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Author Topic: Engine Maintenance Tips: Additives & Oil  (Read 97150 times)

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Offline St Giles

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Re: Engine Maintenance Tips: Additives & Oil
« Reply #20 on: December 30, 2025, 06:37:05 PM »
On that note, bottled oil is better, since it is less likely to get filled with the wrong fluid or mislabeled.
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Offline Tisas

Re: Engine Maintenance Tips: Additives & Oil
« Reply #21 on: January 01, 2026, 01:19:21 AM »
Quote from: Yeti on December 24, 2025, 10:16:52 AM


The idea of the 3,000 mile oil change was invented as a scam by quick-change oil places and has been debunked many times. The people who actually built the car know best how often the oil needs to be changed, and they put it in the owner's manual, and it is usually 8-10k for most modern cars, or sometimes as low as 5k, but it's best to just follow whatever it says.

Not before synthetic oil was invented. And nowadays, it's still a terrible idea to abide by the manufacturers' scheduled oil changes. Even with full synthetic oil, you shouldn't go past 5,000 miles before an oil/filter change. The Oil Geek guy and many others on YT affirm this practice.

Also, never use 0W20 oil despite the manufacturers telling you to use it. It will destroy your engine a lot sooner than later. That's good for the auto industry because you end up having to buy another car. Go with 5W30 oil in an engine where the manufacturer says to use 0W20. The engines never changed but, overnight, manufacturers instructed owners to use 0W20 in order to placate the EPA and gain a fraction of 1% of fuel efficiency.
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Offline Ladislaus

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Re: Engine Maintenance Tips: Additives & Oil
« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2026, 11:43:44 AM »
With a good filter and the right Synthetic, I see 7,500-10,000 as no issue at all.

But something I did find here that seems to work extremely well.  I have a Toyota Sienna about 10 years old with 250K miles on it and it just started leaking some oil.  Mechanic said it was rear engine seal, and that they'd have to remove the engine and it would be many thousands, and so he recommended just adding oil (if you don't care about leaking oil everywhere ... and I kindof do).

But I found this stuff here:  AT-205 Re-Seal, and it works like a charm, with great reviews from everyone saying it does recondition the rubber gaskets / seals.  So I'm hoping to get 350-400K miles on that Toyota, since it still drives almost like new.

I had to get a new alternator around 200K, and did a bunch of shocks, struts, suspension stuff around 225K ... and apart from those two things, absolutely nothing other than routine maintenance items (breaks, etc.).  Engine is still quiet (not doing that knocking/pininging stuff from valve noise, even in the cold).

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ATP-Automatic-Transmission-Re-Seal-AT-205-8-oz-bottle-sold-by-each/171600091

I'm convinced this stuff will get me another 100K out of this car, and I've got another one vehicle in the 150K range that I'm going to use it for, even though it hasn't started leaking yet.  For my other vehicles that are under 100K, I'm going to just use this as a matter of course at 100, then again at 150, 200, etc.

In addition, just to reduce engine wear, this stuff works great ...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017UPHNXO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B017UPHNXO&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20 />
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Offline St Giles

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Re: Engine Maintenance Tips: Additives & Oil
« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2026, 03:28:19 PM »
Quote from: Ladislaus on January 01, 2026, 11:43:44 AM
In addition, just to reduce engine wear, this stuff works great ...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017UPHNXO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B017UPHNXO&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20 />
It works great because you've done precise scientific lab testing to prove it, right? Right? 

The re-seal is probably not a bad idea, but if the oil makers could make oil better by adding that oil stabilizer, they would have. Chances are you are just messing up a precisely formulated and tested additive balance while making the oil thicker.

It's funny to see reviews for additives where people say, "I put it in, and I feel like it's doing a great job". That's feel as in, not feeling an objective difference, rather feel good just because you like the brand or product idea.

Thicker oil can slow leaks, so maybe try 5w30, or 10w30 in the summer. Just watch out for a blowout. A rear main seal (Why does the front seal never fail?) can go from a trickle to 2qts in a half hour of driving in a short time.
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