oil for leaky valve seals

[muffinstew]

Is there a particular brand of oil that is good for reducing the amount of smoke from having leaky valve seals? My 1991 S10 with the 4.3 TBI has the notorious leaky valve seals and every morning it puts out a good cloud of smoke for about 20 seconds. I've always ran Pennzoil 5w30 since I bought it but recently decided to try some Mobil 1 5w30. I'm sure the synthetic Mobil 1 wasn't really helping the situation but the Pennzoil was just the same. In 3000 miles Im only down maybe 1/2-3/4 of a quart so Im not worried about consumption just trying to cut down on the smoke each morning.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Do 2-3 OCIs of 10w30 high mileage oil. Any brand will work - even the Supertech has been known to alleviate issues.

 

[Louie's gone fishing]

Thicker oil, replace the valve seal, Auto-Rx, use really cheap oil.
I'd try Auto-Rx first. Then do the maintenance dose after the clean up is done and run a thicker oil.

 

[Drivebelt]

I would give something with a little higher viscosity like a HDEO 15w40 a whirl -- see if that reduces your "smoke cloud" a little.

 

[PW01]

2nd Auto Rx, it took care of my oil pan gasket

 

[JohnnyO]

On the advice of a cousin who works at a used car lot, I run Mobil 1 High Mileage in the beater Town Car with 152k that my dad keeps at his place in Florida. It still burns oil, so you have to check it frequently, but you don't SEE any smoke.

 

[muffinstew]

I have notied that with the Pennzoil conventional, it would only puff smoke on start-up every morning. With the Mobil 1 it's puffing on just about every start-up. I am kind of sketchy about running a thicker oil for fear of losing gas mileage. I may switch back to regular conventional as soon as I feel like changing the oil.

 

[ZZman]

Valvoline has a Maxlife Full Synthetic now. You might try that.

 

[Gilitar]

You need to try Maxlife or another high mileage oil. They have seal swellers in them to help with these type of issues.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: Gilitar
You need to try Maxlife or another high mileage oil. They have seal swellers in them to help with these type of issues.


+1

 

[strombony]

Originally Posted By: Gilitar
You need to try Maxlife or another high mileage oil. They have seal swellers in them to help with these type of issues.


But Valvoline's tech line advised me they don't use seal swellers, they use seal conditioners and would never using something that would swell the seals? Where is this "seal swelling" info obtained from?

 

[MGregoir]

In most people's mind seal swellers equal seal conditioners.

Seal swellers are compounds that would react with the seals and make them increase greatly in size, but it also makes them much more fragile.

Seal conditioners help to clean them, soften them to restore their pliability, and allow them to return to their correct size and shape for proper operation.