Oil Leak with Maxlife

[The Critic]

I have about 4900 miles on my fill of Maxlife 5W30 SM right now, with 1/2 qt Quaker State 10w30 and 1/2 qt Havoline 5W30 top-up. While I was underneath the car last week doing a voltage drop test, I discovered that my engine oil pan was wet with oil. The drain plug area is actually dry, its the area above the drain plug that's wet...seems like I have a leaking oil pan gasket ??? Will have to check further.

Nevertheless, has anyone had Maxlife oil cause a leak in their car? This is a 96 Saturn SL2 with 101k miles.

 

[TallPaul]

I think leaks can happen with Maxlife. If it cleans off a false seal, a leak can develop, but when the seal conditioners finish their job, the leak should stop.

 

[TurboJim]

I've only experienced less leakage / seepage in a couple of applications I've done. However I kept the OCI's to around 3,000 and no make up oil was added.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

It may return to nomal within the next couple of OCIs using Maxlife. Do another OCI with Maxlife - if you don't see an improvement at the end of this OCI. For those that switch to high mileage oils, you may need a hypothetical three OCIs (12K) to finish the job... depending on the condition of your engine interior. Too many here show displeasure - thern discontinue high mileage oils after only one OCI.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I did notice VERY slight dampness around my oil pan seal after 2 oci's of Maxlife - not enough to really fret about though, considering it is 10yrs old & 174k miles, and the dampness is very very slight.

I did switch to Rotella synthetic diesel/gas oil, but only because a long time Isuzu specialist mechanic highly recommends this oil to keep these engines clean, otherwise, I would've stuck with the maxlife. I'm now at 4k miles later or so, on the Rotella, haven't noticed anything either way, but like I said, mine really wasn't damp enough to even give a thorough look over.

 

[SLM]

Could just be road derbis and water. Might try tightening the fasteners that connect the pan to the engine. I wouldn't balme the maxlife.

 

[ThirdeYe]

If it creates a leak it should just be temporary. The same thing happened on my sister's firebird after I switched to maxlife synthetic blend. The leak was very small though, only about 2 drops a day. Hopefully it'll go away on the next change or so. It seems to be working well though, as the oil is very dark showing it's cleaning pretty well

 

[SFCP]

Should I Just be using regular ole Valoline?

 

[Ramblin Fever]

No, I would stick with the maxlife personally; I think it's a better blend then regular valvoline.

 

[94MaxGXE]

After a few thousand miles, MaxLife dino found a small leak in the oil pan of my 99 Camry I4. After I tightened the two loose bolts where it was leaking hand tight with a 1/4 inch drive socket, the leak stopped.
I doubt any HM oil will have any effect on an oil pan gasket, they’re just not the type of seal targeted.

 

[PT1]

I'm on the 2nd OCI with the wife's toyota at 105k.....no leaks just smooth motoring

 

[Francis]

Yes! This happen to me. I had a mild 302 V8 Ford Clevland enigne, I change my oil by colour, so once it's a bit of an off colour then I'll change it. The day after I changed the oil with Maxlife it started leaking from the rear seal!

People at the time told me it would of happen no matter what oil, but I always thought it was the maxlife that started it.

 

[buster]

I'm staring to wonder how good/bad conventional oils are for engine seals? Lot of people experience problems going from dino to synthetic/blend in high mileage vehicles. So how good can conventional oil be at keeping seals pliable?

 

[SFCP]

Ok, all this talk about V Maxlife causing oil leaks is making me nervouse because I'm running it in both of my vehicles right now. Tallpaul, where are you? Can you refute this stuff? I'm still sitting here wondering if should just stick with regular Valvoline.

 

[Alcibiades]

I don't think it 'causes' leaks. In some cases it can expose already weakened or bad seals. This happened to me in my Corolla. I was using the full synthetic Maxlife 10w30. About midway through the first OCI, I noticed uncomfortably rapid consumption (1qt/1000 miles), but over a period of 4 or 5 OCIs, this gradually diminished, until I finished it off with an Auto-Rx treatment. Consumption is now very, very low. I've been using Redline 5w30 ever since the ARX.

 

[SFCP]

I wish I could use Mobil 1 in my van. It has 74k on the odometer, and has no leaks. Oil pan gasket is a little moist, but hard to tell if that's just from changing the oil filter because the oil runs down the front and all over the seal. I'm so tempted at times to just go for it and run the Mobil 1, but then my mechanic advises me against it along with certain other people who keep telling me I should start with a fresh new car or very low mileage one.

 

[Islandvic]

My Crown Vic w/ 160k miles uses the least amount of oil on Maxlife Syn (consumes not leaks).

I have used many many brands of oils and it actually consumed the most with M1!

Could the leak have been there before the Maxlife OCI?

I have run many OCI's with Maxlife Syn on this high milage 4.6 engine and no leaks to date.

Trust the Maxlife!