Oil Change

A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
(level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
has 153,000 on it.

Is what he said really true, that as soon as an older vehicle such as
this goes beyond 75K that one has to use this maxlife oil? Another
mechanic who uses Mobile One never told me anything about an upgraded
oil from Mobile other than the synthetic oils, which I am told not to
use since this is an older vehicle and to use synthetic oil one has to
have used them from the very beginning.

My question is, if using Valvoline, is there a real danger in using the
basic oil with 153K on my Corolla?

<thecarpenter333@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1154739929.457275.58700@s13g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
> (level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
> recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
> standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
> has 153,000 on it.
>
> Is what he said really true, that as soon as an older vehicle such as
> this goes beyond 75K that one has to use this maxlife oil? Another
> mechanic who uses Mobile One never told me anything about an upgraded
> oil from Mobile other than the synthetic oils, which I am told not to
> use since this is an older vehicle and to use synthetic oil one has to
> have used them from the very beginning.
>
> My question is, if using Valvoline, is there a real danger in using the
> basic oil with 153K on my Corolla?
>[/color]

"Maxlife" oils are designed for cars which have experienced significant
engine wear or have other related problems that can cause oil consumption
in-between changes. Obviously, this event does not magically occur exactly
at 75,000 miles, and on some cars that have been always used a quality full
synthetic, it may never occur.

There is no danger of using conventional oil on an older car, so long as the
viscosity is appropriate, your oil level is full (or nearly full), and your
oil pressure is normal. On cars with high mileage, it is sometimes
appropriate to use a slightly higher viscosity, to allow for excessive
engine wear.

The only thing that max-life oil has that is not in regular oil is seal
conditioner for the rubber seals. I have heard that prolonged use of these
oils can 'overcondition' the seals. I would just keep on using the old
Vavoline just as before. You still have another 100k in the Corolla.


Scott

Plenty of cars (including my '89 Camry sedan and my sister's '88 V6
Camry wagon, RIP after 17 well-salted Northern winters) got 'way 'way
past that notional 75k before the stuff was even invented. Quality
oil and filter every 3k will take you far.

If there is a core of truth inside what your mechanic says, perhaps it
could be that the high-mileage oils might contain more of <mumble
chemical -- Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate?) that started becoming less
abundant in of regular oils as the API ratings approached the middle of
the alphabet. (Motor oil is complex stuff; it has to meet several
needs, and there are multiple ways to achieve some of them, with
various tradeoffs.) That substance is supposed to serve as the last
ditch protection against metal-on-metal contact when all other forms of
protection fail, a scenario more likely to occur during ordinary
driving in an older (or neglected or perhaps little driven) car.


See for instance
[url]http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/oilreport.html[/url]
[url]http://www.micapeak.com/info/oiled.html[/url]



The higher-mileage oils also seem to contain something to plug up
and/or swell up aging seals to help guard against leaks, and perhaps
are formulated to not volatilize and burn off as readily in a worn
engine.

I'd admit the possibility that high-mileage oils might help protect
your car in some way (I use them on an '86 Camry that both consumes and
weeps a little oil). But a claim that a car that has given good
service for 150k and is still in good shape is going to fall off a
cliff for lack of them... hmm, as you seem to suspect, one has to
interpolate between the miscommunometer and the Check Veracity Light on
that one. :)

I would not be especially inclined to start with a synthetic oil on a
car of that age that has never seen it before. The "dinosaur" oil
that has served you well thus far, in a viscosity range appropriate to
the season, should be fine.

Note also that your car predates the span of years when some Toyota
engines face oil sludging allegations (1997-2002). On those, I would
be even more religious about changing under the severe service interval
and using a quality filter, as well as more willing to consider a
synthetic on a high-miler.

