keskipper

iTrader: (4)

Bought the car w/ ~148k miles in April (now at 159k miles). I am pretty sure it was all dino oil throughout the life of the engine with a very good service history. There was a small oil leak, not noticeable when checking the oil over a two month period on the dipstick, but it was being blown all over the bottom of the engine. I wasn't too worried about it as is was such a small amount.

I read a lot of info about switching to full synthetic on high mileage vehicles, and with the pros and cons in mind, decided I would switch to Mobil1 with a plan of changing @ 3k miles, then at 6k from then on. I noticed the oil leak was SLIGHTLY worse after a week or so after the first change, but still not bad enough to worry about. Just changed about 1,700 miles ago and used Mobil1 High Mileage (it was on sale locally) and I have noticed there seems to be a little more oil on the bottom of the engine, checked the dipstick and it is down about 1/4 qt over the 1,700 miles.

I have seen some people say their oil leak was a little worse for ~3 months after going full synthetic then it stopped. Does anyone have any input/feedback from a similar situation? I am at about 3 months since going full synthetic...

Thanks...

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Synthetic motor oil will leak more and faster than regular motor oil. If you have leaks, fix them, or you will leak more oil.

Ryan

Akito san

which Oil is recommended Castrol 5-30 Penzoil 5-30?

so no full syn oil then?

SChema

iTrader: (2)

Castrol all the way, I will never use Pennzoil in any of my cars.

NEbiker10

iTrader: (1)

Valvoline High Mileage works great too.I used it in my crown vic all the way up to 285k.....I did just put in Castrol conventional in my 300

good2go

iTrader: (6)

Honestly??
I wouldn't even worry about that much oil consumption other than to wipe it now and then to avoid it becoming a greasy mess underneath. You are talking about a quart every 7K miles or so; that's great for an engine with 160k on it! What's a quart of synthetic cost you? How many miles do you drive a year? If you do the math, you'll undoubtedly see it's truly a non-issue. Go ahead and run the good stuff.

keskipper

iTrader: (4)

Well put. I just hate the oil leakage (I don't like it when things aren't right, not just cars...it's a sickness ), but probably not enough to spend a lot of money when mathematically it would work out just adding some oil.

The only serious consideration is if it leaks onto some component (e.g. alternator, which I have already replaced a few months ago as it had oil all over it which killed it) and ruins it. Even still, that's only $130 and I have the Autozone warranty...

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

it depends where its leaking, if its just oil on the side of the block then ignore it. now if the oil is pooling in your plug valley then thats something you may want to look into more. if you can go a whole 3000 miles without going low on oil its probably doing alright.

Before I overhauled mine with all new gaskets it used to have the same leaking symptoms from the usual places so I used the valvoline high mileage synthetic blend which didnt leak noticeably more than the dino stuff. Its more than sufficient for a non-turbo engine. I ran it for a year on my high compression turbocharged engine @ 9psi. did the job well as my head was squeaky clean. I think its fair to say the blend did its job pretty well on an engine with 140k and a turbo. good comprimise for leaking and lubrication.


I switched to full synthetic after replacing all the gaskets on the motor. It's just added insurance and really is more helpful for turbocharged engines which break down oil like no other. I guess its also helpfull if you want to run extended service intervals but that wont be happening on a motor thats leaking oil. I wouldn't spring the extra money for it on a non-turbo engine, especially if its leaking all over the place.