My thoughts on high mileage oils.

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Originally Posted By: orso
I would appreciate your opinion on my situation:

Mazda 3, 2.0 petrol, direct injection, almost 45k miles. Driven mostly urban and highway and maybe 20% country roads, mostly easy driving at lower RPMs. I change the oil every 10,000kms (20,000kms is the highest limit given by the manufacturer).

It consumes approximately 0.75l of oil per 10,000kms (that is 1.2qt per 10,000 miles). There is no evident oil leak. Engine is clean. I know it is not high consumption but I was thinking about trying high mileage oil (Maxlife is the only available HM oil here) and see whether the oil consumption will decrease. It could revitalise valve gaskets a bit if they are responsible for the oil consumtpion. The problem is my Mazda dealer insists on using Mazda original oil and I am very satisfied with their services otherwise so I do not want to change the dealer.

There is Valvoline engine stop leak product available here and they claim it can revitalise the gaskets and seals. Do you think it is worth a try to mix it with the Mazda oil? I know many people are against oil aditives and I agree. But this is Valvoline so I kind of trust it more
smile.gif


Or should I stop doing experiments and simply top up oil regularly?



The latter.

Your oil consumption is stellar and imho, everything else is snakekoil
 
Originally Posted By: orso
I would appreciate your opinion on my situation:

Mazda 3, 2.0 petrol, direct injection, almost 45k miles. Driven mostly urban and highway and maybe 20% country roads, mostly easy driving at lower RPMs. I change the oil every 10,000kms (20,000kms is the highest limit given by the manufacturer).

It consumes approximately 0.75l of oil per 10,000kms (that is 1.2qt per 10,000 miles). There is no evident oil leak. Engine is clean. I know it is not high consumption but I was thinking about trying high mileage oil (Maxlife is the only available HM oil here) and see whether the oil consumption will decrease. It could revitalise valve gaskets a bit if they are responsible for the oil consumtpion. The problem is my Mazda dealer insists on using Mazda original oil and I am very satisfied with their services otherwise so I do not want to change the dealer.

There is Valvoline engine stop leak product available here and they claim it can revitalise the gaskets and seals. Do you think it is worth a try to mix it with the Mazda oil? I know many people are against oil aditives and I agree. But this is Valvoline so I kind of trust it more
smile.gif


Or should I stop doing experiments and simply top up oil regularly?


1.2 quarts per 10,000 is nothing to be worried about. Do not add any fix leak stuff and keep doing what you're doing.
 
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Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
Do you guys think HM oils work well as a preventive measure against leaks? In an older and higher mileage vehicle doesnt currently leak would it be beneficial to make the switch just to help curb leaks in the future by some margin? Seems thats how some are marketed yet I only see members here recommending them when people have already sprung but it seems almost better to prevent it altogether if possible.


Absolutely. Have at it.
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
Do you guys think HM oils work well as a preventive measure against leaks? In an older and higher mileage vehicle doesnt currently leak would it be beneficial to make the switch just to help curb leaks in the future by some margin? Seems thats how some are marketed yet I only see members here recommending them when people have already sprung but it seems almost better to prevent it altogether if possible.


Absolutely. Have at it.


Not at all.

I'm still at a loss as to how something can condition rubber V seals but if it does (by swelling them) then they are going to be bigger than spec and thus wear quicker until they get back to nominal size and then well, you can't fix the leak anymore.

Or its just a load of baloney (i've no idea either way)
 
I would keep doing what you're doing and switch to a high mileage oil if your consumption gets drastically worse. MaxLife works great IMO, but I wouldn't use it on a car that didn't have a oil use/leak problem.
 
Originally Posted By: BertieBlue
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
Do you guys think HM oils work well as a preventive measure against leaks? In an older and higher mileage vehicle doesnt currently leak would it be beneficial to make the switch just to help curb leaks in the future by some margin? Seems thats how some are marketed yet I only see members here recommending them when people have already sprung but it seems almost better to prevent it altogether if possible.


Absolutely. Have at it.


Not at all.

I'm still at a loss as to how something can condition rubber V seals but if it does (by swelling them) then they are going to be bigger than spec and thus wear quicker until they get back to nominal size and then well, you can't fix the leak anymore.

Or its just a load of baloney (i've no idea either way)


It swells worn shrinking seals back to the original size.. Not beyond the original size.
 
Originally Posted By: BertieBlue
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
Do you guys think HM oils work well as a preventive measure against leaks? In an older and higher mileage vehicle doesnt currently leak would it be beneficial to make the switch just to help curb leaks in the future by some margin? Seems thats how some are marketed yet I only see members here recommending them when people have already sprung but it seems almost better to prevent it altogether if possible.


Absolutely. Have at it.


Not at all.

I'm still at a loss as to how something can condition rubber V seals but if it does (by swelling them) then they are going to be bigger than spec and thus wear quicker until they get back to nominal size and then well, you can't fix the leak anymore.

Or its just a load of baloney (i've no idea either way)


As I understand it, HM oils have more seal "conditioners" than non-HM oils. These conditioners don't swell the seals but rather restore pliability. And of course a pliable seal is less-likely to leak than one that has become stiff with age. The point is that the seals aren't made larger, just more flexible.

While valve seals weren't my problem, Mobil1 HM saved me a huge repair bill by effectively stopping a front cover leak. The car in question is only 9 years old, but was used infrequently for much of its life. I suspect that the lack of use allowed the seals to dry out, but the HM oil seems to have restored them.

So I'm a believer. I had a telephone conversation with one of the Mobil1 tech guys and came away with the feeling that not only was M1 HM was one of its best oils, but it was widely used by the staff, even on newer cars.
 
If it meets your vehicle's specs, there is no issue. XOM, Castrol and Valvoline all stress these oils are perfectly fine for use in new or older vehicles.
 
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