What oil to use

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
8
Location
Western Pa., U.S.A
Hi all! First post here.
55.gif


I have a 1996 Grand Am GT with the 3.1 V6. It is in need of a few repairs that I just can't afford to do right now. One of the repairs is the intake gasket. Anyways, I want to change the oil so its not sitting parked with old used oil in the engine. The car has 84,000 miles on it. Should I use a High mileage oil such as Valvoline Maxlife to protect the seals, or just use a quality conventional oil like Mobil Clean 5000. (cheap @ Walmart)

I drive the car every so often to put air in the tires and just to drive it.

Thanks!
 
I think your Max Life idea is good. The cost difference just isn't that big. Plus, Max Life is 30% synthetic. Great oil for it's price!
 
If you dont drive it much put the least expensive major brand conventional dino oil in it with a supertech oil filter.
 
Last edited:
I'd go with the Maxlife. Has a bit of extra protection before you get the intake gaskets done.
 
I use Valvoline 10W40 in my gf`s Olds 88 that has 140k miles. I tried Maxlife one oci and it made it a tiny bit sluggish. Went back to white bottle and it felt much better. I`d just run white bottle if you`re going to use Valvoline. I,myself,have never used high mileage oils. I ran my Olds Trofeo to a lil over 300k on Valvoline white bottle 20W50 and never had any leaks or usage whatsoever.
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
I think your Max Life idea is good. The cost difference just isn't that big. Plus, Max Life is 30% synthetic. Great oil for it's price!

could you please name the source where you got the 30% from?
 
I also read somewhere on the Valvoline site that the Maxlife semi syn is at least 30%. I think the 5W20 may be higher...
 
Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess my main reason for asking is if the car is 99% of the time just parked, couldn't the seals and gaskets begin to shrink from the car not running? Thus my wondering to use Maxlife. If not I'd probably just use a quality cheap dino such as Quaker State or Mobil Clean 5000. At my Walmart 5 quart jug:

Quaker State......$10.50

Mobil Clean 5000..$11.00

Maxlife...........$14.00

Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: Yellowdog
Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess my main reason for asking is if the car is 99% of the time just parked, couldn't the seals and gaskets begin to shrink from the car not running? Thus my wondering to use Maxlife. If not I'd probably just use a quality cheap dino such as Quaker State or Mobil Clean 5000. At my Walmart 5 quart jug:

Quaker State......$10.50

Mobil Clean 5000..$11.00

Maxlife...........$14.00

Thanks


See, for another $3.00 (or $3.50), you get a 30% synthetic blend, PLUS its a seal conditioning oil... Go with the Max Life! Its a no-brainer!
 
Originally Posted By: Yellowdog
Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess my main reason for asking is if the car is 99% of the time just parked, couldn't the seals and gaskets begin to shrink from the car not running? Thus my wondering to use Maxlife. If not I'd probably just use a quality cheap dino such as Quaker State or Mobil Clean 5000. At my Walmart 5 quart jug:

Quaker State......$10.50

Mobil Clean 5000..$11.00

Maxlife...........$14.00

Thanks


I would go with the oil choices in this order considering cost & performance:

MC5000
ML
QS
 
IMO, the first thing you need to do is fix the intake gasket. If not taken care of, your camshaft bearings will take a spin and then you will need a new block and you won't even be able to get your core deposit back.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I use Valvoline 10W40 in my gf`s Olds 88 that has 140k miles. I tried Maxlife one oci and it made it a tiny bit sluggish. Went back to white bottle and it felt much better. I`d just run white bottle if you`re going to use Valvoline. I,myself,have never used high mileage oils. I ran my Olds Trofeo to a lil over 300k on Valvoline white bottle 20W50 and never had any leaks or usage whatsoever.


that is because the base in the maxlife is thicker...10w30 would have been good comparison to 10w40 white bottle I'd bet
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: Yellowdog
Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess my main reason for asking is if the car is 99% of the time just parked, couldn't the seals and gaskets begin to shrink from the car not running? Thus my wondering to use Maxlife. If not I'd probably just use a quality cheap dino such as Quaker State or Mobil Clean 5000. At my Walmart 5 quart jug:

Quaker State......$10.50

Mobil Clean 5000..$11.00

Maxlife...........$14.00

Thanks


See, for another $3.00 (or $3.50), you get a 30% synthetic blend, PLUS its a seal conditioning oil... Go with the Max Life! Its a no-brainer!


Maxlife has Moly but not much if any ZDDP???
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Originally Posted By: Yellowdog
Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess my main reason for asking is if the car is 99% of the time just parked, couldn't the seals and gaskets begin to shrink from the car not running? Thus my wondering to use Maxlife. If not I'd probably just use a quality cheap dino such as Quaker State or Mobil Clean 5000. At my Walmart 5 quart jug:

Quaker State......$10.50

Mobil Clean 5000..$11.00

Maxlife...........$14.00

Thanks


I would go with the oil choices in this order considering cost & performance:

MC5000
ML
QS





StevieC,
I'm inclined to go the Maxlife route
55.gif
, but just curious why you would choose MC5000 before ML in this situation? Should I not be concerned about the gaskets shrinking?
54.gif


Thanks.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top