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?

Reply to
thecarpenter333
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"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.

Reply to
Mark A

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

Reply to
zonie

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

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

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

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

100K or more? My father in law's toyota just blew its engine at over 400k miles. It was a Tercel.
Reply to
ez_the_elf

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.

Reply to
ez_the_elf

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.

Reply to
someone

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.

Reply to
RT

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

Reply to
Danny G.

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