Valvoline High Mileage with MaxLife vs Every other HM oil. Who wins?

[Barkleymut]

I have tried a couple of high mileage oils in my Saturn (burner) and my f150 (leaker). The only oil that I have ever found that works better than others is maxlife. No science to back it up, but my leaker does not leak as much and I barely have to add to my saturn after 2k miles.

 

[Vapor Lock]

Received. I agree.Thanks sir. That and 5k OCI paired with good oil filter helps!

I'm sure there are "better" HM oils then Valvoline MaxLife synthetic blend. Wally World has 12 qt box of MaxLife Synthetic Blend for $42.97 that is $3.58 a qt. That price beats Super Tech HM Full Synthetic oil 5 qts $18.84 at $3.72 qt. I'm sure either oiwould work just fine at 5k OCI.

 

[Vapor Lock]

I have seen good results with several brands at this point. Currently have STP High Mileage 5w30 in my truck (89 Chevy 350 TBI). Don't want to go full syn yet because it is old and truly filthy.

It literally had enough sludge on the underside of the valve covers to touch the rocker arms. I cleaned what I could and ran several short intervals since the oil was black right away. Now have high mileage oil in it to stop the puff of blue smoke on startup and sometimes pulling away from a red light. After a few hundred miles, that is all gone, hasn't smoked since.

I think what is more important is to use it and not what brand it is, basically the same concept either way.

Thank you sir. Grateful for input with HM oil experience.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Ha ha very true statement!

Actually the HM winner is the one your engine likes best.

Personally, Valvoline Synthetic Blend HM (Maxlife) is what I found to be really good, better than the full synthetic version.
Three out of my last four engines I used it with, liked Maxlife Blend the most. One was a deafening Shout-Out!!!

 

[JavierH19]

Tacoma with 350,000 plus miles

So is your 350k tacoma seeping or dripping a bit of oil or burning? Or is it doing neither and feel like using a HM oil to maybe prolong that some more?

 

[Vapor Lock]

Actually the HM winner is the one your engine likes best.

Personally, Valvoline Synthetic Blend HM (Maxlife) is what I found to be really good, better than the full synthetic version.
Three out of my last four engines I used it with, liked Maxlife Blend the most. One was a deafening Shout-Out!!!

HA HA HA Awesome! Thank you sir for the feedback and your experience with MaxLife.

So far my 2006 Tacoma V6 would agree with your assessment.

MaxLife may achieve the prestigious title of OG for HM oils?

 

[Vapor Lock]

So is your 350k tacoma seeping or dripping a bit of oil or burning? Or is it doing neither and feel like using a HM oil to maybe prolong that some more?

Hi Sir,

Neither. No oil leaks. Not one drop.

At 2k usage I noticed 8 to 12 oz of oil consumption (minor or acceptable consumption for 5k OCI?)

After top off I reach 5k mark with no further oil consumption. Pretty much with every oil I have used. Less so with Maxlife.

 

[someonesomewhere]

Wally World online has good prices on 6qt box Havoline Longlife Full Synthetic. I have couple 6qt boxes in my stash. Thank you for the input.

Not familiar with Centex Auto Gold HMO.

Used to run a lot of Havoljne back when. Before I switched to Mobil circa 1996ish. Currently favor Mobil1 FSHM, 5w30 for both of our cars. Usually about $26-28 per 5qt, which is fair to me for a product that I personally feel has earned my trust over the last almost 3 decades. Ymmv.

 

[JavierH19]

Hi Sir,

Neither. No oil leaks. Not one drop.

At 2k usage I noticed 8 to 12 oz of oil consumption (minor or acceptable consumption for 5k OCI?)

After top off I reach 5k mark with no further oil consumption. Pretty much with every oil I have used. Less so with Maxlife.

Sometimes one oil can burn a bit compared to another brand even if both are of the same viscosity.

I run thicker 15w-40 instead of 5w-30 in my old trucks though it barely even touches 20f in freak winter storms so it's no issue. You could try 15w-40 as that almost eliminated my yukons oil consumption all together and reduced my sierra a lot which had the worst of the two and now the two engines are quieter at hot idle. As far as consumption goes at first it immediately lowered consumption on both but not by a lot and then gradually kept lowering consumption more and more as the higher detergents in 15w-40 cleaned more and more over time and I wasn't doing short changes either.

You could also use 0/5w-40 if it gets colder wherever you're at. I started using 5w-40 in my new 2021 instead of 0w-20 since it would burn almost a quart per change and was noisy at hot idle but both issues are gone entirely now. My trip mpg only reset after every fill up went from 17.6-17.8 with 0w-20 to 17.5-17.7 so just 0.1mpg of loss going up two grades. Still under warranty without fear. Never liked thin oil and probably never will.

 

[Vapor Lock]

Sometimes one oil can burn a bit compared to another brand even if both are of the same viscosity.

I run thicker 15w-40 instead of 5w-30 in my old trucks though it barely even touches 20f in freak winter storms so it's no issue. You could try 15w-40 as that almost eliminated my yukons oil consumption all together and reduced my sierra a lot which had the worst of the two and now the two engines are quieter at hot idle. As far as consumption goes at first it immediately lowered consumption on both but not by a lot and then gradually kept lowering consumption more and more as the higher detergents in 15w-40 cleaned more and more over time and I wasn't doing short changes either.

