The Best HM Oils And Why?

[BlueOvalFitter]

I did a search on the most used High Mileage oils, conventional, semi synthetic, and synthetic, and found most people were using M1 and Valvoline Maxlife (Valvoline MaxLife). Surprisingly, Super Tech conventional was a top pick also.
I understand the theory behind synthetic and conventional oils, but, if an engine is leaking oil and you add a synthetic High Mileage oil, isn't that kind of redundant? Or, does the add package in synthetic High Mileage oil take this into consideration? I do understand that a synthetic oil lets you go longer between OCIs. Is this the reason a synthetic High Mileage oil is more preferred?
I was surprised how many people use Valvoline MaxLife. Being it's a syn blend, and a lot of people frown down on synthetic blends because of not knowing how much synthetic oil is actually in them, they use this oil almost as much as M1. It must have a very good add package and or stops leaks very well.
What High Mileage oil are you using and why? Did it actually stop or slow down a leak you had or currently have?
My son is using Super Tech High Mileage 10W40 in his 96 Corolla, 204K miles, and in the last 6 months it has gone from using just over a qt. at 1K miles to about 3/4 qt. at 1K miles.

 

[charbaby]

Well, there is alot of information to cover and I'll start by saying that High Mileage oil tend to run a bit thicker in their respective grade such as i.e., 5W30.

And, High Mileage oils have seal swellers or similar additive packages that lend a hand to small leaks and/or oil burning(blowby).

As-far-as one being a syn/blend, well, IDK! It could just be marketing. I have used Valvoline MaxLife with decent success but, switched to Quaker State DEFY High Mileage due to price only. I like it too!

And Syn High Mileage! Could be preference I guess.

There will be others chiming in with more detailed info.

 

[Hermann]

Have used Maxlife 20w-50 for almost 10 years now in my 1991 BMW motorcycle. I started using it long before I joined BITOG. Mine and most old air-cooled Beemers eventually end up with anywhere from weeping to outright leaking pushrod tube seals. Mine was somewhere in the middle. I was leaking about a quart every 1200-1500 miles. After I started using it the leaking was slowed to the point that it does not drip enough to have to park over cardboard to protect the garage floor. My current leak rate is about 8oz of oil in 2500 miles. Does it work, you bet. Is it a good oil, you bet. My used oil analysis is posted here from last fall, and it is very good.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...341#Post2738341

 

[Turk]

After "multiple" cycles of the following High Mileage oils over the past 5 years in my Wife's '97 Camry.....

- QS Defy
- Maxlife Semi-Syn
- Maxlife Full-Syn
- Penn High Mileage
- Mobil 1 High Mileage

The ONLY High Mileage oil that stopped the dripping from the rear seal area was:

- Maxlife FULL Synthetic.

There you go.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Looks good. I noticed that the 20W-50 you used still has a decent amount of moly. From reading here recently, it seems the API starburst grades of Maxlife have no more moly. Do you know if the latest 10W-40 and 20W-50 still have moly in them?

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: Turk
The ONLY High Mileage oil that stopped the dripping from the rear seal area was:

- Maxlife FULL Synthetic.

Was this because the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic has a better add package than Valvoline MaxLife?

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: Turk
The ONLY High Mileage oil that stopped the dripping from the rear seal area was:

- Maxlife FULL Synthetic.

Was this because the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic had/has a better add package than Valvoline MaxLife?


Must be.

Floored me. I keep cardboard under the car in the garage and it ALWAYS dripped the size of a couple silver dollars, and after ML Full Syn, it stopped, the entire drain - NO oil spots!!

Went back to ML Semi-syn, & Defy and it came back.

Shortly, back to ML Full Syn.

 

[Finz]

Originally Posted By: Turk
After "multiple" cycles of the following High Mileage oils over the past 5 years in my Wife's '97 Camry.....

