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Recommended oils for high mileage engines

 
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Old Sep 18, 2004 | 08:54 AM
  #1  
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Recommended oils for high mileage engines

I was wondering what type of oil you guys use for high mileage engines. My runner has 200,600+ miles on it and i've been using pennzoil SUV oil recommended by the guys at a nearby Jiffylube. Is it necessary that i use that type of oil or can i just use a regular 10w-30 type? Thanks in advance

BTW, i just do normal everyday driving, no off-roading, etc... i do drive occasionally to the mountains when the snow season starts :xmas7:

Last edited by junbug; Sep 18, 2004 at 08:59 AM.
Old Sep 18, 2004 | 09:37 AM
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This is your lucky day! I've no experience with this blend. Maybe you could try it and give us some feedback.
Old Sep 18, 2004 | 10:19 AM
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I've always used Valvoline 10-40 in the winter & 20-50 in the summer! I got 277,000 original miles out of it before the HG started to leak, and my old '88 3.0 is still going strong that I sold, I told him to use Valvoline. Maybe it's the oil or the fact that how often you change your oil and keep everything clean on the inside!
Old Sep 18, 2004 | 10:36 AM
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penzoil sucks, it leaves film in your engine over time and makes sludge! jiffylube is crap!
Old Sep 19, 2004 | 04:27 AM
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Mobile 1 10w-30 synthetic.
Old Sep 19, 2004 | 05:04 AM
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I always stuck with brand-name dino and changed the oil and filter regularly and never had any problems. I've had 3 high mileage Toyotas with over 200,000 miles and 1 with 178,000. As far as I know, at lease 2 of them are still on the road. I would suggest sticking with a name brand and recommended viscocity and forget all that hype over high mileage engine oil.
Old Sep 19, 2004 | 02:10 PM
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castrol 20w-50 in the summer, and 10w-40 the rest of the time.
Old Sep 21, 2004 | 03:33 PM
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Prolong or Duralube!
you can drive without your oil pan woo hoo~








J/K
Old Sep 21, 2004 | 05:50 PM
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I have a 99 with about 140,000 miles on it and have changed the oil every 3,000 miles except 2-3 times. the longest i went without changing the oil was about 4,500 miles. I think if you stick with a name brand and change your oil often (more often for higher mileage cars) you will be fine. I have used castrol 5w-30 in mine from day one and the engine still purrs like a kitten...whatever that means.

-John
Old Sep 21, 2004 | 08:23 PM
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I have always used Castrol GTX in my Chevies. Luckily the previous owners also used it in my Toy.
Old Sep 21, 2004 | 08:49 PM
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Didnt the gov. file a lawsuit against companies like Prolong and Duralube?
Keep that ˟˟˟˟ out of your engine All that teflon in your motor is a bad thing. Cloged oil passeges and spun bearings SUCK.
Old Sep 30, 2004 | 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by nunsa
I've always used Valvoline 10-40 in the winter & 20-50 in the summer! I got 277,000 original miles out of it before the HG started to leak, and my old '88 3.0 is still going strong that I sold, I told him to use Valvoline. Maybe it's the oil or the fact that how often you change your oil and keep everything clean on the inside!
if you are a true expert...i'm needing to replace the crank bearings on my "04, 4x4, auto runner due to a low engine "knock" that i'm hearing. from what literature i've gotten ahold of, it looks as though i can access the bearings by going through the oil pan & all without tearing the engine down or removing it from the truck...is this possible?
Old Oct 12, 2004 | 02:45 PM
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Any quality dino and you'll be fine. Pennzoil is a quality dino.

Last edited by Stock02; Oct 12, 2004 at 02:46 PM.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 12:24 PM
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ive been using Valvoline High Mileage 10w-40.

256,000 and counting....oil changes every 3k
Old Oct 29, 2004 | 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Bumpin' Yota
ive been using Valvoline High Mileage 10w-40.

