3.5 Quart Oil Sump!Appreciate the long reply and thought out answer.
Here's just one example of AMSOIL or HPL from day one with appropriate changes, and he still developed an oil burning problem.
At what mileage did the OLM go off?
Valvoline R&P Oil Burner Test Results
- Thread starter Glenda W.
- Start date
At what mileage did the OLM go off?
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
Car does 90% highway driving ( 4 hour round trip work commuting ) and the OLM hits 0% at 10,000 miles.
If I drive in the city only ( did that for about a month once when I first bought it ) , it goes off at 6000 miles.
Even more amazing is that a 1996 Subaru hasn't rusting in half by that time. I haven't seen a single one from that era in years. I had a 1991 2wd Loyale wagon back when I first stated following this forum in 2005. Super simple, easy to work on vehicle. Also a big time oil burner. It died of rust in 2007. I miss that car.
I think 10k, but I’ll ask her the next time I’m around at noon when her route brings her to my mailbox.
What would you say your OCIs are normally?
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
10,000 - 11,000 miles, whenever the OLM reaches zero.
I trust the OLM.
It’s smart enough to penalize me 40% when I just did city driving.
Other car ( Honda Civic ) has over 300,000 miles and I also followed the OLM but it’s not GDI.
I do way too much driving to be doing even 5K oil changes, plus it’s too expensive.
My 2007 Fit has 340k miles and consumes 1 Qt per 4k since about 200k miles on the engine. I’ve used so many different lubes and extended the intervals but now realize they don’t run as clean as oils made for extended intervals. The OLM in these aren’t as sophisticated and assume conventional oil. For fun, if Amsoil Signature hadn’t slowed consumption rate by this fall I’m planning on trying VRP.
I do wonder if being DI instead of port accelerated the issue for you. My BIL has the same vehicle essentially, and has slightly worse consumption, but also did 18k and 21k mile OCIs a couple of times.So, boutiques may not prevent always, but to me it underscores the importance of careful consumption monitoring for any vehicle.
Last edited:
Glenda already answered this, but here is an interesting paper about alkylated naphthalene. Mobil seems to be putting them in only some of their oils that lack esters, like M1 Truck and SUV, and their Extended Performance oils. Their basic oils seem to not get AN. I wish we knew the percentage of AN used, because if it is small, it won’t help much. I’ve seen some papers say 20% is needed to get very large effects. It has the downsides of high cost, low viscosity index, and XOM makes it only in two viscosities, if I recall correctly. King Industries makes it in more viscosities than that, but XOM is likely averse to buying it from a competitor.
AN paper
There are an enormous number of ester varieties. They are generally more polar than AN. The types used in motor oils have strong strengths and strong weaknesses, so must be chosen wisely and used in the right amounts. Some negatives are competition with antiwear additives, tend to swell seals, can undergo hydrolysis in high temperatures and in the presence of water, and they are expensive. Positives are that they can help solubize deposit precursors and deposits themselves, can help solubize additives, some of them perform well or extremely well in certain high temperature situations, and they have very low volatility for their viscosity. They can also decrease friction coefficient, but that is very dependent on the specific ester, the rest of the motor oil, temperature, load, speed, surface roughness, parts geometry, etc. It’s also true that it could increase friction in some cases. Tom NJ is our resident ester expert, so maybe he will chime in.
Edit: this Torco blog article is pretty good, though far from exhaustive. https://torcousa.com/blogs/news/polyalphaolefin-pao-esters-alkylated-naphthalene-an
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
You’re doing well if it only consumes 1 quart per 4000 miles, especially given the high mileage.My 2007 Fit has 340k miles and consumes 1 Qt per 4k since about 200k miles on the engine. I’ve used so many different lubes and extended the intervals but now realize they don’t run as clean as oils made for extended intervals. The OLM in these aren’t as sophisticated and assume conventional oil. For fun, if Amsoil Signature hadn’t slowed consumption rate by this fall I’m planning on trying VRP.
My FIT burns 1 quart per 2,500 miles.
Thank you for sharing the example! I have an 07 Honda fit with not as bad oil consumption, but still it’s there. Hard to know if the oil control rings are filled with deposits, but the consumption has been a consistent rate since it appeared. 1 Qt per 4k miles. And yes, extended OCIs were present before it occurred. TBD if VRP may reverse this.Appreciate the long reply and thought out answer.
Here's just one example of AMSOIL or HPL from day one with appropriate changes, and he still developed an oil burning problem.
True it’s at a more acceptable level, especially for the mileage. I have yet to dig further, but were you using VRP in yours?
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
Yes.
I am on my second VRP oil change ( follow the OLM ) but haven’t noticed any improvement yet.
Awesome, very interested to see if it eventually changes as it did for the OP.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
I rack up the miles quick so the 4th oil change will be complete by July.
LSJ has a video on the OLM, and it seems pretty accurate.
I guess it's all a tradeoff. If you're spending that much time in the driver's seat, what's 30 min on an oil change twice as often? Given your oil, it seems that's the only other variable you could manipulate.
Have you ever sent a UOA?
Any noticeable difference yet? It will be interesting to see if VRP can eliminate your oil consumption.
The best oils will mitigate deposits very well but overtime they can still form. Per what Valvoline lead engineer said, VRP is the only oil that can reverse them and bring it to a negative.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
I always try and check the oil after it has sat all night in the same spot ( level….on the street because my driveway has a slight incline ).
I wasn’t able to park it on the street last night but I checked the oil level anyways.
Let me get back to you in a few days but when I checked it this morning on my driveway, it seems as if it still does not require any oil and normally I would have to add oil at this point.
I wasn’t going to mention anything but I wanted to answer your question.
Let me report back in a few days.
Detecting a *difference* in life isn't the same thing as accurately assessing the life. In metrology terms, it's the difference between resolution and accuracy.
I used to trust OLM on my Odyssey, always changing by OLM for 18 years. Engine got super varnished. It needed shorter OCIs.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,712
Here my position.
I drive way more than the average driver ( this car alone does around 40,000 miles per year, and we have two other cars ) , hate doing oil changes ( up until two years ago, we lived in a condo and people were not allowed to work on their cars ) , don’t feel like doing early oil changes every month and don’t like wasting my money.
Even if doing early oil changes has prevented my oil consumption issues, I prefer that I followed the OLM because I saved time, saved going to get an oil change every month and saved money.
Even though it burns a quart ( and it’s stable, hasn’t got worse ) every 2500 miles, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Cars engine runs nice and smooth.
1 quart every 2500 miles to avoid that is well worth it to me as long as the engine runs fine.
Similar threads
