Someone educate me on HM oils

[Sawdusted]

Pretty new to this site so pardon me for asking a silly and basic questions.

As I understand, some higher mileage oils contain seal conditions or such to help stop leaks from engines.

My car (2001) currently does not leak oil but has 65K miles on it. Can/Should I use high mileage oil on it? Will there be any benefit if using High Mileage oil? I do mostly city driving. Short trips. Occasional road trips.

Is it a myth that once I start using High Mileage oil, I should always use High Mileage oil? Since non-High Mileage oil does not contain seal conditions and may allow the engine to leak oil?

Thanks,
Julian

 

[Boomer]

I would not use an High Mileage oil unless there is a reason like seal leaks. We have aa 2003 Saturn L300 with 103,000 miles on it and still use regular Mobil 1 5w30. The car burns no oil in 6-7000 miles between oil changes.

 

[Hyde244]

Originally Posted By: Boomer
I would not use an High Mileage oil unless there is a reason like seal leaks. We have aa 2003 Saturn L300 with 103,000 miles on it and still use regular Mobil 1 5w30. The car burns no oil in 6-7000 miles between oil changes.
+1

If your engine is running fine - don't worry about it!

High Mileage oil is best used if there is an issue with oil consumption. Otherwise, you are fine.

 

[Donald]

High Mileage oils should be considered if you have an older engine that is consuming oil. But first you need a reason like consuming oil. And you have replaced gaskets that are reasonable to replace.

High Mileage oils have seal swelling additives. OK if really needed.

 

[The_Jeff]

IMO High Mileage oil puts back in what they take out for warranty reasons, and it's generally good stuff.

A generic oil will be on the thin side of the grade and shear worse just to meet an MPG target. It'll lack a lot of anti-wear additives so the catalytic converter makes it through the 120k warranty.

As for the seal swelling, I don't think it's "addictive" or permanently ruining of the seals. You can (I do) switch back forth without breaking stuff.

 

[FL_Rob]

210k on my G20 van ..dosent smoke or burn,dont need to add any during the oci. I use only standard HDEO 10w30 to 5w40, whatever's on sale. Sometimes i'll put in RT6 or or T-5 on sale.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
... 65K miles on it. Can/Should I use high mileage oil on it?
Only if you think you aren't spending enough money on your oil now. "Oil for high mileage engines" is more about marketing than it is about engine protection.

 

[2oldtommy]

Welcome to BITOG! If your Saturn is doing well on the oil you are presently using, I would not change to a High Mileage oil. IMO the marketers use the High Mileage oil to increase their profits to a higher level. Yes, It has it's purpose, but if you car exhibits none of the problems, it is a waste of money. FWIW---Oldtommy

 

[Astro14]

I don't use High Mileage oils, because at 238,000 miles, my Toyota truck isn't high-mileage...yet...

 

[Sawdusted]

Thank you for the replies guys. I'll stick to regular oils.

 

[oldhp]

Astro14, Have you changed plugs yet?

Under the chair, thats funny.

 

[Maxima97]

The High Mileage oil add benefit to regular oil include seal condition, extra detergent,better base (blend synthetic) and extra Moly. I take the Valvoline High Mileage blend as example. Most High Mileage oil has higher HTHS than the regular one. So you cold start and MPG may get worse. They are interchangable with regular. What I will do is do High Mileage in summer, synthetic in winter and regular in spring and fall.

 

[LeakySeals]

Hello,
I'm seriously considering running Mobil 1 High Mileage on anything I own after 150k. The Camry goes on and on and on. Original gaskets. No leaks.

 

[fdcg27]

65K is not high mileage.
165K might be.
High Mileage oil should be used in an engine that burns and/or leaks oil.
It is worth a try.
I know that I have the lowest oil consumption in my old BMW using Maxlife 10W-40, even lower than what I saw with Mobil 1 15W-50.
High Mileage oil should be used to address either oil leaks or oil consumption or both, not merely because the odometer has reached some arbitrary number.