this is actually for my g/fs car.
her friend told her that once you put in "high mileage" oil that you cna't go back to normal oil.
has anyone ever heard of this? can you offer actual evidence of it being bad, and what's so bad about it?
her engine is currently looking pretty dry both for oil and coolant. i only have regular 10w-40 and she's worried that i will mess up her engine.
Quote from: KnightofNi on May 29, 2009, 08:51:46 PM
this is actually for my g/fs car.
her friend told her that once you put in "high mileage" oil that you cna't go back to normal oil.
has anyone ever heard of this? can you offer actual evidence of it being bad, and what's so bad about it?
her engine is currently looking pretty dry both for oil and coolant. i only have regular 10w-40 and she's worried that i will mess up her engine.
Sounds like BS to me.
Quote from: ducpainter on May 29, 2009, 09:12:27 PM
Sounds like BS to me.
that's what i said, but her friend worked for auto zone for a long time... [roll]
i have just been tinkering with engines for a few years and listening to the oil chatter on various forums.
Quote from: KnightofNi on May 29, 2009, 09:20:15 PM
that's what i said, but her friend worked for auto zone for a long time... [roll]
i have just been tinkering with engines for a few years and listening to the oil chatter on various forums.
I think the whole high mileage oil thing is a gaff.
What does it have?
More detergent?
Quote from: ducpainter on May 29, 2009, 09:23:08 PM
I think the whole high mileage oil thing is a gaff.
What does it have?
More detergent?
supposedly it has additives to recondition seals.
it seems from my brief examination tonight that they are at least semi-synthetic if not full syn.
Quote from: KnightofNi on May 29, 2009, 09:30:44 PM
supposedly it has additives to recondition seals.
it seems from my brief examination tonight that they are at least semi-synthetic if not full syn.
I'm not buying.
Quote from: ducpainter on May 29, 2009, 09:32:55 PM
I'm not buying.
i'll buy that syn is at least somewhat better at protecting the metal on metal parts than conventional, but the rest of it i'm not so sure about either.
then again, there are tons of testimonials out there on several diff sites.
Howie to the white courtesy phone please. :)
Just for fun, what kinda car, how many miles on it?
AFAIK, by law, all motor oils sold for cars can be mixed with no dire effects.
But that may have been BS I was hearing. [coffee]
Howie would know.
If by "high mileage oil" you mean that stuff at Walmart that's labeled for cars with lots of miles on them, it's just a marketing scam and it's no different than "regular" oil. It won't hurt an engine to go back to regular oil because it is regular oil.
If by "high mileage oil" you mean synthetic oil like Amsoil that's marketed that it will last for lots of miles between changes, it doesn't hurt to go back to regular oil.
Tell your gf that I said her friend is an idiot. [roll]
The danger here is that if something does happen to go wrong with your gf's car after you change the oil, it will be your fault. ;D
QuoteThe danger here is that if something does happen to go wrong with your gf's car after you change the oil, it will be your fault.
Even if it's only a muffler bearing 10 years later, and especially if you're married to her by then. ;)
I don't fall for the high mileage oils. I have ran cars past 300,000 miles on regular 10-40, 10-30 with no problems.
Now if you are switching back and forth from synthetic to regular oil this could cause a problem. I don't know about effecting the engine but i do know that regular oil naturally tends to gum up and will stop up pores worn in your hoses and so on (when cars are older of coarse)... When you go to synthetic, it tends to not gum up and will seep through the pores in the older hoses. so you end up with oil leaks and don't know why. anyways long story short high mileage oil cost more, regular oil works fine and will do its job just as well as high mileage oil, and synthetic is best.
[bacon] [coffee]
Quote from: Speeddog on May 29, 2009, 09:57:01 PM
Howie to the white courtesy phone please. :)
Just for fun, what kinda car, how many miles on it?
AFAIK, by law, all motor oils sold for cars can be mixed with no dire effects.
But that may have been BS I was hearing. [coffee]
Howie would know.
haha, he was the first one i thought of. i already PMed him.
Quote from: Langanobob on May 29, 2009, 10:16:29 PM
If by "high mileage oil" you mean that stuff at Walmart that's labeled for cars with lots of miles on them, it's just a marketing scam and it's no different than "regular" oil. It won't hurt an engine to go back to regular oil because it is regular oil.
If by "high mileage oil" you mean synthetic oil like Amsoil that's marketed that it will last for lots of miles between changes, it doesn't hurt to go back to regular oil.
Tell your gf that I said her friend is an idiot. [roll]
The danger here is that if something does happen to go wrong with your gf's car after you change the oil, it will be your fault. ;D
you should have heard the convo last night [roll]
All most of us know for sure about motor oil for our car is what is on the top of the can.
From the top of the can you can tell the following:
Oil weight.
If the oil is energy conserving or not.
API for gasoline and diesel plus, if included, ACEA European ratings.
OEM manufacturer's approvals.
Whether the oil is fully synthetic, a blend or not (maybe, since you, well, I've never seen on the can if the oil is
group 3,4 or 5). Group 3 is a blend, 4 and 5 pure synthetics.
There is tons of good information on oil ratings on the interwebs.
Even most of the scientific oil testing you read is not valid new product and reformulating of old product has taken place to meet new standards since the article has been published.
For the most part, the only people who really know more than this are engineers inside the petroleum industry like our dear departed friend George (we miss you), and people who tear down identical engines under heavy usage such as a taxi fleet or a race team, but that information may not translate to our daily runner. It is possible some oils may have additive packages, but more than likely just marketing. Either way, you will not know for sure.