One man's opinions, worth what you paid if your connect time is cheap,
--Joe

In article <1154739929.457275.58700@s13g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
[email]thecarpenter333@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
> A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
> (level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
> recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
> standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
> has 153,000 on it.
>
> Is what he said really true, that as soon as an older vehicle such as
> this goes beyond 75K that one has to use this maxlife oil?[/color]

I think he's getting a kickback or similar from Valvoline for using it.

zonie wrote:[color=blue]
> The only thing that max-life oil has that is not in regular oil is seal
> conditioner for the rubber seals. I have heard that prolonged use of these
> oils can 'overcondition' the seals. I would just keep on using the old
> Vavoline just as before. You still have another 100k in the Corolla.
>
>
> Scott[/color]
100K or more? My father in law's toyota just blew its engine at over
400k miles. It was a Tercel.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:[color=blue]
> In article <1154739929.457275.58700@s13g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> [email]thecarpenter333@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:
>[color=green]
> > A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
> > (level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
> > recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
> > standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
> > has 153,000 on it.
> >
> > Is what he said really true, that as soon as an older vehicle such as
> > this goes beyond 75K that one has to use this maxlife oil?[/color]
>
> I think he's getting a kickback or similar from Valvoline for using it.[/color]

He said the regular Valvoline oil would do practically nothing to
protect my 95 Corolla with 153K miles on it. Actually, the Valvoline
advertisement in his shop (this is Monroe Muffler and Brake in upstate
New York) suggests to use maxlife oil in vehicles over 75K miles.

[email]thecarpenter333@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:[color=blue]
> A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
> (level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
> recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
> standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
> has 153,000 on it.[/color]

I'll suggest that you let him know that you're going to have to go
elsewhere so you can use Exxon, Mobil, Pennzoil, Texaco, or XXYYZZ
since Valvoline provides no protection to your engine.

Translation: Its a line of BS, find a different mechanic.

On 4 Aug 2006 18:05:29 -0700, [email]thecarpenter333@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
>A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
>(level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
>recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
>standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
>has 153,000 on it.
>
>Is what he said really true, that as soon as an older vehicle such as
>this goes beyond 75K that one has to use this maxlife oil? Another
>mechanic who uses Mobile One never told me anything about an upgraded
>oil from Mobile other than the synthetic oils, which I am told not to
>use since this is an older vehicle and to use synthetic oil one has to
>have used them from the very beginning.
>
>My question is, if using Valvoline, is there a real danger in using the
>basic oil with 153K on my Corolla?[/color]


Time no find another mechanic. He is giving you a line of baloney.
Changing oil/filter regularly is the best protection even at >75K
miles. IF you have done changes on regular basis your engine will be
perfectly fine with normal oil at miles WAY over 75K.

"RT" <noyabusiness@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:uljsd257t8acigf4ksn9flvivi08elblcj@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On 4 Aug 2006 18:05:29 -0700, [email]thecarpenter333@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:
>[color=green]
>>A mechanic who only uses Valvoline basically told me to use the maxlife
>>(level two?) Valvoline oil in my 1995 Corolla. It says it's
>>recommended for vehicles with over 75,000 miles. He basically said the
>>standard Valvoline would do practically nothing to protect my car which
>>has 153,000 on it.
>>
>>Is what he said really true, that as soon as an older vehicle such as
>>this goes beyond 75K that one has to use this maxlife oil? Another
>>mechanic who uses Mobile One never told me anything about an upgraded
>>oil from Mobile other than the synthetic oils, which I am told not to
>>use since this is an older vehicle and to use synthetic oil one has to
>>have used them from the very beginning.
>>
>>My question is, if using Valvoline, is there a real danger in using the
>>basic oil with 153K on my Corolla?[/color]
>
>
> Time no find another mechanic. He is giving you a line of baloney.
> Changing oil/filter regularly is the best protection even at >75K
> miles. IF you have done changes on regular basis your engine will be
> perfectly fine with normal oil at miles WAY over 75K.
>[/color]



My 18 year old Supra runs fine and burns almost no oil following the maintenance schedule. (oil & filter @ 10,000 miles)

None of the fleet trucks at work even get there oil changed when they should and a 1988 Toyota C&C I drove
(wide open usually) for years ran great for 350,000 miles when the bottom end started knocking. Even then it
only knocked full throttle and got me home and to the shop the next day. 8)

GL
Dan