256,000 and counting....oil changes every 3k


I've torn apart some engines that have been pennzoilled and have pulled the valve cover off and find a perfect sludge cast of the whole valve cover. I'm not a fan of penzoil. I guess if depends on how often you change you pcv valve and change your oil. I just got a rebuilt 22r and am going to run mobil 1 15w 50 in it after the break in period, with oil changes at 3500 miles from then on. I think it will last awhile.
Old Oct 30, 2004 | 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Lukeman82
I've torn apart some engines that have been pennzoilled and have pulled the valve cover off and find a perfect sludge cast of the whole valve cover. I'm not a fan of penzoil. I guess if depends on how often you change you pcv valve and change your oil. I just got a rebuilt 22r and am going to run mobil 1 15w 50 in it after the break in period, with oil changes at 3500 miles from then on. I think it will last awhile.
You know I've heard the same thing too about Penzoil, you're not the only one to experience this apparently.

the only thing with someone suggesting mobile synthetic is that at high mileage becareful using synth because sythn generally clean better than regular conventional oil and it will clean the carbon off rings and may subject your engine to burning oil as now oil can enters the combustion chambers, whereas before it was blocked off with the carbon.
Old Nov 19, 2004 | 03:57 PM
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Originally Posted by grlrunner
if you are a true expert...i'm needing to replace the crank bearings on my "04, 4x4, auto runner due to a low engine "knock" that i'm hearing. from what literature i've gotten ahold of, it looks as though i can access the bearings by going through the oil pan & all without tearing the engine down or removing it from the truck...is this possible?
Greetings, first post for me in the forums.

I just picked up my parent's 1989 4WD truck SR5 V6 auto with 170k miles on it. Still runs great. It's been maintained over the years and now needs the routine maintenance, which I'm doing myself.

It's had 170k miles of use and abuse, running nothing but regular 10W-30 dino oil. Over the years, I've noticed a low end "knock" like you've described. Not sounding bad or really loud, just a familar sound from it. It's only heard when the engine is reving just above 1k RPM while under load, like when just starting to accelerate away from a stop.

Today and now that I'm the new owner and the vehicle is in my custody, I changed the oil and used Mobil1 10W-30 synthetic. The interesting thing I noticed immediately after the oil change is that the familiar low-end "knock" sound is now GONE!!!!! It's gone when cold and when fully up to operating temperature. It was there before the oil change, and it's definitely GONE now!

I think there's an area in the crank bearings where the conventional dino oil isn't doing it's job. This is probably where most of the crank bearing wear will show up. The Mobil1 oil is probably doing a better job of maintaining the proper film thickness on these surfaces. Synthetic are also known to be more slippery than conventional oils...in other words, they lubricate better. Mobil1 appears to be demonstrating its superiority over conventional dino oils.

Mobil1 is the best oil I've ever used. I also own a VW Golf TDI (turbodiesel) and I use Mobil Delvac 1 (5W-40) in the VW. Mobil Delvac 1 is the commercial truck version of Mobil1, designed specifically for diesels and is also an excellent gasser oil. Delvac 1 is also marketed as Mobil1 Truck/SUV 5W-40. The TDI engine is an engine that specifically requires synthetic oil and even has synthetic oil in it right from the factory.

Since the 89 'Yota truck calls out 10W-30, I'm using Mobil1 10W-30 in it.

