When to use a high mileage oil

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huntsonora

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Have a 97 Tacoma with 200,000 miles that's about to get a Kreen treatment. It's burning a little oil, maybe a quart to a quart and a half every 5000 miles.

I use Pennzoil Platinum now but have been thinking about switching to one of the high mileage oils like the Pennzoil Platinum HM, ST HM, Max Life etc....

I've heard if you run high mileage you'll always need to run it. Is this true?

Stay with what I'm running or go high mileage? Thoughts?
 
Burning or leaking ?

Sorry , I have no experience with HM oils .

Personally , I would not sweat that amount of oil consumption . Just check it every gas fill up and top off as needed .

If burning the oil , you might do a dry and wet compression test to determine if it is going past the rings or the valve seals .
 
It would be interesting to see if there's any difference running three back to back intervals of Maxlife syn-blend for 5k miles. I'd also change the pcv valve out with a new oem one.
 
Originally Posted by huntsonora
Have a 97 Tacoma with 200,000 miles that's about to get a Kreen treatment. It's burning a little oil, maybe a quart to a quart and a half every 5000 miles.

I use Pennzoil Platinum now but have been thinking about switching to one of the high mileage oils like the Pennzoil Platinum HM, ST HM, Max Life etc....

I've heard if you run high mileage you'll always need to run it. Is this true?

Stay with what I'm running or go high mileage? Thoughts?


My Corolla has near 130 K its a 2004 I run high mileage oil sometimes. When do I run it when its on sale cheaper than regular oil on sale. Weather I'm on regular oil or HM oil I see no difference in my top off oil consumed in a 5 to 6K mile OCI. The stories you hear are old wives tales and have nothing to do with reality. Depending on the regular oil I use my oil usage runs between a cup and just short of a half quart. I think NOACK pays more of a part in this than anything else. I see no relationship to regular or HM oil using more or less oil.
 
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Originally Posted by huntsonora
Stay with what I'm running or go high mileage? Thoughts?


I think the HM oils are just hype by the manufacturers to sell a more expensive product. On a 22 year old 200,000 mile ordinary truck, the cheapest quality oil is fine. Walmart synthetic comes to mind, but if a deal on conventional comes up, I wouldn't hesitate using it.
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Burning or leaking ?


Has to burning it as there are zero leaks on the driveway.

I just replaced the PCV valve with one from
NAPA and I have an OEM valve on its way from Amazon. When I replaced the pcv valve it was pretty dirty below it and this is what got me to thinking about the Kreen treatment. I've seen where it cleans stuff up pretty well and gets good reviews.

Another option would be the Valvoline Restore

This is what it looked like under the PCV valve....

[Linked Image]
 
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I can't change my oil (subdivision rules and geezerliness) or I'd be buying cheap group III.

My oil change place of choice bombards me with coupons. Usually $10 for a conventional (VWB) change. Disposal fees and taxes make it about $17. Sometimes they'll throw in Maxlife Blend for $10 more. If so, I'll take it. Sometimes they offer Maxlife Blend for $10 off-- that's about $45. Then I pass and go with VWB.

I've moved back and forth between the two without incident. I plan on going 5K miles with VWB or 6K with Maxlife. NOACK may be slightly better with Maxlife but I've noticed no difference in usage.
 
At 1-1.5 quarts per 5000 miles and at that mileage, I would do nothing. Trying a Kreen or Restore fix just might stir up more problems.
 
One of the few oils I've had zero consumption on is VWB in the 05 Matrix with 150k on it. I've run that for the last 4-5 oil changes.
 
Holy smokes, I wouldn't do anything to that engine other than short interval changes. That much coked up carbon is going to kill it if you shock it.
 
One thing to add, the truck was one owner, little old lady owned it and I'm sure it was never driven hard. It was
Serviced by Toyota and a shop that deals with Toyota exclusively so the Carfax history showed it to have been very well taken care of. I've owned it about 10 months and have put 30,000 miles on it with Pennzoil Platinum for most changes. I did try the Rotella T6 multi vehicle for one change but it's difficult to find here
 
Originally Posted by huntsonora
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Burning or leaking ?


Has to burning it as there are zero leaks on the driveway.

I just replaced the PCV valve with one from
NAPA and I have an OEM valve on its way from Amazon. When I replaced the pcv valve it was pretty dirty below it and this is what got me to thinking about the Kreen treatment. I've seen where it cleans stuff up pretty well and gets good reviews.

Another option would be the Valvoline Restore

This is what it looked like under the PCV valve....

[Linked Image]


Is this picture right when you changed the PCV or how much later?
There may also be a lot of this in the hose to the PCV and it would be my suggestion you change that out as well.
 
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Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson


Is this picture right when you changed the PCV or how much later?
There may also be a lot of this in the hose to the PCV and it would be my suggestion you change that out as well.



Right when I changed it. I had already gotten the brittle gasket out
 
Are you sure what you're seeing through the fill hole is sludge? My old 1MZ-FE engine has a baffle under the fill hole that has a black gritty coating that was there from the factory. If you work hard enough at it you can scrape it off as your picture shows. But it is normal and has fooled a lot of people into thinking their engine has "sludge" when in fact it has nothing of the sort. With the baffle in the way of seeing the camshaft and head you can't tell anything unless you pull the cover and look.

Oil consumption of 1 -1 1/2 quarts per 5000 miles is typical for that engine. That's about what my engine does at 400,000 miles and it's done it since I can remember.

This is the view into a completely normal Toyota engine with the baffle:

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Are you sure what you're seeing through the fill hole is sludge?


I'm not, it's why I'm asking. If this consumption is normal I'll stick with the PP. I may try the Kreen just to try and clean stuff like this up and I haven't seen any documentation that it hurts anything
 
Originally Posted by huntsonora
Originally Posted by kschachn
Are you sure what you're seeing through the fill hole is sludge?


I'm not, it's why I'm asking. If this consumption is normal I'll stick with the PP. I may try the Kreen just to try and clean stuff like this up and I haven't seen any documentation that it hurts anything



I would try poking it with a clean object. You will know right away if it's sludge or the baffle.
 
And sorry, my mistake. I thought your picture was down the fill hole not the PCV hole. My comments and picture do not apply to that.

The PCV is connected to a baffle/passageway system in the valve cover. You will see deposits there, they really can't be removed by any cleaning solvent or additive to the oil. The only way to get rid of them is to remove the cover and have it cleaned with strong solvents that wash through the passages in the cover. Generally those passages are covered by a plate that is riveted in place and I have heard of people grinding the rivets off and somehow re-attaching the baffle plate. But I would say that what you're seeing in your picture is normal, this is a cooler spot in the cover and a prime location for deposits to form. Like I said I don't think there is any way an additive is going to wash this area as it is designed to keep the oil from migrating into the PCV valve.
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister

If burning the oil , you might do a dry and wet compression test to determine if it is going past the rings or the valve seals .

+1

My vote would be for Maxlife 10w-40. I would do three 100-hour or 4000 mile intervals (whichever is first.) The HM oils will be a little thicker, and provide higher HTHS than their non-HM counterparts. They also contain more seal treatment than SN guidelines demand. PQIA has VOA on Maxlife and it seems to be using ashless, organic FMs in their current iteration, so if it burns, it should contribute little to coking in the cylinder and exhaust.
 
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