Mobil1 oil change interval and consumption

[rxmclaren7]

sorry if i put bad info out there i was just trying to help....i know my mechanic has had the same ford f150 for as long as i have known him and he says he has always used the lucas oil stabilizer in his truck...it runs like a top...but then again being a mechanics truck it probably has better attention paid to it than the average car or truck...and besides if it helps at least curb the oil consumption issue some of us are having then why stop some one from using it....if i develop the same issue that everyone else is reporting i am willing to try a $7 bottle of "gorilla snot" to avoid a costly trip to the mechanic or dealer for repairs that can run into the hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars...i am also going to replace the PCV valve that was suggested to nip one more potential problem in the butt, unless that is another bottle of gorilla snot too...

[MZH]

M35 - 2006
48K
Mobil1 : 5W-30 every 5K miles.

[Towncivilian]

I would go ahead and replace the PCV valve. If you insist on adding Lucas Oil Stabilizer which all it'll do is thicken your oil, just step up a grade of oil and use high mileage oil instead of substituting a quart of oil with a quart of LOS. At least with a sump full of thicker oil your additive pack won't be diluted with 1 quart of nothing but thickener.

This is a virgin oil analysis of Lucas Oil Stabilizer:



As you can see, essentially zero additives and a crazy high 100*C viscosity of 124.43. A quart of 5W-30 has a 100*C viscosity range anywhere between 9.3 and 12.5 cSt.

Oil is supposed to flow, not be "stable".

[Jims M]

question...
what is with replacing the PVC valve? How does this stop oil consumption? i have a 06 M35 RWD with 178K on the clock, I use Quaker State blend 10-40, i have a bit of oil consumption about a quart every oil change. Change oil every 5K. Just for my piece of mind i would like to stop the consumption. BTW why is this engine using oil anyways and where is it going? Out the pipes?

[bicsintegra]

2006 M35 with 95k on it I use Syntec 5w30 every 5k miles with a Purolator or Fram extended gaurd oil filter. My M does not consume oil but she is only driven maybe 7.5 k miles a year and that is about to drop since i am getting my wife a new car shortly.

[Towncivilian]

question...
what is with replacing the PVC valve? How does this stop oil consumption? i have a 06 M35 RWD with 178K on the clock, I use Quaker State blend 10-40, i have a bit of oil consumption about a quart every oil change. Change oil every 5K. Just for my piece of mind i would like to stop the consumption. BTW why is this engine using oil anyways and where is it going? Out the pipes?

See page EC-51 of the factory service manual for a description of the positive crankcase ventilation system.

[loystock]

Mobil or Purolator oil filter with Mobil 0W-40 for the 06M and 03Q, 10W-30 for the 97Q and I30s every 5 months or 5 K, whichever comes first. This was after oil analysis done after 6K/6months OCI. With 5 cars to deal with, I prefer doing all of them over the weekend. I added an oil trap on the 03Q and M.

If your oil consumption is high, check your spark plug. You may have a leaky gasket. On cars with over 60K miles, you may have to replace the seal in the oil cooler (link below).

http://www.infinitihelp.com/diy/m/proje ... cement.php

[cruzad3r]

please explain more regarding the oil cooler seal as a potential cause for engine oil to burn/consume oil excessively.

my thought is if the seal is bad, you will see oil leaks - but that's easily spotted when doing oil change. i don't know about others but myself when i changed my oil, i do not see any leakage.

thanks

[mlynM35]

I'm no expert here but I agree with Towncivilian. Seems to me that changing synthetic oil below 7k miles or even 10K for that matter is a waste of money. BMW and mercedes recommend a 15K interval with sythetic, and I think i read somewhere that Porsche is 20K.

Is there much engine failure out there caused by lubrication issues in a reasonably maintained engine? In my experience most people get rid of cars because they get old, transmisions fail, ac units go out, electrical stuff goes nuts and fixing it is too expensive. Not internal engine damage due to poor lubrication. I have a Toyota tacoma with 204K miles on it and i have gone 7 or 8 K on dino oil between changes. Which to some guys would be punishable by death....but lets face it, thats what the manual recomments.....7500K on dino oil. And I'm sure that when i do get rid of it, it will probably because the transmission goes out or the ac compressor goes out or i just want something newer. I think the Jiffy lubes of the world conned us into thinking that 3 monts or 3k miles was the norm....and they laughed all the way to the bank.

