High Mileage Oil in a Low Mileage Engine?

Joined
May 27, 2002
Messages
1,527
Location
Southeast United States
Is there any advantage in using an HM synthetic oil in
a lower milegae engine? Any drawbacks?

The oil in question is Valvoline Synthetic 5W-30 High Mileage
(for engines with over 75,000 miles).

Thanks.
 
Yes there's an advantage, you will be doing preventive maintenance on your oil seals because high mileage oils contain extra seal conditioner that are already in regular oils.

On top of that the high mileage oils contain extra detergents and anti wear additives compared to their cheaper counterparts. Valvoline pioneered high mileage oils and their synthetic high mileage oil is one of the best oils on the market if it meets the required specifications for your car.
 
Originally Posted By: slybunda
Valvoline high mileage is not available in the uk. Are there any alternatives?


Castrol, Mobil, and Pennzoil make HM oils as well, you can check for availability of those.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Isnt't the whole concept of HM oils purely a North American thing?

There seem to be more high mileage oils in the US than in Europe but we do have Valvoline Maxlife in Europe.
 
I plan on running valvoline maxlife synthetic in my 39k hyundai sonata because it has super low NOACK values at a pretty good pricepoint.

I think with a low NOACK value I can get my GDI engine's oil consumption down to nothing at a 3750 run.
 
Originally Posted By: TheLoneRanger
Is there any advantage in using an HM synthetic oil in
a lower milegae engine? Any drawbacks?

The oil in question is Valvoline Synthetic 5W-30 High Mileage
(for engines with over 75,000 miles).


If your engine does not need any benefits that high mileage oils offer, I wouldn't use it.
Don't attempt to fix things that aren't in-need of fixing. If you have engine issues...OK! If not, then continue with the standard varieties.
 
Nothing wrong with doing this. Since VR-1 is no longer available in the People Republic of California (
frown.gif
), lots of us have switched to Maxlife as sort of VR-1 Lite
smile.gif


Good add pak, good oils, what's to be concerned...

The seal additives can not make a seal "swell" to greater than original dimensions. It only keeps them soft and supple, so only your hair dresser knows
laugh.gif
 
I use Valvoline Maxlife HM full synthetic in many of my vehicles. Did an OCI with it my wife's 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.5 V6 and it has never run this smooth. The idle has been very smooth and this engine always had a slightly rough idle. Always used a full syn in the past but so far I will stay with Maxlife full syn. I use Maxlife semi syn in my Jaguar V12 and that also runs great.
 
Last edited:
By what convoluted reasoning did CARB come up with the legal authority to ban VR1, or did they just lean hard on Valvoline?
Are you telling me that I should check a couple of cases of VR1 on our next visit to Cali?
 
full or half synth. or even minaral oil doesn't matter. The difference with oils is the fact that a full synthetic is stronger and will last longer, a minaral for example will have to be replaced muchhh sooner. Doesn't really have something to do with low or high mileage engine.
 
From what I understand about high mileage oils,they have more anti wear additives,more cleaning additives,more seal conditioners,and a higher tbn. Generally a "stronger" oil per se.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
From what I understand about high mileage oils,they have more anti wear additives,more cleaning additives,more seal conditioners,and a higher tbn. Generally a "stronger" oil per se.


I don't know, if there's really that much extra goodies in there, I expect a higher premium for the oil vs regular Dino or even synthetic. I feel it's all marketing nonesense in an effort to sell more oil, especially considering the fact that someone said above that they don't have high mileage oils in other parts of the world. If the oil was indeed beneficial to high mileage engines, wouldn't it be sold EVERYWHERE???
 
There is nothing wrong with hm oil IMO.. I've used it with great results and have had zero complaints. If the company says its good for new cars(like valvoline and i believe kendall) i would use it without issue.
 
According Valvoline, it's absolutely fine. Some oils, Pennzoil for example, have chosen not to have their HM oils certified for certain new car specs such as dexos or Chrysler MS-6395. If you still have a car under warranty, this should be taken into consideration
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
By what convoluted reasoning did CARB come up with the legal authority to ban VR1, or did they just lean hard on Valvoline?
Are you telling me that I should check a couple of cases of VR1 on our next visit to Cali?


Yeah, you could sell it
laugh.gif


CARB has banned all non-current specification oils. No more SL SM or anything like that. Since VR-1 was doped pretty hard and had to be listed as an earlier spec, it's gone
frown.gif


We can still get some "off-road" oils, but they are thinning down. Valvoline decided not to fight the trend. We can always go to Reno/Vegas and buy cases to bring back...

I just switched to Maxlife for OEM engines/rebuilds. Chevron Delo400 15W-30 SD (severe duty, off road) for built engines. I have cases now, so if that gets pushed out I'm OK for the foreseeable future ...

If it gets worse I'm off the John Deere dealer for +50 ...
 
Last edited:
Thanks for everyones input. Lots of good info.
The vehicles I would use this HM oil in all have
over 50K miles on them, so I'm more at ease in using
it.

Also good to know the HM Valvoline has more anti-wear
additives, since these vehicles have flat-tappet
valve lifters.
 
Back
Top