Will High Mileage Oil Really Help My High-Mileage Engine?

[TJRick]

I have used nothing but regular Valvoline 10W30 motor oil in my 1998 Jeep since I purchased it in early 1999. I have almost 150K miles on the engine and I haven't had any engine leaks so far.

That being said, do you think I should I switch over to Valvoline [Maxlife] High Mileage engine oil?

Does "High-Mileage" oil really help a high-mileage engine?

 

[Feralkid]

It’s for leaking seals, that is all.

 

[SkylinesSuck]

I believe extra detergents in some as well.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Old engine seals tend to be more prone to leaks. High mileage engine oils contain more seal conditioners that can help restore them. I switched my BMW to a high mileage conventional (!) engine oil and several days later its bad rear main seal leak stopped. Ran great like it did before. I'll switch my Jeep to it within the next couple oil changes.

 

[1515art]

So, the next logical question is can high mileage oil be detrimental to a new engine and what is the difference with a blend for European engines. Sometimes looking at the slew of slightly different oil configurations it’s a little confusing. my understand is they are all supposed to be comparable but i still wonder what’s best with all the little marketing differences it’s hard to decide which one do I want?

 

[TheBoogieman]

Old engine seals tend to be more prone to leaks. High mileage engine oils contain more seal conditioners that can help restore them. I switched my BMW to a high mileage conventional (!) engine oil and several days later its bad rear main seal leak stopped. Ran great like it did before. I'll switch my Jeep to it within the next couple oil changes.

Valvoline?

 

[TWiG01]

Valvoline?

I would think Valvoline / Pennzoil / Castrol are all nearly the same.

 

[SkylinesSuck]

There are actually pretty surprising differences between even name brand oils. Mostly in the additive packages. I also forgot to mention some high mileage oils have higher levels of zddp amongst other differences. But I doubt running high mileage oil in a newer motor will hurt. Don't over do think it. Changing it more often matters more than the brand or type in most stock applications.

 

[TJ2]

Yes it helps. I use high mileage Valvoline to all my rigs.

 

[TJRick]

There are actually pretty surprising differences between even name brand oils. Mostly in the additive packages. I also forgot to mention some high mileage oils have higher levels of zddp amongst other differences. But I doubt running high mileage oil in a newer motor will hurt. Don't over do think it. Changing it more often matters more than the brand or type in most stock applications.

Do you know which one has the highest levels of zddp?

 

[SkylinesSuck]

Of the high mileage oils? Not off the top of my head, no. There are a ton of reports from oil tests on Bob's the oil guy though. I have a rather large cam with stiff valve springs in my stroker which I constantly thrash so I personally run Valvoline VR-1 which has the appropriate amount of zddp. It's not billed as a high mileage motor oil though.

 

[Zorba]

I would think Valvoline / Pennzoil / Castrol are all nearly the same.

I would never mention "Pennzoil" in the same sentence as the other two.

 

[TWiG01]

I would never mention "Pennzoil" in the same sentence as the other two.

Meaning Pennzoil is superior in your opinion? Or the opposite...

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I would never mention "Pennzoil" in the same sentence as the other two.

Why, specifically?

 

[Zorba]

I wouldn't put Pennzoil in your lawn mower, much less mine! Ever hear of a "Pennzoil motor"? I've seen a few - gunky beyond extreme. I've heard tell that Quaker State can do the same thing - but don't have any experience. Pennzoil and Fram filters are two things I avoid. YMMV and all that...

 

[mxz800]

I wouldn't put Pennzoil in your lawn mower, much less mine! Ever hear of a "Pennzoil motor"? I've seen a few - gunky beyond extreme. I've heard tell that Quaker State can do the same thing - but don't have any experience. Pennzoil and Fram filters are two things I avoid. YMMV and all that...

I remember a long time ago Quaker State had to replace a lot of motors. If that had happened in the age of the internet Quaker State would be no more.

 

[KingCarGuyZ]

I think @Zorba already mentioned this, but stay away from penzoil, I have seen inside a few blown “penzoil only” engines, and it ain’t pretty. Idfk what they do, but that is not good oil.

I used Castro’s High Milage and a ZDDP/Zinc Additive to quite down the lifter tic a little. But whatever you use (valvoline, Castrol, shell (that ones also a little controversial) or amazon house brand, it’s should be fine, just change the oil every 3K and the Filter every 6 or so and your set.

as far as High mileage or not, I have never owned an engine with less than 100,000 miles, so I can’t really say. But none of my engines have blown up yet (Jeeps at 260,000) so it can’t be that bad for them. I do still have small oil leaks from the VW and the Jeep, (4Runner and maxima not so much) but how else am I supposed to know weather or not it has oil?

 

[duncanator]

I found this informative.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I wouldn't put Pennzoil in your lawn mower, much less mine! Ever hear of a "Pennzoil motor"? I've seen a few - gunky beyond extreme. I've heard tell that Quaker State can do the same thing - but don't have any experience. Pennzoil and Fram filters are two things I avoid. YMMV and all that...

I can understand that frame of mind, I was right there with you for more years than I care to admit to.

Pennzoil did used to use a base that caused sludge in motors but that hasn't been the case in over 20 years since they switched to a new non-paraffin base called PureBase for their conventionals. Their synthetics have never had that issue.

I used to believe the same thing on Fram, some obviously still do. What turned me around was a 2 day trip to Fram's R&D and testing labs in Dayton Ohio. This is what I wrote about it after coming home, please read it.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...it-to-frams-r-d-facility-in-dayton-ohio.9042/
I learned a lot on that trip, that is for sure... mainly that there's so much bullshit being spread on the internet that you have to take the negatives with a grain of salt. And that Fram's Tough Guard filter is such a good filter that I switched to that filter for all of my cars and Jeeps. It actually outperforms many filters costing 2-3X as much. For example, its filtration efficiency tests at 99%, many of the high-zoot filters only have a 95% filtration efficiency.

I still have a photo in my collection of photos that I kept labeled as-is to remind me of what I used to think about Fram lol.

 

[5632]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I also have my favorites but the most important thing to remember is to change your oil and filter every 5000 miles. I also use a quart of Lucas oil stabilizer.

The highest ZDDP in oil will be found in Lucas Hot Rod oil.