QS Defy

[BlueOvalFitter]

1996 Corolla, 208K miles
My son has been using Valvoline MaxLife 10w40 in his car with great results in slowing down a leak. He saw the price increase of Valvoline MaxLife while in Walmart today and asked me some Q?s about QS Defy.
I think he said the price difference in the 2 is about $3.50. He asked if it would work just as good or better than Valvoline MaxLife. Also, he wanted to know if using a 5W30 or 10W30 instead of the 10W40, would it be better for his engine. He drives an average of 500-600 miles a week, 50/50 highway/city, in Tampa, FL.
I did a little bit of research on QS Defy. All I read is that it slows down wear in an engine. It does not state anything about slowing down or stopping leaks. And, nothing about an add pack with seal swellers.
Does anyone use it for oil leaks? How does it compare with other High Mileage oils?

 

[Red91]

It's a good oil. How about just fixing the leak? I'd say it's on par with any other High Mileage oils, and has reduced consumption in my truck.

 

[dave1251]

From what I have read it is similar to other High Mileage oils in regards to seal leaks some people have reported that it has slowed or stopped leaks.

I would not hesitate to try it for a OCI or three.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: Red91
It's a good oil. How about just fixing the leak? I'd say it's on par with any other High Mileage oils, and has reduced consumption in my truck.

If I still lived in FL. I would encourage him to fix the leak/leaks. He could use my truck to get back and forth to work while his car is down. But, being we are 802 miles apart, that will not happen anytime soon.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
From what I have read it is similar to other High Mileage oils in regards to seal leaks some people have reported that it has slowed or stopped leaks.

I would not hesitate to try it for a OCI or three.

What about switching from a 10W40 to 5W30 or 10W30?

 

[cronk]

If he is having good luck with the Valvoline, I would not let $3.50 sway me to switch...

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: cronk
If he is having good luck with the Valvoline, I would not let $3.50 sway me to switch...

I agree. But, he thinks he might have the same results as with Valvoline MaxLife, and save a few dollars along the way. He normally has to add 3-4 qts. of Valvoline MaxLife between OCIs. That's what he is looking at also.

 

[Red91]

Wow. Rear main leak? What's his OCI?

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: dave1251
From what I have read it is similar to other High Mileage oils in regards to seal leaks some people have reported that it has slowed or stopped leaks.

I would not hesitate to try it for a OCI or three.

What about switching from a 10W40 to 5W30 or 10W30?


I am firm believer in thin as possible but not knowing your sons engine I would not change the grade he is using. Also if he is using 3-4 quarts a OCI he might want to try a 15W40 that is a lot of oil. I would be just tempted to change the oil filter every once in a while at that rate.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: Red91
Wow. Rear main leak? What's his OCI?

Used to be 3-4K miles. Now it's about 5-6K miles, I think.
When he was using conventional 5W30 he was adding a qt. about every 800-900 miles.
He started using Super Tech High Mileage 10W40 and the best it worked was a qt. about every 1100 miles. With the Valvoline MaxLife it is about every 1200-1300 miles.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: dave1251
From what I have read it is similar to other High Mileage oils in regards to seal leaks some people have reported that it has slowed or stopped leaks.

I would not hesitate to try it for a OCI or three.

What about switching from a 10W40 to 5W30 or 10W30?


I am firm believer in thin as possible but not knowing your sons engine I would not change the grade he is using. Also if he is using 3-4 quarts a OCI he might want to try a 15W40 that is a lot of oil. I would be just tempted to change the oil filter every once in a while at that rate.

I was thinking the same thing at one time. I even replied to someone else's post about them wanting to do the same thing.
With it leaking that much oil, and adding a qt. that often, I was, at one time, going to suggest to him to just change the filter every 6K miles and top it off. But, that resulted in members giving a lot of negative feed back on that idea.

 

[dave1251]

Sorry to hear about that.

 

[Red91]

A quart every 1100-1200 isn't great, but probably not terrible if it's leaking rather than burning.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: Red91
A quart every 1100-1200 isn't great, but probably not terrible if it's leaking rather than burning.

Honestly, I don't know if it's not doing both.
Just recently we did an OCI on my dads 06 LTC, 4.6 V8. We used Valvoline MaxLife 5w20 along with a bottle of Lubra Moly. After about 1800 miles on the OCI the oil leak diameter on the card board is about 1-1/4", down from about 3" in diameter.
I was thinking about suggesting this same OCI to my son but I am quite sure he might want to use a 5W30 oil, being the Lubra Moly is very very thick.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
I even replied to someone else's post about them wanting to do the same thing.
With it leaking that much oil, and adding a qt. that often, I was, at one time, going to suggest to him to just change the filter every 6K miles and top it off. But, that resulted in members giving a lot of negative feed back on that idea.


Opinions are like anal orifices...

At 1200 mi quart you could run one forever, never changing oil, just a filter every 8-10Kmi...

 

[KCJeep]

Defy is one of my favorites, but so is Maxlife. I say go for it with the Defy, especially if he's adding so much he'll save a fair amount.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: Red91
A quart every 1100-1200 isn't great, but probably not terrible if it's leaking rather than burning.

Honestly, I don't know if it's not doing both.
Just recently we did an OCI on my dads 06 LTC, 4.6 V8. We used Valvoline MaxLife 5w20 along with a bottle of Lubra Moly. After about 1800 miles on the OCI the oil leak diameter on the card board is about 1-1/4", down from about 3" in diameter.
I was thinking about suggesting this same OCI to my son but I am quite sure he might want to use a 5W30 oil, being the Lubra Moly is very very thick.



If you're referring to the lubri-moly motor oil saver sure its thick however there's only 1/3 of a quart of it. So its effect on 5 quarts of oil will be minimal at the very most.
The stuff works wonders. I've used it in engines I thought were lost causes as far as leaks and I was pleasantly surprised on how much less they've leaked since.

 

[charbaby]

I do like DEFY 5W30 that I used in my '80 Firebird FORMULA V8. I was using MaxLife prior(3 OCIs) which started to help with the leaks before switching to DEFY. I can't say that the DEFY was better/worst than ML for leaks but, there is no change. Both ML & DEFY have both contributed to slowing down but, not completely stopping the leaks.

I do like the extra quietness/smoothness that the DEFY has provided. At first, I had thought the same about the ML but, the DEFY took that quietness/smoothness to another level(small but, noticable).

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
If you're referring to the lubri-moly motor oil saver sure its thick however there's only 1/3 of a quart of it. So its effect on 5 quarts of oil will be minimal at the very most.
The stuff works wonders. I've used it in engines I thought were lost causes as far as leaks and I was pleasantly surprised on how much less they've leaked since.

Do you think if we add another bottle of Lubra Moly to my dads engine it will help?
Also, why does QS Defy stand alone on just advertising how it stops engine wear but nothing about slowing down leaks? Interesting approach to a High Mileage oil, yet effective.

 

[mjk]

I've used Lubro Moly oil saver. It helped a bit. Didn't cure the leaks I have, but slowed it down. I think you really need to give it a 2nd and 3rd shot during your upcoming oil changes.