Switching back and forth between oils should cause no problems. All motor oils are supposed to be compatible. You may see more seepage if you switch to synthetic oil on an older car due to the molecular structure of the oil. I forget, either PAG or Ester oils can do this. If so, just switch back.
Bottom line is any good oil of the proper weight and rating for your high mileage car should work just fine if changed frequently enough.
This rather long reply is due to a request from a board member. Blame him [evil] I see the member just revealed himself.
thanks howie!
we actually just took her car in and i regret to inform everyone that i was overrulled.
it has nothing to do with the fact that the guy wants to sell a higher priced product that he told her that she shouldn't put conventional oil back in [bang]
ohh and apparently anything over 75K miles is high mileage and has to use the high mileage oil.
this reaffirms my hatred of mechanics and makes me wish i had just gone to mechanics school so i could either do it myself or at least diagnose the problem and treat them the same way they treat me.
i swear to god the guy seemed totally disinterested in actually diagnosing the problem, but he knew she needs high mileage oil as well as a coolant flush (which was done at 140K) i asked him to check the thermostat and he said "well i don't know if that's bad or not." no shit, that's why i'm asking you guys, the mechanics who supposedly would have the equipment to do such a thing, to test it.
ohh and speeddog
it's an 02 honda civic ex with 168,750 miles on it.
it's been very well maintained and as far as i can remember hasn't had any problem more major than a flat tire or dead battery until now.
Quotei swear to god the guy seemed totally disinterested in actually diagnosing the problem...
I don't think you mentioned that it had a problem? What is it? What kind of shop was this? My wife had a Honda Civic that was a great car but at just about 170,000 miles the water pump conked out.
At least the "high mileage" oil won't do any harm.
I've completely failed in efforts to find a competent repair shop. Even tried dealers and high end type places. They all seem to be idiots or crooks or both. The notable exception is a place called D&D Transmissions in Reno, NV who have successfully rebuilt two transmissions for me. I mention them out of fairness since I did find at least one good shop.
Quote from: KnightofNi on May 30, 2009, 06:53:40 AM
--------------snip-----------------
ohh and speeddog
it's an 02 honda civic ex with 168,750 miles on it.
it's been very well maintained and as far as i can remember hasn't had any problem more major than a flat tire or dead battery until now.
With basic care and feeding, that car would go another 170k, IMO.
At some point it will start needing stuff besides oil and tires and brakes.
I ran an '80 Civic wagon to about 350k miles, needed a water pump and a couple of clutches, a set of halfshafts, and of course the usual tires, brake pads, fluids, etc.
But really minimal for that kind of mileage.
Knight, if the "high mileage oil" helps her feel better and keeps peace at home it is actually working. Placebos have scientific merit [cheeky]
Quote from: howie on May 30, 2009, 07:24:23 AM
Knight, if the "high mileage oil" helps her feel better and keeps peace at home it is actually working. Placebos have scientific merit [cheeky]
i hear you only gain such wisdom through experience. is this true? [laugh]
Quote from: Speeddog on May 30, 2009, 07:18:26 AM
With basic care and feeding, that car would go another 170k, IMO.
At some point it will start needing stuff besides oil and tires and brakes.
I ran an '80 Civic wagon to about 350k miles, needed a water pump and a couple of clutches, a set of halfshafts, and of course the usual tires, brake pads, fluids, etc.
But really minimal for that kind of mileage.
yeah, i'm sure it can go quite a while before it actually dies. even longer if i don't drive it that often.
Quote from: ducpainter on May 29, 2009, 09:12:27 PM
Sounds like BS to me.
Not if you are a distributor for "
High Mileage Oil."
Quote from: howie on May 30, 2009, 05:25:28 AM
Bottom line is any good oil of the proper weight and rating for your high mileage car should work just fine if changed frequently enough.
I have a Honda Civic with 189k miles on it and the original motor, still has good even compression and still runs fine. Over the years I've tried everything from full synthetic to the cheap store brand stuff. I have done my own changes and had others do them; I have been to Jiffy Lube many times along the way. I think longevity depends on good base motor, a little luck, and regular oil and filter changes. I've stopped dealing with the oil silliness. For the longest time now I've been using good quality name brand oil and a new filter every 3000 miles and call it at that.
Scott
Your first mistake would be to believe anything a parts monkey from AutoZone tells you. He is a parts vendor, not a mechanic or technician by any means. He is there to sell you parts by looking them up in a computer and without that computer he would be clueless. I have been into many engines although none were Hondas. If a car is designed to use synthetic oil then use it. On a car that has higher mileage or was not designed to use synthetic it can most certainly cause oil leaks. As far as longevity is concerned, it may help the internals of the engine last longer but there are lots of other things that can go wrong outside of the engine.
QuoteNot if you are a distributor for "High Mileage Oil."
The part that troubles me is that I don't think they are intentionally trying to make more money - the problem is that many of the guys who work on our cars actually
believe the BS that they spout.
I've had many bad experiences with repair shops in the Reno area and there used to be a columnist on the local paper who was also a serious car guy, also wrote for AutoWeek. I offered to collaborate with the columnist on sort of a 60 Minutes type sting and take a perfectly good car around to various shops with say a shorted spark plug wire and get estimates for repairs and he could write up the results. His response was that he thought it was a great idea but the newspaper management nixed it because they need local business advertising revenue. So much for journalism.