Mobil 1

[TexasLexus94]

I bought my pristine 94 LS with 99K miles, and decided to change the oil and filter with synthetic oil last May at 101K miles. The car was tight, with no leaks of any kind under the whole body.

I went under the car today to change the oil again-with 106K-and found a distinct seepage of oil from the area at the front of the oil pan. There was also evidence of leaks on my new garage floor. It looks like it's oil slowly seeping out all along the front of the pan gasket. Like a dope, I went ahead and changed the oil and filter again-I had already dropped the 30 bucks or so for the syn oil and filter.

So I guess I'm just giving out a warning to consider that maybe syn oil is too pure for older cars. Yes, I may be wrong, but the drips on my garage floor, as well as the oil that is evident all along the parts near the oil pan, as well as the gasket, tell me I have a problem, Houston. And I think it's the synthetic oil.

I'm going to watch what happens. Your comments are appreciated.

[monarch]

Are you absolutely sure it's motor oil that's leaking? Nearly all the '90-'94 LS400's develop power steering fluid leaks and factory original power steering fluid is colored brown - the same as moderately used motor oil.

[spiller91ls]

When I first got my 91 last april, I had switched to Mobil 1, a couple of months ago I noticed the smell of burning oil. The rear main seal started to leak, so I switched back to Valvoline 5w-30 and the leak has finally gone away. Usually synthetic will find any possible leak that you might have. I'll go back to Mobil the beginning of next year, since I could tell the diffence in performance, engine seemed to rev more freely

[blake918]

In my mind, I can't justify M1 super syn as being at fault for your oil leaks. The conventional oil you(and the previous owner) have been using has probably been clogging the areas where your 94 is leaking. I have a 95 LS with 238.8k miles. When I bought the car I switched to M1 super syn 5w30, and I have no regrets whatsoever. B) I've been driving the car for almost 15k with nothing but great results from M1.

[silvermate]

i have that same "wet spot" exactly where you are talking about Texas...........i noticed it when i changed my oil 2 weeks ago,

i also use mobile 1, you can't blame the oil, its good stuff.......and i agree with spiller, my car runs better, ie....better gas mileage, quieter, and smoother engine with the mobile 1,

the problme is the gasket, you just need to replace it, parts go bad over time...time to replace it ;)

i won't change the quality of my engine oil for an old leaky gasket (15 bucks),,,,,,i'll change the gasket, (next weeekend)

[92Lex]

I bought my pristine 94 LS with 99K miles, and decided to change the oil and filter with synthetic oil last May at 101K miles.  The car was tight, with no leaks of any kind under the whole body. 

I went under the car today to change the oil again-with 106K-and found a distinct seepage of oil from the area at the front of the oil pan.  There was also evidence of leaks on my new garage floor.  It looks like it's oil slowly seeping out all along the front of the pan gasket.  Like a dope, I went ahead and changed the oil and filter again-I had already dropped the 30 bucks or so for the syn oil and filter. 

So I guess I'm just giving out a warning to consider that maybe syn oil is too pure for older cars.  Yes, I may be wrong, but the drips on my garage floor, as well as the oil that is evident all along the parts near the oil pan, as well as the gasket, tell me I have a problem, Houston.  And I think it's the synthetic oil.

I'm going to watch what happens.  Your comments are appreciated.

←

You might want to try to switch to a synthetic blend a few times before actually going with full synthetics. Try that first, after a couple of oil changes then go with the good stuff...you can't go wrong with Mobil 1.

[Antiwan]

I bought my pristine 94 LS with 99K miles, and decided to change the oil and filter with synthetic oil last May at 101K miles.  The car was tight, with no leaks of any kind under the whole body. 

I went under the car today to change the oil again-with 106K-and found a distinct seepage of oil from the area at the front of the oil pan.  There was also evidence of leaks on my new garage floor.  It looks like it's oil slowly seeping out all along the front of the pan gasket.  Like a dope, I went ahead and changed the oil and filter again-I had already dropped the 30 bucks or so for the  :chairshot:  syn oil and filter. 

So I guess I'm just giving out a warning to consider that maybe syn oil is too pure for older cars.  Yes, I may be wrong, but the drips on my garage floor, as well as the oil that is evident all along the parts near the oil pan, as well as the gasket, tell me I have a problem, Houston.  And I think it's the synthetic oil.

I'm going to watch what happens.  Your comments are appreciated.

←

[SKperformance]

First you didn;t waste your $30 by not reusing the supposed new oil.

It would have been contaminated with debris from old oil which was being washed away.

That is the reason you started to leak oil.

It is not a new leak but an old one filled by old oil and caked on with heat. The synthetic broke it down and flushed it off.

This caused the seal to open up as the skin on the other side of the gasket loosened.

[Losiho]

I purchased my 1995 LS400 with 130,000km (80,800 miles) on the clock. At the 150,000km service (93,000 miles) I switched over to Mobil 1 SS 10w30. I have now done 7,000km (4,400 miles) with the oil. Oil consumption has been absolutely zero, and there are no leaks at all.

[SW03ES]

Yeah thats very common on older cars that have had dino oil their whole life. The dino oil gells and fills in little seepage holes, the synthetic cleans away these gelled deposits and open up the leaks.

[gojo]

Yeah thats very common on older cars that have had dino oil their whole life. The dino oil gells and fills in little seepage holes, the synthetic cleans away these gelled deposits and open up the leaks.

←

Yep, Yep. My '99 had 45,000 miles when I bought it. I started it on a diet of Mobil 1 immediatley. No leaks, no problems. There just may be something to the idea of using synthetic oil early on. In this case I would repair the leaks and stick to Mobil 1. ;)