- QS Defy
- Maxlife Semi-Syn
- Maxlife Full-Syn
- Penn High Mileage
- Mobil 1 High Mileage

The ONLY High Mileage oil that stopped the dripping from the rear seal area was:


- Maxlife FULL Synthetic.

There you go.



My daughter's '98 Accord is on its first fill of High Mileage oil... The car is at nearly 190k miles and going thru roughly 1 qt every 1,000 miles. Her commute is very short but takes a good long highway run every other weekend at least

Unfortunately, it takes a while to accumulate many miles and this fill of Pennzoil 5w30 will take months before the seals will realize any benefit

Walmart had a great sale on Valvoline last month and I picked up a jug of their High Mileage 5w30

My question, Turk (and others), is that I wonder if switching from one brand to another might cause a delay in the effectiveness of a High Mileage oil due to the fact that the add pack in use might need a few OCIs to reach full potential...?

No question the dripping stopped on the Camry after using the Full Synthetic ML, but I wonder if it might have simply been a cumulative effect of using a High Mileage oil regardless of brand?

"Problem" is I don't think we can ever know for sure but since the leak stopped, there's really no problem at all anymore, right?

BITOG had made me aware of so many things that never would have crossed my mind which is great... However, now I find myself 2nd guessing everything. What a PITA

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
Looks good. I noticed that the 20W-50 you used still has a decent amount of moly. From reading here recently, it seems the API starburst grades of Maxlife have no more moly. Do you know if the latest 10W-40 and 20W-50 still have moly in them?


I wonder the same as well. And also,where do you buy the 20W50? I haven`t seen it at any of the parts stores,Walmart,etc.

 

[Finz]

Originally Posted By: Turk
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: Turk
The ONLY High Mileage oil that stopped the dripping from the rear seal area was:

- Maxlife FULL Synthetic.

Was this because the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic had/has a better add package than Valvoline MaxLife?


Must be.

Floored me. I keep cardboard under the car in the garage and it ALWAYS dripped the size of a couple silver dollars, and after ML Full Syn, it stopped, the entire drain - NO oil spots!!

Went back to ML Semi-syn, & Defy and it came back.

Shortly, back to ML Full Syn.



Well there you go Turk. You just answered my question above... Thanks

I would love to see PQIA do some analysis of High Mileage oils by the way

 

[salv]

A lot of High Mileage oils are moving toward SN/GF-5, so many of them are as thin as regular oils. In fact, many of them are just the company's synthetic blend with seal conditioners added to them.
I ran Mobil Super High Mileage 10w30 in my Cherokee and the drips on the driveway stopped entirely. I did not have the same result with Defy.
2 oil changes later with regular conventional, and the drips still have not returned. If I didn't have so much Peak, I would be using Mobil Super High Mileage still. Nobody here seems to give it a thought, but it is well worth a shot if you have some minor leaks.

 

[MileHigh18]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have 114k on my odo right now. Would using a High Mileage oil every now and then be ok even if I don't have any leaks? I like the idea of conditioning the seals every now and then.

 

[JavierG]

I'm currently using Chevron Supreme HM in my Legend. I bought around 25 quarts in 5W30 and another 10 in 10W30 during O'Reilly's close out on it (with the $5 off of $5 coupons they cost me around $0.27 a quart) so I figured I would see how well it would do. It's only been in the Legend around 3500 miles and the small leak has not really slowed much. But on the other hand the engine is as smooth and quiet as it was with Mobil Super 5000 in it. So for the price that I paid for it I really like it and will see how it does for the next 2 years on it. I also have 10 quarts of Defy waiting in the wings along with 50 quarts of NextGen MaxLife.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: MileHigh18
Not to hijack this thread, but I have 114k on my odo right now. Would using a High Mileage oil every now and then be ok even if I don't have any leaks? I like the idea of conditioning the seals every now and then.


Of course. Valvoline MaxLife now has the API 'resource conserving' "Starburst" and it meets all the latest fuel economy standards of SN/GF-5. One could use it in a brand new car.

