Hello; I’m new to this message board so I’m not sure how this works. I have a '95 Eldorado that has a ‘slight’ oil leak, as the mechanic said, which he will watch. (He may be ready for a new boat.) I saw recently about Max Life oil for older cars. Is this a viable option for mine at my next oil change? Or should I just go forward and trust the mechanic? I’m new to the area and this is the Cadillac dealer. My car only has 76,000 miles and has never given me any major problems after the warranty ran out. Thanks for any advice/comments.
LilyBee
Is there actually an oil leak? How big of one? Where is it leaking? How much would it cost to fix the leak?
Remember, oil is fairly cheap, some seals that oil can leak from aren’t cheap to replace (because of labour.)
Well, as I said, the mechanic (service rep) said it was a slight leak. There are drops of oil (I guess) underneath my car. It’s not leaking much because the car’s computer indicator doesn’t go down much or quickly. The service rep said it would cost $2000, to get it fixed; which probably means closer to $3000. I realize that this would be mainly labor to pull out the engine.
Max Life (Valvoline) is “the first motor oil formulated for higher mileage engines. It is a blend of premium syntehtic and conventional basestocks with a seal conditioning agent, extra cleaning agents, additional antiwear additives, and friction modifiers.” Thus, it is supposed to be for cars with mileage over 60,000. I’m looking for advice from either a mechanic or an auto owner who has used this product and whether it was a satisfactory solution to any type of leakage.
Thanks.
Considering the small, insignificant amount of leakage, a reasonable course of action is to do nothing. You will continue to check the oil level every month as every car owner must do. Add more if necessary. (If you’re not sure, the neighbor kid will show you how.)
Max Life is an OK product but your car is not really ready for such action. For the next 12 months or so, do nothing.
Try it! What do you have to lose?/ A few bucks more per oil change? That Northstar has a split crankcase designed by Lotus. It’s SUPPOSED to leak a little. If you let someone “fix” it, it will NEVER run right again.
I had a car with some leaking. The line was that a mechanic had quoted the previous owner the same price as you were quoted to “fix it right”. The real problem was loose oil pan bolts. They were so loose, you could turn them with a socket and extension and no ratchet on the end. Your car may not have the same lucky solution as mine did, but it doesn’t cost any big amount of money to get it checked. Then, look for a label under or on the hood that tells you what weight oil your car takes. Some places assume that it takes 5W30 when it may not. Your car might need 10W30 or even heavier oil in warm weather. My 85 Caddy required straight 30W where temperatures don’t go below 30 degrees for more than a few hours overnight. The oil dripping stopped immediately. You wouldn’t be the first person to use 10W30 or 15W40 to stop a leak. We used to go really thick years ago when nobody cared or the engines weren’t recommending the thin oil of today. The thicker oil may not completely stop the dripping but it will slow it down a bit.
Thank you Steve and Caddyman for your responses. I will address my car’s issue accordingly. The cost of Max Life wouldn’t be a concern for me; but the effectiveness and quality of the product are. And yes, I know how to check the oil.
$2000 will buy a whole lot of oil. If there’s some MaxLife (or similar ‘high mileage’ oil) on sale, give it a shot. I’ve used Quaker State High Mileage in my 97 Crown Vic and 99 Sonata, and they seem to be running quite well, not to mention either car looses ANY oil in between changes (they use to lose maybe half a quart every few months.)
Thanks Procter, Dodgevan, Steve, and Caddyman. I feel much better with all of your comments and advice, and will see what results I get with MaxLife at my next oil change. I do monitor the oil level regularly.
Cheers,
LilyBee
MaxLife is for 75k and over;
I used it and it works
It makes the rubber to swallow and therefore prevent small oil leak.
I think this is a case of everything to gain and nothing to lose. It costs about the same, it won’t do any harm and it might work. It does work in some cases but not all.
First thing I’d do would be to find the leak. Put some cardboard under the enginewhile it is parked, say overnight. Look for the most oil drips and follow it up to the engine. Next I’d determine how much oil is leaking. My old Accord has a lot of miles (425,000) and drips about 1/2 a quart every oil change . . which is about 3000 miles or three months . . . or about 1/4 or a quart or less every months. Works out to be about a buck a month dripping away. I’ll live with that. Post back, I’d like to hear about where the leak actually is. Good luck. Rocketman
“$2000 to get it fixed” sounds like a rear main seal replacement. They would need to drop
the transmission. Spending $2000 only makes sense if you plan on keeping the car for a long
time(4 years+).
My son has an 1985 Jeep Cherokee with about 180,000 miles on it and the rear main oil seal started leaking on this thing. He tried the Valvoline MaxLife to see if this would stop the oil leaking. And lo and behold it worked!
I never believed in these high mileage oils. But the vehicle doesn’t leave an oil stain in my driveway anymore!
Tester