so I've been using Mobile 1 High mileage for the last 2 oil changes and have noticed spotting in the driveway due to very slow minor drip and I mean few circles of stains over the last year. I can't tell for sure when it started but its a problem. Car has a little over 200k miles on it.

What I would like to know is should I switch to regular Valvoline Maxlife or stick with the Mobile 1 or go semi synthetic?

should I try an additive and I know its not a cure but I'm also not spending big $ to try and fix. Any repairs would have to be done by a mechanic.

thanks

 

Keep using your Mobil 1
Switching at 200k isn't going to fix anything.

 

but could it be that the synthetic is too thin?

 

The good oil is cleaning your engine and the crud that was keeping the seal(s) from leaking is getting cleaned out.

 

Stick with Mobil 1, im at 210k miles with my car and been using mobil 1 full synth. for a while its fine

 

Yeah but I have a drip that may of came from the switch

 

Stick with Mobil 1.
Switching to synthetic of any kind on a old engine is just calling for more leaks.

 

yeah its a hit or miss with switching to synthetic

 

The synthetic oil issues, leaks etc are not the case anymore. It's actually more of a myth that stuck around since synthetic oils hit the market. The original synthetics did have some issues with compatibility, but that's long gone.

 

As said above, those leaks have appeared due to the age of the vehicle. Some you can track down and fix.

If you're using an expensive oil like Mobil 1 then I hope you're not changing it every 3,000 miles. If you are, the only benefit of the expensive oil is a lighter wallet.

Even the 'conventional' oils we have today are significantly better than conventional oils that were on the market when our vehicles entered service.

 

How much are you leaking? How often do you change?
How much do you add between changes. Until you fix your leaks, I would just run cheap Dino oil. Chevron oil is cheap and good enough at 4K intervals.

 

but Mobile 1 is synthetic

Not leaking much at all and change about every 5000-6000 miles. that's the thing, my level doesn't fall noticably enough to a point where I need to add more in between changes.

one thing I noticed is that my mechanic usually poors the whole 5 quart container in which I just found out that its too much. wonder if that's causing the leak

 

Instead of starting a new thread, i'll recycle this one. (it also means that i searched first)

I just bought a 99 SE last week with 148k from the original owner.
The seller said that he's always used synthetic. Now i'm thinking if synthetic oil
is good for an engine that's creeping up in the higher range. Should i change to regular oil?
Wouldn't it be better to use a thicker oil for a higher mileage engine?

 

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This should help

 

I have 184k and have been using synthetic since 110k. The only issue would be leaks, and leaks only come from the common areas (eventually the valve cover, op pressure sensor, and cam sensor bolt). These are not big leaks, only residual, no drips. If you have drips it should be fixed. Because the regular oil does not penetrate as well, you would have less leaks. I actually ran blend for awhile before I went to full synthetic. I don't see the need for full synthetic unless you go FI, track the car, or drive spiritedly all the time.

 

No.

My .02 - I think it's more important to use the same oil over the life of the engine, dino or synthetic.

Keep using what the original owner has been using.

 

I had 2 98 max's before this one and lemme tell you,
this 99 SE runs way better, accelerates quicker and it's just faster.
It's a Cali spec 99 and it's predecessors were both fed spec.
Guess i'll be coughin up more for synthetic now, but it would give me longer
intervals.

 

wonder if this is true, because it's always what I "had" believed. Has to do with synth lacking mineral spirits.

Anyway, I let the dealer change my oil the first 60k (it used to be $14.95 at the Nissan dealer). Then I used Castrol 5W30 dino juice all the way to 195k. One day, our uncle borrowed the Maxima, and he tells me he changed the oil with synthetic. I nearly freaked out on him, saying now my car is going to leak like a sieve. He said relax, no it's not. So I've been using synthetic ever since, and I'm at 218k. Still do it every 5k.

My other two cars use synth and I stick with one brand--the 335i needs LL-01 oil so that's just BMW for now, my wife's Pennzoil Platinum because of bob is the oil guy. But the Maxima, whatever synth is cheapest.

Lately, that is Shell, because I can get 6 qts. of 5W30 full synth for $19.99. Then I either use a WIX or OEM filter. I still have a few 9E's made in Japan, some in China.

 

I believed this, but it's too late, I've already switched to synthetic 4 oil changes ago...

Another thing I believed was that you rotate tires, front, to back, back, to front. That keeps the direction the same. You can't reverse directions on directional tires, of course, but I thought it was on all tires.

Come to find out that was a 1970's thing, and you can move tires from one side to another if they're not directional....that's why I wonder how many things are things we've learned in the past....

 

Um, no. The 99 Cali Spec is indeed the slowest 4th gen out there. It's intake is restricted with swirl valves and the Y pipe with pre cats monitored by o2's bog the VQ down.

These are facts.

 

Yes, i know about the unawesomeness nissan put in the cali maxes, despite that, it is indeed faster than both my 98's.