I believe the conventional SN oils now all have more seal conditioners in them than the previous SM ones did, so High Mileage isn't as needed anymore...

 

[Danh]

High Mileage oils are not always thicker than their non-High Mileage counterparts. Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w20 is actually a bit thinner at temp than convetional M1.

I'm a sort-of believer in Mobil 1 High Mileage which I used to stop a front cover leak in a 3.0 Duratec V6. The first fill did a pretty good job after 4,000 miles or so. But after a recent change using the same M1 High Mileage the leak started again. Don't know if this is typical (though I doubt it), but I guess time will tell.

I suppose conventional wisdom is that High Mileage oils are mostly used in cars well past their peak that have all kinds of problems: leaks, oil consumption, deposits, etc. In this case, the cheapest High Mileage oil you can find is likely right for the task. But there are a good number of cars in otherwise great shape that have a single problem, like an oil leak that's expensive to fix. If the owner thinks the car has a lot of life left in it, a Full Synthetic High Mileage oil seems a reasonable choice.

 

[WiskyBadger]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
Looks good. I noticed that the 20W-50 you used still has a decent amount of moly. From reading here recently, it seems the API starburst grades of Maxlife have no more moly. Do you know if the latest 10W-40 and 20W-50 still have moly in them?


I wonder the same as well. And also,where do you buy the 20W50? I haven`t seen it at any of the parts stores,Walmart,etc.
we have 20w50 in all the parts stores and walmarts around here. Most people just dont notice them.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
Looks good. I noticed that the 20W-50 you used still has a decent amount of moly. From reading here recently, it seems the API starburst grades of Maxlife have no more moly. Do you know if the latest 10W-40 and 20W-50 still have moly in them?


I wonder the same as well. And also,where do you buy the 20W50? I haven`t seen it at any of the parts stores,Walmart,etc.
we have 20w50 in all the parts stores and walmarts around here. Most people just dont notice them.


Is it in the 5 quart jugs,and/or just quarts? I can't remember if I'd seen it on WM's website or not. Can they special order I wonder?

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
Looks good. I noticed that the 20W-50 you used still has a decent amount of moly. From reading here recently, it seems the API starburst grades of Maxlife have no more moly. Do you know if the latest 10W-40 and 20W-50 still have moly in them?


I noticed that too.
Could it be that their particular additive package uses organic type friction modifiers that don't show up typically.

And as far as leaks and such I suggest liqui-moly motor oil saver. Use your favorite oil and this stuff and your leak will be cured.
I saw a used oil analysis with it and wear metals were pretty much nil. It says don't use in a shared sump bike which tells me its got some form of friction modifier in it and some form of ester.
I was impressed with it in my own personal use.

 

[fdcg27]

I've been using Maxlife, either red bottle SM or Nextgen SN in 10W-40 in my old four cylinder BMW for the past 20K or so.
It has reduced loss from both leaks and consumption considerably. It seems to work very well in this engine based upon both observed fuel economy and a used oil analysis I posted last year.
I'm not sure I'd be as happy with the current no-moly formula, though.
OTOH, before I came here I had virtually no knowledge of oil additives and never had any problems with any engine caused by any oil.

 

[yesthatsteve]

It depends on why you want/need a High Mileage oil.

If you're trying to cut consumption from "a lot" to "moderate," then the cheapest High Mileage oil is probably what you want, maybe even a grade thicker than the original specs. A synthetic makes no sense at a high rate of consumption, simply based on cost.

OTOH, if you're trying to eliminate lesser amounts of consumption, a full synthetic High Mileage oil may be the way to go.

About 30k miles ago, we started noticing consumption in the Ody in my sig, about 1 quart every 3k. New oil pump seals improved it to a quart about every 4k. We've used MSHigh Mileage 5w30 for 3 of the last 4 OCIs, and it's down to 1/2 quart every 4k. at 240k miles, I can live with that.

As you've seen above, YMMV. It may take time, but find one that works for your situation and stick with it.