Snowball the 81 white 928

does mobil 1 contribute to crank seal or oil pan leaks? sorry, but i had to ask.

ldrhawke

Synthetic oil.......(Mobile 1)

YES.......one of it's positive/negative characteristic is it's long molecular chain makeup and stabile viscosity. This gives it the ability to find the smallest openings when at ambient temperatures and flow into them and lubricate. The downside is that it also finds the smallest openings around old gaskets and seals in an older engine that will often hold conventional oil without leaking.

hawke <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

ldrhawke

Sorry about the stutter............. <img src="graemlins/sleep.gif" border="0" alt="[sleep]" />

Big Dave

Yes. After I put Mobil 1 Synthetic into my shark (which I thought the PO had already done), various tiny oil leaks have appeared with the cold weather.

Snowball the 81 white 928

i suppose that a pan leak that i had 6 years ago was attributable to changing from penz 20-50 (PO)to mobil 1 15-50, but now no further leaks. is redline engine oil really worth it?

ldrhawke

Is Redline oil worth it? Is Mobil 1 worth it?

I Understand Mobile 1 comes as the breakin oil in the engine and recommended oil in all new Porsches and Corvettes.

The fact is nearly any conventional dyno motor oil that meets the car specs will keep an engine performing as long as it is changed as recommended and new filters are put on. The advantage of more expensive synthetics is they go longer before viscosity breaks down and often stand up to higher temperatures.

Is it worth the high extra cost and $4 or $5 a quart....probably not.

BUT....I use nothing but Mobil 1 in my cars, boats, and motorcycles anyway.

Mike Schmidt

I had this discussion with a local Porsche owner recently. He works at a place that manufactures seals, including many seals for the big three US auto makers. He said that synthetic oil is without a doubt better for the mechanical workings of the engine, but there are more likely to be problems with leaks on older cars using it. The material that was used to make seals on older cars was of a different composition than what's more commonly used now. Dinosaur oil causes the older seal material to swell to a greater degree than synthetic oil does. What happens is that the rotating part that has the seal on it is suspended by a layer of oil while it's turning. When the part isn't turning, there's no oil film under it, so it actually sits in a slightly lower position when not spinning. This pushes down the lower lip of the seal slightly. When the part later starts to spin, it's lifted up again by the oil film under it. For the seal to do it's job, that lower lip that was deformed slightly by the part when it wasn't spining has to flex up against the now raised spinning part. As the seal ages it becomes less flexible, and it doesn't move back up against the spinning part as well. Dinosaur oil causes the material in the older seals to swell to a greater degree than synthetic oil, so it helps the seal material to rebound back up to the spinning part.

Personally I use Mobil1 in my car. I don't know if it's any better or worse than any other synthetic oil, but that's what Porsche puts in at the factory when they assemble the cars. Porsche knows a heck of a lot more about it than I do, so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

Big Dave

Does anyone have experience with going BACK to dinosaur oil after using Mobil 1? I'm curious whether the leaks that start with Mobil 1 go away eventually.

ldrhawke

Dyno and Synthetic are totally compatable. You can mix and march anyway you like. In fact several brands sell them mixed right out of the can. Switching back would probably stop the leak, if the only thing causing it was the oil flow properties.

LarryM

I moved back to Valvoline 20w50 race blend. You are correct in that some of my pan leaks stopped. I made the move because my car would burn/leak a quart in about 500 to 600 miles. My 95 burns/leaks a quart of Valvoline in about 1100 miles.
LM
95 5speed
crystal emerald metallic