Valvoline MaxLife vs. Castrol GTX High Mileage

[toy4two]

Ok we have a 93 Honda Del Sol with 160,000 miles that burns about 1 quart every 1,000 miles.

We plan to get 200,000 miles out of this vehicle with no engine work.

There are no oil leaks and aside from burning oil the cars drives great, 30+ MPG!

I am currently using 10W-30 Valvoline MaxLife for 2 changes, didn't seem to change oil consumption, would the "17%" better Castrol HM really do anything, their wording makes it sound like that only applies to other conventional oils, the Valvoline MaxLife is a synthetic (which might be why it burns dunno).

Anyone have any experience with slowing oil burning? Thicker oil?

 

[Market525]

I had the opposite results on a Toyota Corolla - MaxLife slowed the consumption vs. conventional oil. Does your car spec a 10w30? I thought this vintage of Honda called for 5w30 weight oils. Many old school car guys will quip that you need thicker oil in higher mileage cars .... More often than not, I've not found this to be the case.

Also, have you considered doing an ARX treatment in the car? This could also free up stuck piston rings, which could easily be some of the reasons you are using oil. I've ussed ARX on 3 high mileage cars w/ good results.

 

[toy4two]

hmmm I just bought Castrol GTX High Mileage 10W-30. I saw on the shelf they also offer 10W-40 and 20W-50. I'm thinking of taking this back and getting something thicker if that would help, I live in San Diego and it never gets under 20 degrees out so maybe 20W-50? Or maybe that is too drastic and I should start with 10W-40. What do you think?

 

[toy4two]

Just got back from PepBoys, returned the 10W-30 Castrol GTX HM and got 10W-40 Valvoline MaxLife. Wish me luck!

 

[Dominic]

running a 10-40 is the oldest trick used to slow consumption... thats why 10-30 maxlife is on the thick end of a 30. in Sandiego you'll be fine with a 1040.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Strange as it seems, in the last few months, some of the best HM oil feedback - in regards to alleviating engine issues, has been with Supertech HM oils.

 

[va3ux]

GTX HM is pretty thick stuff already for a 10W30. Well above 11 cst as I recall.

 

[Drew99GT]

Yea, it's 12.2 Cst I believe. The 10w-40 is really really thick!

 

[scottm1]

This may be an dumb question, but what is an ARX treatment?

 

[Dr_No]

http://www.auto-rx.com

 

[va3ux]

We use "ARX" as shorthand for Auto-RX.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Yea, it's 12.2 Cst I believe. The 10w-40 is really really thick!


You thin oil guys are something else. . .

What would you do if you had to drive a car with 20W-50 in it?

 

[Drew99GT]

I drove my 94 Corolla with 20w-50 in it most of the summer.

 

[02zx9r]

How did it perform? I have run 5/30 in mine since new, only 5132 miles on it.

How much of a decrease in mpg did you notice?

 

[Drew99GT]

None; was still getting 41 mpg highway through the mountains. Cold weather is the only variable which affects mileage on this car for the most part; oil certainly does not.

 

[02zx9r]

It wasnt sluggish or anything?

could you tell a difference between that and a 5/30 or 10/30?

 

[Drew99GT]

Nope; well, I recently changed it to the 10w-30 Maxlife for winter. During cooler fall morning starts with the 20w-50, the engine made some racket, especially when I'd coast down my hill. But it was no more sluggish. The 20w-50 didn't cut oil consumption nearly as well as the 10w-30 Maxlife has, so I'm staying with Maxlife at 5,000 miles or 6 months. Actually, I'm not traveling as much so I'll probably have about 4,000 miles at 6 months - I'll just take it to 5K since it's mostly highway.

Don't run thick oils in the newer Corollas with VVTI though, it takes a while for the oil to thin down enough to activate the VVTI. I had an 02 Corolla for a while and noticed that. You could instantly feel a difference in low rpm throttle response and pep when it would kick in; before that, it was a DOG

 

[02zx9r]

I wasnt going to attempt to but I appreciate the heads up. What may I ask is WTI? Is a 10-40 too think in a newer corolla?

I have the 5 quart jug of maxlife 5w-30 syn blend and I scored 5 quarts of full syn maxlife 5w-30 and 2 quarts 10W30 sl full syn maxlife at wal mart. Will run those eventually as well

 

[Drew99GT]

VVTI is the variable cam timing on Toyota's; there's a little actuator, at least on the Corolla's, on the intake cam that's actuated via pressurized oil, and it allows the intake cam gear to move forward and back independent of the camshaft, to change valve timing. Helps with fuel mileage and low rpm throttle response. Thick oil can't pressurize the activator enough to activate it.

The same phenomenon can happen with hydraulically activated timing chain tensioners.

 

[02zx9r]

appreciate the explanation.

Will stick with the 5-20's and 5-30's

maxlife will be going in the sump in another 1800 miles, just trying to decide to use the syn blend or the full syn. syn blend is sm, full syn sl. either one will be in there at least 7500 miles