sx460 Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Valvoline and Quaker State both make a "higher mileage" motor oil. It's supposed to help condition seals and what not. Anyways, what's your guy's take on the stuff? Any good? Also, I've been looking at the literature and both Valvoline and Quaker State say their oil has high quality base stocks. If this is the case, why doesn't the oil meet the SL/GF-3 specs? They only go up to SJ/GF-2. What's that about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSayDie Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 I used the Valvoline high mileage stuff till I took my engine down for a re-build. I'm not sure how it worked on the seals and such. I do know that everything inside the engine was gummed up real good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminator94 Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 Well, I use the Vavoline Max Life oil in all my vehicles. When I had my Lumina, I was using just Vavoline 5W-30 and it used about half a quart between oil changes. When I switched to the Max Life, the Lumina didn't use on drop of oil after about the 2nd change with the Max Life, so I do get great results with it. I also use the Max Life tranny fluid, and coolant. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmokesGTP Posted December 12, 2002 Report Share Posted December 12, 2002 My dad uses the maxlife in his 94 bonneville I know its a 3.8 but it used to give a small puff of blue smoke and use about a half-quart between changes but since he used the max-life its used no oil between changes and no more smoke I stand by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 I've never used that crap. I stuck with normal 5W-30 (winter) and 10W-30 (summer) on both my Cutlass Supreme (198k miles) and my wife's old Cutlass (187k miles) and neither one leaks a drop or has any problems. It's a stupid sales gimmick IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminator94 Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 I've never used that crap.I stuck with normal 5W-30 (winter) and 10W-30 (summer) on both my Cutlass Supreme (198k miles) and my wife's old Cutlass (187k miles) and neither one leaks a drop or has any problems. It's a stupid sales gimmick IMO. Well, obviously it isn't a "stupid sales gimmick". My Lumina quit using half a quart of oil after about 2 oil changes with it, so it worked for me. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted December 13, 2002 Report Share Posted December 13, 2002 Well, obviously it isn't a "stupid sales gimmick". My Lumina quit using half a quart of oil after about 2 oil changes with it, so it worked for me. Aaron Eh, I dunno, I wouldn't want that stuff gumming up the inside of my engine. 1/2qt every how often? Every oil change? That would be no big deal at all. I'd rather just replace 1/2qt of oil (value of less than 50-cents) than pay for special "high mileage oil". It still sounds very snake-oilish to me. Sure there are going to be people that swear it works great, but then there are people that claim magnetic fuel savers work great too. In fact I found one of those stupid magnetic fuel savers under my 94 convertible. Hard to believe the things people fall for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminator94 Posted December 14, 2002 Report Share Posted December 14, 2002 Well, obviously it isn't a "stupid sales gimmick". My Lumina quit using half a quart of oil after about 2 oil changes with it, so it worked for me. Aaron Eh, I dunno, I wouldn't want that stuff gumming up the inside of my engine. 1/2qt every how often? Every oil change? That would be no big deal at all. I'd rather just replace 1/2qt of oil (value of less than 50-cents) than pay for special "high mileage oil". It still sounds very snake-oilish to me. Sure there are going to be people that swear it works great, but then there are people that claim magnetic fuel savers work great too. In fact I found one of those stupid magnetic fuel savers under my 94 convertible. Hard to believe the things people fall for. Yeah, it was every oil change, 3000 miles. I doubt it gummed up the engine at all, if anything the car ran better. When I would change the oil, it run out very smoothly, no gunky stuff at all. And saving money on the oil doesn't matter to me, its only money, my life doesn't revolve around it. But I guess you have your opinion and I have mine. :? Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91GranSport Posted December 14, 2002 Report Share Posted December 14, 2002 I'm sure part of it is marketing, of course. However, I'm sure they do add special additives to their base oil and call it "Higher Mileage" oil. After all, if they were selling "snake oil" then they'd get sued like zMax, Slick 50 and all those other "real" snake oils. I myself, never used it. I only use synthetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted December 14, 2002 Report Share Posted December 14, 2002 I'm sure part of it is marketing, of course. However, I'm sure they do add special additives to their base oil and call it "Higher Mileage" oil. After all, if they were selling "snake oil" then they'd get sued like zMax, Slick 50 and all those other "real" snake oils. I myself, never used it. I only use synthetic. That depends on the sneakiness of the wording they use. After all, Castrol Syntec has not been truly synthetic since 1998 or so, but they managed to get it past the FTC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSayDie Posted December 14, 2002 Report Share Posted December 14, 2002 I should get a pic of the chocolate delite that was the inside of my motor after using max life. I'm sure I sould still scrap some up off of some part I haven't cleaned yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sx460 Posted December 15, 2002 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 How do you know that chocolate gunk is from MaxLife? If you've always used just plain old dino oil then there's a good chance that that played a large role of gunking stuff up. If you had always used synthetic and then switched over to MaxLife then that'd be another thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted December 15, 2002 Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 No, plain old "dino oil" won't gunk anything up. I tore the heads off my 2.8L at 168k miles, and it was completely clean except for a light brown/golden varnish coating. Conventional oil does not gunk up unless it's contaminated or not been changed in over 15k miles. I believe the gummy stuff he mentions is very likely to come from MaxLife. If the stuff seals leaks decreases blowby, it HAS to have gummey, thick, gooey type of properties. That's exactly what Motor Honey does, and it's a really thick goo. The thick goo plugs leaky seals and since it doesn't leak past weak compression rings, it also restores compression. Motor Honey really works, but I wouldn't recommend it on a healthy engine. If these "high mileage" oils didn't get thick and gooey, I don't think they'd have any chance of reducing leaks and blowby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91GranSport Posted December 15, 2002 Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 What the hell is "motor honey"? I've never heard of that stuff. Say, Castrol's Syntec isn't a "true" synthetic? I remember hearing someone say that Mobil 1 wanted to take Castrol to court because their Syntec isn't actually synthetic. Anyways, I'm not sure if you've seen the same commercials I have about Syntec but Castrol always states that "there's nothing conventional about Syntec" in their commercials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted December 15, 2002 Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 Motor Honey is this thick goo, looks like Honey and equally as viscous. I've seen it before, but I don't remember if its trade name is "Motor Honey" or if that's just what my stepdad called it and the name stuck with me (my stepdad has names for stuff like "gorilla snot" is that really strong yellow-brown glue). No, Syntec is not a "true" synthetic. It has neither a PAO nor Ester base. It's a hydroprocessed mineral ("dino") oil. Hydroprocessed just means it was refined in a way that it's super clean and covers greater viscosity ranges. Hydroprocessed oil is Group III. Conventional mineral oil is Group II. True synthetics are Group IV. The FTC lets Castrol call it synthetic, because hydroprocessed oil doesn't occur in nature, so even though it doesn't fit the *original* definition of synthetic, it's still allowed to be called "synthetic". It's still better than standard Group II motor oil, but it's a ripoff compared to Group IV oils of the same price (like Mobil 1). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 15, 2002 Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 Is motor honey compatible with Mobil 1? It is called Motor Honey, btw. At least that's what it's called around here. There are also other brands that look the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted December 15, 2002 Report Share Posted December 15, 2002 It's my understanding that Motor Honey is only for worn-out engines. I think it's probably compatible with Mobil 1, but I wouldn't use it on a healthy engine. I know some less honest people have used Motor Honey to help sell an old clunker with a worn out engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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