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why not use a synthetic or synthetic blend high mileage oil? You get the benefits of the seal conditioners and reasonably long change intervals.
salim is saying it could cause leaks. i already bought some mobil 1 high mileage a week ago and thought it would be better for the car but salim thinks i should wait before switching to synthetic. i'm just trying to figure out how the leaking wouldn't be an issue later if it were an issue now. then there's always the possibility that synthetic is already in the engine...
i did find half a box of chevron supreme 10w-30 in my garage last night and added a bottle. was going to add two but luckily one brought me right between the safe marks on the dipstick. i think i have enough left to do a change with the 10w-30 but will await salim's response.
Your earlier post on this thread mentioned you bought synthetic and did not specify the high milage formula. Non high milage synthetic may develop leaks depending on the condition of your seals.
I know you were inquiring about high mileage oils in another thread.
Salim's earlier suggestion is sound but I think a half hour drive won't give enough time for any detergents from the added oil to do work. I would consider draining and changing oil after going through a tank of gas.
edit ... snip ... but will await salim's response.
I have said enough. Time for you to make your choice.
Remember, my advice is worth the money any one pays for it. Joking apart, I tend to give advice based on what I would do. Then again I have learnt many lessons the hard way.
Now if any member shares their plan and it has potentially very bad consequences, I will speak up.
Worst case scenario for synthetic oil is seal leak, which is annoying but usually not catastrophic.
I have said enough. Time for you to make your choice.
Remember, my advice is worth the money any one pays for it. Joking apart, I tend to give advice based on what I would do. Then again I have learnt many lessons the hard way.
Now if any member shares their plan and it has potentially very bad consequences, I will speak up.
Worst case scenario for synthetic oil is seal leak, which is annoying but usually not catastrophic.
Salim
Right. And it sounds like switching back should stop any leaking.
Synthetic oil does not cause leaks, it's a myth. If after using synthetic oil you develop a leak, that is because the synthetic oil is cleaning up any varnish, etc on the seals that was actually doing the sealing, not the actual seal itself.
Detergents in the oil need at least a thousand miles to do some cleaning. The TBN rating will stay be very high even at that point, however some cleaning will be done. Multiple oil changes within a thousand miles is a good way to do some cleaning without doing any damage.
I agree with Salim, stay away from additives. Snake oils tend to do more harm than good.
I am wondering something as well about this topic. That is I havent looked down into the area where the valve cover seals/gaskets are to see if there is any leaking going on. But I probably should take a flashlight and look down in there to make sure I have no "underlying" issues that havent been caught. I have not seen any evidence of oil leaks on my garage floor so far; so with that said Im hoping Im safe to not have to change out the valve cover gaskets. I will have to take a peek the next chance i get just so I dont hopefully have to worry about losing oil
is there a screen i can clean in the engine oil pan? read something about oil sludge problem and want to know how/where to check for this since oil changes were extensively neglected.
is there a screen i can clean in the engine oil pan? read something about oil sludge problem and want to know how/where to check for this since oil changes were extensively neglected.
yes and no....there is a screen on the oil pickup tube. Typically you don't clean it due to the labor involved to remove the pan and the pickup tube. Not hard to do but its alot of bolts.
If it was clogged in anyway, you would have a catastrophic failure by now. It is a coarse mesh.
Best spots to check indicators of sludge is checking your OCV screens and pulling off both your valve covers.
I would check that the PCV valve operates as it should and use something modern like Pennzoil Platinum in required viscosity and do a couple of shorter oil and filter change intervals. Unless the engine is sludged like in the picture below this would take care of the cleaning rather gently.
If it would look like this under a valve cover then dropping the oilpan would be a necessity.
yes and no....there is a screen on the oil pickup tube. Typically you don't clean it due to the labor involved to remove the pan and the pickup tube. Not hard to do but its alot of bolts.
If it was clogged in anyway, you would have a catastrophic failure by now. It is a coarse mesh.
Best spots to check indicators of sludge is checking your OCV screens and pulling off both your valve covers.
Originally Posted by salimshah
Check by removing valve cover. The oil is pumped up there and then by gravity it comes down. Pooling of gel happens there.
The other place would be to just drop the oil pan.
Salim
Originally Posted by Finn
I would check that the PCV valve operates as it should and use something modern like Pennzoil Platinum in required viscosity and do a couple of shorter oil and filter change intervals. Unless the engine is sludged like in the picture below this would take care of the cleaning rather gently.
If it would look like this under a valve cover then dropping the oilpan would be a necessity.
Originally Posted by ALtin107
Just change it and start with the new date and go from there
i did change it a few weeks ago with mobil1 hm and cleaned pcv but am worried there could be some problem since the oil hasn't been changed for so long (i'm thinking 40k miles). i didn't know or think to drop the pan when i changed it and will probably do so next time around. another reason is because i saw chunks of what looks like tree bark or something in my oil. only thing i can think of is that it may be paper from the oil filter since that wasn't changed either. if it was then i assume it could cause problems. since i have so many reasons to remove this valve cover i might as well do it and change the gasket.
if the oil hasn't been changed for that long should i expect there to be a lot of or any sludge? i didn't see any when i drained it a few weeks ago. if i see sludge under valve cover do i need to remove as much of it as possible? it would suck if my engine failed when i could have done something to keep it.
IMHO, if there is A LOT of sludge under valve cover then there is sludge elsewhere as well. Depending on the amount it may be necessary to manually remove it and probably drop the oilpan, too.
Again, IMHO, if it is just red-brownish in color (see below), I would continue with good oil and shorter intervals.
wow finn! that bottom pic looks really clean!!!. What have u been using to keep it so clean looking? I mean what type of oil have u been using? (or was the bottom pic after you cleaned it up?)
+1 on what finn mentioned. If there is sludge in there for whatever reason(too long before changes, etc); then yea u definitely gotta get that stuff outta there before putting in clean stuff otherwise u will have "issues".
03-13-16, 05:54 PM
Joking apart, I tend to give advice based on what I would do. Then again I have learnt many lessons the hard way.