You could also use 0/5w-40 if it gets colder wherever you're at. I started using 5w-40 in my new 2021 instead of 0w-20 since it would burn almost a quart per change and was noisy at hot idle but both issues are gone entirely now. My trip mpg only reset after every fill up went from 17.6-17.8 with 0w-20 to 17.5-17.7 so just 0.1mpg of loss going up two grades. Still under warranty without fear. Never liked thin oil and probably never will.

Received sir. Thank you for the information!

 

[350Rocket]

I have seen good results with several brands at this point. Currently have STP High Mileage 5w30 in my truck (89 Chevy 350 TBI). Don't want to go full syn yet because it is old and truly filthy.

It literally had enough sludge on the underside of the valve covers to touch the rocker arms. I cleaned what I could and ran several short intervals since the oil was black right away. Now have high mileage oil in it to stop the puff of blue smoke on startup and sometimes pulling away from a red light. After a few hundred miles, that is all gone, hasn't smoked since.

I think what is more important is to use it and not what brand it is, basically the same concept either way.

That sounds like a pretty good success story. I had an 83 Caprice that had 240k miles on the 305. No sludge (I replaced the valve cover gaskets and it was really clean under there) well maintained car but the valve seals needed replacing (or an LS swap which was the plan until I traded it for a rocker panel replacement on my truck) but I tried m1 high mileage and others on that car and the only thing that got rid of the occasional puff of blue smoke was adding a catalytic converter. That hid the blue smoke but made a rotten egg smell if I drove it hard.
It leaked a lot of oil but only used like a qt every 2k miles or so. Stayed clean a long time too.

 

[Vapor Lock]

Received sir. Thank you for the information!

That sounds like a pretty good success story. I had an 83 Caprice that had 240k miles on the 305. No sludge (I replaced the valve cover gaskets and it was really clean under there) well maintained car but the valve seals needed replacing (or an LS swap which was the plan until I traded it for a rocker panel replacement on my truck) but I tried m1 high mileage and others on that car and the only thing that got rid of the occasional puff of blue smoke was adding a catalytic converter. That hid the blue smoke but made a rotten egg smell if I drove it hard.
It leaked a lot of oil but only used like a qt every 2k miles or so. Stayed clean a long time too.

That is old school! Thank you sir. Man I miss the 80s!

 

[ltslimjim]

Actually the HM winner is the one your engine likes best.

Personally, Valvoline Synthetic Blend HM (Maxlife) is what I found to be really good, better than the full synthetic version.
Three out of my last four engines I used it with, liked Maxlife Blend the most. One was a deafening Shout-Out!!!

This has been my experience as well.

At least, regarding oil consumption, which is one major factor that people going with a HM oil are looking to address.

However, if not needing as much oil leak or consumption reduction, then obviously the full synthetic is likely a better overall lubricant choice.

Therefore, if one is trying HM oils without much success for reducing consumption/leaks, one option is using a synthetic blend version for a couple OCIs before concluding that no HM oil is able to help or not.

.02 YMMV

 

[jeepman3071]

I have been very happy with MaxLife. I'm on my 4th Jeep 4.0L powered vehicle, the current one had a bad rear main seal leak when I bought it, which is a known issue on these. I replaced the seal which pretty much cured it, but there was still a slight seep. Maxlife cured it completely after 2 oil changes, and my Jeep 4.0L remains dry of oil at 167k miles which is pretty unheard of for them.

I have two other 4.0 Jeeps in my friends/family circle, and it has helped with leaks on those as well. I'm not saying it is better than other HM oils, but I have been happy with its performance so I'll keep using it.

 

[Vapor Lock]

Thanks Sir. Feed back from MaxLife users seem to be pretty consistent with very positive results.

I started using HM oil around 285,000 miles. I came to reasonable conclusion HM oils have solid additive packs. Using HM oil as preventative maintenance since I'm at 350,000 and zero leaks!

 

[Vapor Lock]

Came across this HM oil at Orielly's yesterday. I found PQIA analysis on Syntec Full Synthetic not the HM version.

Single 5qt price point not a good value. 5qt paired with Microgard Oil filter at $34 a little better. Wally World still has better price point.

https://pqia.org/syntec-sae-5w-30-full-synthetic-motor-oil/

Anyone have data sheet on Syntec Full Synthetic HM 5w 30? Thoughts on this HM oil additive pack.

 

[facility1]

looks like a good oil ,very useable, blended by omni specialties packaging.

 

[wlk]

Havoline Blend and Syn 6qt boxes are hard to beat. Maxlife blend 3rd

 

[Bill7]

This is an important thread. We could define "best" high mileage oil, as the one that treats the engine oil seals the best, to stop or reduce leaks the most. Based on the "stop leak" criteria, which would be the most effective high mileage oil?

Has anyone every experienced a reduction in oil leaks with the cheap SuperTech High Mileage Full Synthetic?