What oil would you use for a high mileage engine?
- Thread starter williamshrader
- Start date
With the rebates that are going on, I’d get M1 HM 5w30. Change when the computer tells you to. Those 4.2 straight sixes are good engines and should outlast the rest of the vehicle.
Just remember -- those 4.2L take 7 quarts. Just changed my one tenants oil acouple months back. Checked his manual and sure enough -- 7 quarts.
+1
23 years on a Buick 3800, plain old conventional 5W-30 also no failures.
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I have only recently started posting on this site, but I have been reading for several years. It seems that the topic of high mileage oils often brings out the most passion in many people. I work in industrial maintenance. Where I work, we use all Mobil lubricants. I often use Mobil's forum...
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I went with Super Tech 5w30 HM FS & an ACDelco oil filter.
Maxlife.
Any reputable "conventional" 5W30 will serve you well with regular oil, filter and air filter changes. Don't over think this, your motor is not high mileage yet and has no major consumption, leaks or other obvious issues. Better to do a couple back-to-back UOA's with the same oil brand and get yourself a better indication of health and adjust from there.
The 4.2 is somewhat known for sporadic increased oil use. Even GM will tell you a quart every 3k is "normal". I spun a bearing in one at 147k miles after running it nearly 4 quarts low on oil. Up until that sudden usage it barely required any at all between 10k oci's. So, I'd definitely go with a high mileage thicker oil in the 5W30 grade.
I would use the same oil that got it to be a high mileage engine
I've used it or not used it, depending on the deal. Go into most oil change places with Valvoline and ask for a blend, they'll give you MaxLife, ask for high mileage they'll give you MaxLife. Ask for conventional, they'll give you Daily Protection which is a blend. It's all words on a bottle. Walmart was doing the same thing with ST synthetic before the shutdown-- high mileage for both. They were down labeling it to semi-syn/high mileage to reserve Mobil 1 as their "real" synthetic. Now, apparently they're selling Pennzoil high mileage blend (formerly high mileage conventional) as their $35 hi-mi change.
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I always wonder why everyone makes statements like that? It didn't take any kind of special oil to get to 150k miles. The cheapest oil ever changed at 15k miles might have gotten it to that mileage still running perfect and have it full of sludge. I drove an 05 Impala taxi with 200k that went 60k on one OCI with bulk conventional until the filter rusted out. It ran like new.
"The engine didn't blow up yet" isn't a good reason to stick with that particular oil. People making these kind of posts are looking to get as many miles as possible out of said high mileage vehicle. Suggestions to keep using whatever was used before, isn't really helpful, unless the original poster had internal engine pics, teardown measurements, compression test results, etc to argue that the previously used oil was working great.
I feel the same about "it will run on anything" posts. Even if I had a gm 3800 "they will run on anything" and I wanted to keep it forever so I don't have to buy a modern throwaway vehicle (that will be too expensive to repair in 10-20 years) I I would run something decent in it (as long as it was on sale).
I don't see the point of conventional anymore at the price I can buy full synthetic at. I've been running it in my 70s and 80s V8s for almost 20 years now and these engines (that some members here like to say "would only last 100k miles" have gone way over 200k miles (100k on the 76 since pulled from the junkyard) and still run like almost like new.
In the past I've had success with HDEO. I might try MaxLife if I had a truly high mileage passenger vehicle now.
420,000 mi GM 4.3L V6 with Valve Guide Issues - Rotella T 15W-40.
300,000 mi Buick 3800 V-6 that uses 1 quart per 10,000 mi - Rotella T 10W30 - Rotella T5 10W-30 (Once the standard in 10W-30 became hard to find).
The 4.3L was still running post 500,000 the last I heard and the 3800 at 350,000 mi.
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420,000 mi GM 4.3L V6 with Valve Guide Issues - Rotella T 15W-40.
300,000 mi Buick 3800 V-6 that uses 1 quart per 10,000 mi - Rotella T 10W30 - Rotella T5 10W-30 (Once the standard in 10W-30 became hard to find).
The 4.3L was still running post 500,000 the last I heard and the 3800 at 350,000 mi.
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Whatever is on sale or quakerstate hm or supertech hm