discussion in this forum regarding this issue, so it is ver likely that Val Maxlife actually swells the seals as well as any other HM products. Tallpaul...your thought?

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I would like to see proof that any brand of HM swells as good - or better than other brands.

Also, I was under the assumption that all the brand name HMs have percentages of synthetic in them.

If anyone here opposes that, then please offer-up any info that states otherwise here.

 

[SFCP]

Quote:

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If I put in an oil that started leaks and there was no strong reason why I need that oil, I'd not use it again. If you can keep the leak from making a mess, run it a normal length OCI, but if not, dumping it early to spare a mess may be worth it.

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I did not mean to imply that the Maxlife started a leak in my van. I meant that before I put it in, it did not leak, and now with the Maxlife installed, it still does not leak.

 

[JAG]

Yeah I misunderstood. I think there was some other guy the other day who said he got a leak. I wouldn't worry much about seal effects with HM oil. There's a lot more important things going on with oil choice than that one thing. For example, running the oil too long (which varies greatly with oil choice) does much more to seals than whether the oil is HM or not.