I'm a big believer in synthetics. A few years ago, I did an experiment with 10W-30 Valvoline dino oil and 10W-30 Valvoline synthetic. I put a single drop of dino oil on a spoon and a single drop of synthetic oil on another spoon. I heated both spoons on a gas stove. Both spoons were on the same burner, getting heated by the same flame. The hottest part of the flame was directly on the bottom side of the spoons. I did this with all windows open and a fan running to get rid of the fumes/stink etc. Very soon the dino oil began to smoke and "varnish" its spoon. Meanwhile, the synthetic oil did NOTHING and stayed it's normal clean color. After about 10 minutes of smoking and varnishing, the dino oil had completely cooked itself away, leaving a burned residue. The synthetic oil was only just starting to smoke at this point. The synthetic oil stayed its normal clean color and was still "slippery" when tested with a screwdriver. I stopped the experiment at this point. Bottom line is the synthetic oil handled the extreme heat and retained its lubricating properties long after the conventional oil had totally cooked away. I'm not an oil expert at all, but it was obvious that the synthetic oil was the clear winner.

The crank bearing "knock" is definitely GONE now after switching to Mobil1 10W-30 synthetic oil!



Cheers,

~ n1das
Old Nov 21, 2004 | 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by n1das
Greetings, first post for me in the forums.

It's had 170k miles of use and abuse, running nothing but regular 10W-30 dino oil. Over the years, I've noticed a low end "knock" like you've described. Not sounding bad or really loud, just a familar sound from it. It's only heard when the engine is reving just above 1k RPM while under load, like when just starting to accelerate away from a stop.

Today and now that I'm the new owner and the vehicle is in my custody, I changed the oil and used Mobil1 10W-30 synthetic. The interesting thing I noticed immediately after the oil change is that the familiar low-end "knock" sound is now GONE!!!!! It's gone when cold and when fully up to operating temperature. It was there before the oil change, and it's definitely GONE now!

~ n1das
I know you say it's low end noise...but it might have been a case of low oil that was causing the sound. What happens is not enough oil is reaching the valve head area and thus your valve begin a tapping sound. It occurs only when there is substantially a low amount of oil within your engine. It could also be low oil pressure that causes that your bearings to sort of knock as remember your cranshaft and main bearings actually ride on a small film of oil, so if not enough oil is reaching the bearings area (again a result of low oil or bad oil pump, etc), the cranshaft journals might actually sort of wobble around the race material.
Old Nov 21, 2004 | 06:29 PM
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I think it only matters how often you change your oil....I had 250k miles on my jeep before I sold it, never had anything but pennzoil. I dont know what the inside of the engine looked like because I never needed to tear it apart but 250k trouble free miles out of a engine I ran HARD, I think is pretty impressive.

Now I just take my Taco in for service every 3000 miles, not exactly sure what they put in it.
Old Nov 22, 2004 | 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Mohamed
I know you say it's low end noise...but it might have been a case of low oil that was causing the sound. What happens is not enough oil is reaching the valve head area and thus your valve begin a tapping sound. It occurs only when there is substantially a low amount of oil within your engine. It could also be low oil pressure that causes that your bearings to sort of knock as remember your cranshaft and main bearings actually ride on a small film of oil, so if not enough oil is reaching the bearings area (again a result of low oil or bad oil pump, etc), the cranshaft journals might actually sort of wobble around the race material.
It's definitely low end noise. Nothing to do with valves etc. in the top end. The oil level has always been maintained FULL, neither overfilled nor underfilled. Oil always changed regularly, on schedule. Oil pressure has always appeared to be in the normal range, so no indications of any problems.

The noise has never been loud at all. It's just a noise among the other "normal" sounds from the 3L V6 engine that I've noticed over the years and never thought anything of it until recently. I pointed it out to my father when I picked up the truck about 2 weeks ago. When I blip the throttle slightly, you can briefly hear it louder as the engine revs up from idle in the 1000-1500 RPM range while the revs are climbing (as the crank is under greater load while accelerating).

The truck ('89 Xtracab SR5 V6 auto) has had nothing but 10W-30 dino oil until I switched it to Mobil1 10W-30 synthetic at 170k miles. After switching to synthetic, I immediately noticed that the engine is overall quieter and the low-end noise that I've gotten used to over the years is virtually gone or at least significantly reduced.

I'm sticking with Mobil1 10W-30.

Cheers,

~ n1das



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