Mobil 1 and seal seepage/leaks in 100% good seals?

[Chris B.]

We have talked about how M1 does not cause leaks but will find a leak by cleaning up a seal that is not 100% and then start to find it's way out of the seal and leak. Well if you have a new car and all the seals are 100% the engine will not be leaking M1. My question is if you use M1 and all youe seals are 100% will M1 keep them 100% and for how long? If the seals start to break down will they be "used" to M1 and not leak as if ther was build up preventing the leak? I'm wondering this because both my viecals were bran new and I have used M1 from the 1st oil change and I want to get at least 200,000 leak free miles out of them. Will Mobil 1 get my seals to this mileage leak free?

 

[Mike242GT]

Chris: My feeling is that engine seals, particular crank, cam and distributor shaft seals, are going to eventually leak, no matter what kind of oil you are using. I own or maintain six Volvos with red block engines, and each one has developed either a cam or front or rear main seal leak at some point between 100K and 150K miles when the cars were between 8 and 10 years old. Will Mobil 1 postpone the leakage for awhile longer than conventional oil? Maybe. There are other factors (like good crankcase ventilation) too. If your cars make it to 200K with no leaks, I'll be surprised (and impressed).

 

[unDummy]

I've had 4 cars go over 200k miles on Mobil1 without ever leaving a drop anywhere. This doesn't mean that they didn't leak. All seals leak. This just means that they never leaked enough to drip in the driveway or parking spot. Oily residue around the seals was noticeable on 2 of these cars.

 

[MRC01]

I have a Honda Civic 13 years old with 140k miles and it has never leaked a drop of oil. The engine bay is clean and dry all over top to bottom. It doesn't even have seepage from the valve cover or block seams -- and none of the seals have been replaced either, not even the rubber valve cover o-ring. It doesn't burn oil either. Throughout its life it's had cheap dino oil every 5,000 miles or so.

 

[jsharp]

I've had a couple that used M1 over 150K miles and had no real leakage. Just some oily residue like undummy mentioned...

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by unDummy: I've had 4 cars go over 200k miles on Mobil1 without ever leaving a drop anywhere. This doesn't mean that they didn't leak. All seals leak. This just means that they never leaked enough to drip in the driveway or parking spot. Oily residue around the seals was noticeable on 2 of these cars.

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I consider this a leak!!!!! Any oil seepage is a leak. Any oil getting the underside of the car wet is a leak... Heck even with a few ounces a day and more, I do not see puddles... but STILL a leak. The only cars I have seen not leak on a reqular basis are the OLDER ones with the cork seals (I know a lot hate them) and they were mainly TOYOTAS, the seals on them things were so TIGHT a crowbar and Billy the Kid couldn't get them things of without a lot of time! Depending on the Seal, it can take form 100+K to 300+K to notice. In the end they will leak, some faster than others

 

[Spector]

Of the five cars I have on Amsoil now 3 have seepage the other two, one 52,000 miles the other only 23,000. One with Amsoil since new developed leaks about 120,000 miles. If I convert a used car from dino to Amsoil I will guarantee it will seep within a year, has for the three I have done this on so far.

 

[Mobil2]

I don't understand why M1 is considered so "thin". For most grades it protects higher than needed at operating temp, so how can this oil be thin?

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mobil2: I don't understand why M1 is considered so "thin". For most grades it protects higher than needed at operating temp, so how can this oil be thin?

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It's considered thin because their 0w30, 5w30, 10w30 all have viscosities of 10cst at 100c, which is on the thin end of the 30wt range (which is 9.3 to 12.5).

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Well now, looks as if we've hit a few hot buttons with this topic. In my opinion, Mobil has been less than honest about the seal issue, especially for older blends of this oil. My father used M1 in the family's GMC Suburban and Toyota Corolla when M1 first became big in the late 1970s. (He bought M1's initial hype about 12K oil changes.) At the time these vehicles had low mileage, so seal wear should not have been a big issue. Both vehicles promptly sprang oil leaks, and he ended up using seal-swell additives in both. Later, when I began driving the Toyota, I got to replace the main oil seals. I switched to dino and swore I would never use a synthetic oil again. My '88 Festiva made over 350,000 miles on dino oil, and only after my '97 Escort wagon got over 100,000 miles did I finally switch to a synthetic--Red Line in this case. But there's more. In about 1986 my father bought a brand new Tecumseh engine to use in a golf cart. He had bought fresh M1 and decided to put it in this engine just to see what would happen. I was there and witnessed it myself. Right there on the kitchen table, the M1 began leaking out an engine seal even as he was still pouring it into the crankcase! The seal was installed properly and tight. He stared in disbelief, stopped what he was doing, drained the M1, installed dino oil--and the seal held. Only then did he start this engine for the first time. Of course, this was another strike in my book against synthetics. Today's M1 seems to be an excellent oil, and the seal compatibility problems seem to have been licked. But some of us have long memories. . . .

 

[MolaKule]

The original Mobil 1 5W20 was composed almost entirely of PAO base oils, with Group I base oils for additive miscibility. Someone forgot to remember that Group I dino oils had seal swell capabilities, while PAO's either shrunk or did not swell the seals slightly. Without hydrostatic pressure against a new seal or some oil to seal it in the first place, it can happen. But modern seals have been designed to endure whatever chemistry is out there. If that engine leaked, I would take it back. It may have been installed correctly, but was the seal of the correct size?

 

[JohnBrowning]

People often forget that alot of problems were due to OEM manufactures useing cheap seal technology!! I also do not care what type of seal it is it has to breath! You can not seal up anything that is exposed to large temp. shifts, pressures and vibration. Sweating or breathing is totaly different then a leak! Most on here do not remember how poor gasket material was just 16 years ago and it was even worse 30 years ago! When I was a youn aprentice I had to make gaskets out of thin stiff, brittle paper that we would coat with shellac. Shellac is made from dead insects and alchol. I also used cardboard, leather, aspestos(sp), graphite, malluable copper, cork etc..... You would cut it with a special cutting tool that you cranked or pedaled and you then turned the material like a seamstrist sewing close. Viton, Nitrol, Neoprene and silicone compounds have changed the auto industry in many ways. THe O-Ring and RTV have made alot of things obsolete. P.S. I was looking at a Toyota 1.8 out of a Vibe and noticed that instead of freeze plugs they used ball bearings pressed into the coolant galleys to prevent cracking.