HDEO Oil In A HM Engine

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My g/f's 1999 Malibu has 220K miles on it and has an oil leak. We just had an OCI with 10W30 Synthetic VML. The engine usually goes through a qt. about every 1500 miles.
By using an HDEO oil in it, will it slow the leak down? If so, what weight and brand would one recommend?
 
Originally Posted By: FranklinJL
Get the leak fixed...where's it coming from?

She don't want to put the money into it to fix it. And, it's leaking from the oil pan, I think.
 
It might be worth fixing if it's just the oil pan gasket. Trust me I completely understand vehicles that love to nickel and dime you endlessly but with a quart every 1,500 miles a new gasket will pay for its self in the first OCI.

I've always owned 2 vehicles at the same time. My last two that I just got done replacing was a 98 Volvo 850 with 289k miles and a 01 Silverado with 370k. Both pretty much nickeled and dime me non stop. However for the price of a new gasket it might just be worth knocking it out.
 
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
My g/f's 1999 Malibu has 220K miles on it and has an oil leak. We just had an OCI with 10W30 Synthetic VML. The engine usually goes through a qt. about every 1500 miles.
By using an HDEO oil in it, will it slow the leak down? If so, what weight and brand would one recommend?


First of all if you can fix the oil leak for a reasonable cost that would be a real good idea.

HDEO oils were designed for diesel engines although most can be used in petrol ones. They contain a higher amount of Zinc based additives than normal oils and that can be an issue for the life expectancy of a CAT unit. They also contain a fair amount of detergent additives.

It you don't fix the leak then just use the cheapest Wallymart 0 or 5w40 that has the correct API specs, as moving up one grade might reduce your oil consumption. Using a high mileage (HM) oil should help reduce the oil leak rate, or you can try using a can of major brand oil stop leak additive. Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver is probably the best one, although Lubegard also make some good oil additives.

Make sure the crank case vent has not been blocked (Google balloon test) by sludge as that will push oil past the seals fairly quickly. It's rare for a CCV to block if you use a good major brand oil changed at sensible intervals as that will prevent sludge deposits.
 
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Originally Posted By: UltrafanUK
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
My g/f's 1999 Malibu has 220K miles on it and has an oil leak. We just had an OCI with 10W30 Synthetic VML. The engine usually goes through a qt. about every 1500 miles.
By using an HDEO oil in it, will it slow the leak down? If so, what weight and brand would one recommend?


First of all if you can fix the oil leak for a reasonable cost that would be a real good idea.

HDEO oils were designed for diesel engines although most can be used in petrol ones. They contain a higher amount of Zinc based additives than normal oils and that can be an issue for the life expectancy of a CAT unit. They also contain a fair amount of detergent additives.

It you don't fix the leak then just use the cheapest Wallymart 0 or 5w40 that has the correct API specs, as moving up one grade might reduce your oil consumption. Using a high mileage (HM) oil should help reduce the oil leak rate, or you can try using a can of major brand oil stop leak additive. Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver is probably the best one, although Lubegard also make some good oil additives.

Make sure the crank case vent has not been blocked (Google balloon test) by sludge as that will push oil past the seals fairly quickly. It's rare for a CCV to block if you use a good major brand oil changed at sensible intervals as that will prevent sludge deposits.


Lots of cars have failure prone PCV systems that have nothing to do with maintenance issues.
 
Oil, under the influence of gravity, often seeps to the lowest point and then drips onto the pavement. It fools you into thing it's a pan gasket.
 
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Living in the warmer state of LA the oil is never cold and can continue to leak unlike in a colder climate. If you can do your own oil change you probably can handle the simple project of a oil pan change if you can get the car up high enough to get under comfortably.
 
Within what would be a decent OCI - you will consume 4 quarts?
Sounds like you could try a few oils and see how far you can lower that (or not - then decide the go forward) ...
Some here have mentioned VML has perhaps a 'moderate seal ---- ?
Spin on a new filter as you see fit - it's getting fresh oil often ...
 
I had consumption in a 300,000 mile+ Honda Accord. It was valve guides and stem seals. I attended to all other seal and gasket leaks over the car's life. Rotella T6 5W-40 slowed the consumption by over 50%. I had previously used several brands of 10W-30 synthetic. My observation was that WM Supertech synthetic 10W-30 leaked past the valves the most. I changed the HDEO at the same 10,000 mile intervals that I changed other synthetic oils in that car.
 
It can't hurt to try. 15w-40 did slow down leaking in the F-150 in the summer over an ILSAC 5w-30, at least until I got the rebuild and fresh gaskets. My loss was probably close to a quart every thousand miles, and it cut it at least in half. MaxLife 5w-30 in the winter did quite well, too. Maybe let the MaxLife have some time to work.
 
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