"Seal swellers" in HM oil

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Originally Posted by kstanf150
Unless somebody has proof that I've never been able to find.
Nobody really knows for sure what HM oil really does or doesn't do. I'm of the opinion that HM oil is just another marketing plan to get buyers to pay for something they don't really need. I'll admit I've been tempted to try it, but never have because I've logged a lot of miles on regular Dino and synthetic oils that were not HM.



What he said. I agree it's a marketing gimmick, to make consumers believe this is the latest and greatest
 
LOL and if you had a choice of a jug of oil at Walmart Rollback you pick the $22.67 full synthetic Jug of non HM over the $14.00 Jug of full synthetic HM.
 
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Originally Posted by PimTac
Maybe HM oils had a use back in the day of gaskets and such. Today's engines use more sealants instead.

In my over 40 years of driving and changing oil I have never used a HM oil.

HM oils do not work on gaskets. They work on seals (front and rear main, cam and valve).
 
Originally Posted by kstanf150
But, to what degree of help???
That's the question ?
No data I've found can compare a new seal vs an old seal that's been brought back to life with HM oil.

So until I see real data and proof
HM oil is just marketing


No used seal can be brought back to the condition of a new seal but HM oils can condition the seal so it becomes more pliable and cleans the lips. Sludge and metal can interfere at the seal lips so cleaning and conditioning helps.

It's a matter of the chemistry interacting with the material(s). Do you have some technical data that contradicts what I have stated?

All PCMO's and HDEO's contain seal conditioners it just that HM oils have a bit more.

Everyone has a choice as to what they want to buy, but don't discount specialty oils.

Oil companies produce a wide variety of oils for all kinds of applications such as racing oils, conventional and synthetic motor oils, hydraulic oils, diesel oils, transmission fluids, gear oils, and metal cutting oils.

So yes, each one of these products helps the bottom line, because, after all, they are in the business of manf. and selling lubricants.
 
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Originally Posted by MolaKule
Originally Posted by kstanf150
But, to what degree of help???
That's the question ?
No data I've found can compare a new seal vs an old seal that's been brought back to life with HM oil.

So until I see real data and proof
HM oil is just marketing


No used seal can be brought back to the condition of a new seal but HM oils can condition the seal so it becomes more pliable and cleans the lips. Sludge and metal can interfere at the seal lips so cleaning and conditioning helps.

It's a matter of the chemistry interacting with the material(s). Do you have some technical data that contradicts what I have stated?

All PCMO's and HDEO's contain seal conditioners it's just that HM oils have a bit more.

Everyone has a choice as to what they want to buy, but don't discount specialty oils.

Oil companies produce a wide variety of lubricants for all kinds of applications such as racing oils, conventional and synthetic motor oils, hydraulic oils, diesel oils, transmission fluids, gear oils, and metal cutting oils.

So yes, each one of these products helps the bottom line, because, after all, they are in the business of manf. and selling lubricants.




Exactly.
 
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Man, someone ought to buy a seal, stick it in a jug of HM, measure the thickness pre/post. Do the same with the non-HM, and forever close this debate.
 
I can tell ya what I'm gonna do personally is
I've got a buddy who buys only used high mileage trucks
I even ask him today if he ever uses HM oil.....he never has
So I'm gonna buy him a HM oil change and test this stuff myself and see. He knows the history of his truck, so we'll see if it changes anything or not.
 
Originally Posted by kstanf150
I can tell ya what I'm gonna do personally is
I've got a buddy who buys only used high mileage trucks
I even ask him today if he ever uses HM oil.....he never has
So I'm gonna buy him a HM oil change and test this stuff myself and see. He knows the history of his truck, so we'll see if it changes anything or not.



It depends if he has done proper maintenance if he has the seals should not have been allowed to dry up. If there has been clean fresh oil allowed to touch the seals each one should be nice and plyiable.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Maybe HM oils had a use back in the day of gaskets and such. Today's engines use more sealants instead...



i posted this before to help clearify the differences between seals and gaaskets;

Originally Posted by MolaKule
When discussing seals such as in engines, transmissions, and other driveline components, the context is that of using flexible, elastomeric materials to keep fluids contained within the mechanical system that have rotating components exiting the system, such as protruding rotating shafts.

For a gasket, the context is that of using a material (such as silicone or cork or a composite), or some other material to keep fluids contained in and around stationary objects, such as the valve cover gasket on an engine or the pan gasket on an automatic transmission.

Both seals and gaskets "prevent" loss of fluids...

Conditioning seals refers to the following actions:

1) Increasing seal pliability due to Seal elastomer molecular replacement
2) Seal cleaning,

Today's conventional and synthetic formulations have pretty much solved the seal "shrink-swell" problem.

Stop leak fluids have little effect on Gaskets, so if you have a leak to the outside, it is usually due to a Gasket, not a Seal.

Now on older vehicles or vehicles with rear wheel drives, the most common fluid leak occurs because of a worn tailshaft seal, and is mostly seen when parking on an upslope where the rear of the vehicle is below the front.

On front wheel drive vehicles, the most common fluid leak is due to the pan gasket, in my experience.
 
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Originally Posted by kstanf150
I can tell ya what I'm gonna do personally is
I've got a buddy who buys only used high mileage trucks
I even ask him today if he ever uses HM oil.....he never has
So I'm gonna buy him a HM oil change and test this stuff myself and see. He knows the history of his truck, so we'll see if it changes anything or not.

Cool, but it still doen't answer the question:

Quote
Do you have some technical data that contradicts what I have stated?
 
Molakule, do you happen to know the typical %/wt composition of seal conditioners in conventional and synthetic compared to the high mileage versions of these oils? What about oils that contain higher levels of additives harmful to seals like ashless dispersants?
 
The question will be answered for me Is when I have preformed a HM oil change on an engine that's has issues (seals) and I can see if it changed anything

I totally understand that HM oil is not designed to fix a gasket, only a gasket replacement can fix a leaking gasket 🤔 HM oil is designed to clean and enhance seals to seal again.
 
HM oil is not a miracle in a bottle for badly worn seals as there is no such thing as a miracle in a bottle for extremely worm or overheated seal lips.

We have had some anecdotal evidence of seals that have wept or even dripped oil have been helped by HM oil and the weeping or dripping has stopped.

Let us know what condition the seals are in and if HM helped it or not. Take pics if you can.
thumbsup2.gif
 
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I'm almost even afraid to ask this question 🤔🤨
Which brand of HM oil is thought to be the magic potion of all oils ?? Lord knows don't want to test the wrong one
 
Originally Posted by MolaKule
HM oil is not a miracle in a bottle for badly worn seals as there is no such thing as a miracle in a bottle for extremely worm or overheated seal lips.

We have had some anecdotal evidence that seals that have wept or even dripped oil have been helped by HM oil and the weeping or dripping has stopped.

Let us know what condition the seals are in and if HM helped it or not. Take pics if you can.
thumbsup2.gif


RCY on here has an old MDX and when it was a few years old with not many miles his Rear Main Seal started leaking. He flipped over to High Mileage Maxlife oil and went thicker and it stopped. The vehicle is now approaching 500K KM (300K miles) and it's only weeping not dripping/leaking. I keep in touch with him outside of BITOG because we live close to one another.
 
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