I hate to even ask this. But I have an Acura RDX turbo which has a oil weeping problem at the oil filter housing rubber seals where the filter holding housing mounts to the block as a separate part.
If I could choose, I would rather replace the rubber seals at this oil change. But it's not going to happen. They are kinda like o-rings as it turns out but are a special shape for the inlet and outlet and I think they aren't just a round rubber but more squarish as far as diameter that fits in the seal groove. I can't get the parts at the moment. Nobody local stocks them and I've already went through the ordeal of ordering them from an online parts house, having them not show up, and having my order cancelled and refunded because they didn't actually have them on hand to ship either, and so I'm already past my OCI. This job is a PITA, otherwise I'd probably try taking it apart to apply some oil safe gasket sealer stuff until the next OCI. It would probably work. But it's not a job I want to do twice.
So what I am looking for is an oil to try this OCI that might soften and fatten up these rubber seals and stop the leak short term.
To be honest, I had this issue last winter too. This car has "use mobil 1 5w30" right on the oil cap. So I switched it over to mobil 1 HM last winter and thought it actually worked. Reality is, it just got warmer. The seals are just sad enough that when it's very cold they contract enough to weep a little oil. Not even enough to matter. I just don't like that I know it's weeping and I don't like the little spots collection on my driveway. An oil with a good seal conditioner would probably do the trick.
I've took the time to read a few HM labels, and really I only saw that Valvoline and Pennzoil HM actually state they have seal conditioners out of those I looked at.
So what should I actually try in this turbo car that will be a good substitute for Mobil 1 that might actually swell these little rubber seals some and stop the weeping for say 5k miles until I can get these stupid little seals on hand and decent weather to change them?
I've had good service out of Mobil 1. But I'm not a fanboy or anything. In fact I really don't think the HM has seal conditioners, and from what I am seeing Mobil 1's formula changed a while back. I don't follow oil trends and changes or anything. I have just been noticing that it now darkens much faster and things I use it in are starting to weep it out at different spots. You know kind of like it has a higher detergent formula that is cleaning up and suspending more stuff. I know my vehicles are getting older and don't blame the oil for the weeps I'm noticing. But it is certainly getting darker much faster than it used to in my vehicles which is not something I am seeing from my small engines that I am running older stockpiled oils in.
Anyways, just looking to try something for an OCI that might work until the timing situation is better to fix it correctly and reduce the number of spots I'm going to have to remove from the driveway in the spring.
If I could choose, I would rather replace the rubber seals at this oil change. But it's not going to happen. They are kinda like o-rings as it turns out but are a special shape for the inlet and outlet and I think they aren't just a round rubber but more squarish as far as diameter that fits in the seal groove. I can't get the parts at the moment. Nobody local stocks them and I've already went through the ordeal of ordering them from an online parts house, having them not show up, and having my order cancelled and refunded because they didn't actually have them on hand to ship either, and so I'm already past my OCI. This job is a PITA, otherwise I'd probably try taking it apart to apply some oil safe gasket sealer stuff until the next OCI. It would probably work. But it's not a job I want to do twice.
So what I am looking for is an oil to try this OCI that might soften and fatten up these rubber seals and stop the leak short term.
To be honest, I had this issue last winter too. This car has "use mobil 1 5w30" right on the oil cap. So I switched it over to mobil 1 HM last winter and thought it actually worked. Reality is, it just got warmer. The seals are just sad enough that when it's very cold they contract enough to weep a little oil. Not even enough to matter. I just don't like that I know it's weeping and I don't like the little spots collection on my driveway. An oil with a good seal conditioner would probably do the trick.
I've took the time to read a few HM labels, and really I only saw that Valvoline and Pennzoil HM actually state they have seal conditioners out of those I looked at.
So what should I actually try in this turbo car that will be a good substitute for Mobil 1 that might actually swell these little rubber seals some and stop the weeping for say 5k miles until I can get these stupid little seals on hand and decent weather to change them?
I've had good service out of Mobil 1. But I'm not a fanboy or anything. In fact I really don't think the HM has seal conditioners, and from what I am seeing Mobil 1's formula changed a while back. I don't follow oil trends and changes or anything. I have just been noticing that it now darkens much faster and things I use it in are starting to weep it out at different spots. You know kind of like it has a higher detergent formula that is cleaning up and suspending more stuff. I know my vehicles are getting older and don't blame the oil for the weeps I'm noticing. But it is certainly getting darker much faster than it used to in my vehicles which is not something I am seeing from my small engines that I am running older stockpiled oils in.
Anyways, just looking to try something for an OCI that might work until the timing situation is better to fix it correctly and reduce the number of spots I'm going to have to remove from the driveway in the spring.
. Put LM Motor Oil Saver in almost 1500 miles ago and nada. Still leaked, if not a little more. Main area I found was the seal area between the block and oil filter housing, which is a real pain in the tail to get off and replace the seals. So many other components have to come off and when it’s chilly in the garage, I’m not very motivated. Decided to throw some Valvoline MaxLife (red bottle)10W-40 HM in it for grins. I used it when the car was purchased to “seal” some small leaks and it did what it said it would. Garage floor was spot-free up until this winter set in. Also wondered if the SN Castrol 0W-40 with high PAO content may have not played well with the older seals. Anyway, 300 miles after the change to MaxLife and drips have slowed to just one small spot. Big improvement. Don’t know if it was 100% change to HM but heck of a coincidence if not. Others that have tried MaxLife report similar results. Oh, and the 10W-40 has an HTHS of 4.0 and is also newer SP formula.