[cruzad3r]

i disagree. the longer you wait to change the oil the easier it is to have slugde issue. that will hurt the engine and your wallet.

[Towncivilian]

If you run a synthetic oil in a clean engine that isn't a known sludger and is mechanically sound, there is absolutely no reason you couldn't extend oil change intervals to at least 7,500 miles; you can go further if you get a used oil analysis to determine the oil's condition at that point and if it is satisfactory, extend further. Using synthetic oil and changing it any sooner is a waste of money and you will neither get your return on investment (in most cases assuming you purchased the oil at retail price) nor have earned any benefit from the use of synthetic oil with a shorter change interval when conventional oil would have worked just as well, with equal wear rates.

If you desire to stick with shorter change intervals, just use a conventional engine oil and save money.

[loystock]

I used to have a spreadsheed of used oil analysis, both 'dino' and synthetic oil prior to stretching my OCI to 6-mo/6K miles. Though the result of my oil analyses from Blackstone were good, I eventually reduced my OCI to 5-mo/5K miles. IIRC, synthetic oil starts to deteriorate at over 6,000 miles. Also note that oil labeled in the US as 'synthetic' may not necessarily be true synthetic. Within Mobil 1 synthetic engine oil family, only 0W-40 is true synthetic. Yet you go to a store and you will find the so called M1"Extended Mileage" synthetic oil being more expensive than M1 0W-40.

European car makers stretched the OCI so they can save money in relation to their "free maintenance" program.

[GQM45s]

I been using RP 5w/20 every 7k with RP filter....seems to run really good and at idle runs alot lower than most oils that I have notice on my car

[Towncivilian]

loystock, you're right that the "full synthetic" moniker is not necessarily accurate. In the US and Canada, any Group III base stock can be declared as "synthetic", even though it is just a severely hydrocracked (IIRC) "dino" base stock, not Group IV/V basestock. However, does this really matter? What really matters is the performance of the oil, ultimately.

[loystock]

My point is, consumers tend to pay more for less. With an OCI of 3-mos/3K, any good quality 'dino' oil will do the job. People pay more for Extended Mileage synthetic blend than true synthetic. If you're going to stretch OCI, 'synthetic' is preferred. True synthetic has less additives compared to synthetic blend which uses more additives to maintain the viscosity index. These additives deteriorate over time. True synthetic has more uniform molecular structure than other oil. Whatever is your preference, and if you plan to keep you car for a long period, make sure you don't over stretch the OCI.

GQM45s, 5W-20 (5.6-9.2cS) is thinner than the recommended oil for your engine. At elevated temp, viscosity can drop to less than 3cS and you risk metal-to-metal contact.

[Towncivilian]

Just because a $20 VOA or UOA shows fewer metallic additives in a particular oil compared to another doesn't mean it has other components such as organic additives, esters, etc that would be undetectable with inexpensive oil analysis. For example, look at a virgin oil analysis of Mobil 1 5W-30 Extended Performance, API SN. It looks relatively mediocre compared to previous blends of M1 (or even some conventional oils) which had higher calcium content, less magnesium content, and if I recall correctly, more zinc. However, it seems that the majority of M1's line has changed to a calcium-magnesium blend (I don't know why). Nonetheless, this "mediocre-looking oil" certainly performs well!

A VOA/UOA is not a method of oil comparison or to monitor engine wear, it is simply a method to determine a particular oil sample's condition.

I still affirm that any API SN rated oil you can purchase on sale will be absolutely fine for manufacturer's rated severe service intervals, and quite possibly the "normal" longer service interval if the driver mostly sticks to highway driving which is very easy on oil, or is following a smart oil life monitor which other makes may have.

[cruzad3r]

Great oil analysis and debate but i think we've gone off topic - let's see if we can go back and discuss excessive oil consumption.

Here's an explanation on VQ engine excessive oil lost.

answers-oil-loss-buzzing-noise-etc-t323273.html

Any thought?