Marvel Mystery Oil

[TrentonMakes]

As I think I have mentioned, I'm a little disappointed that my Accord is using oil, at 9 years old and 110K miles.  It is down more than a quart (which means of course that I waited too long to check it) - that's since its last oil change, in November, I think.  Seems to be burning it as I don't see any stains in the driveway.

I have used the Marvel stuff (or similar) in the past, in cars in bad enough shape that it was probably a lost cause (like my Malibu which was going through a quart every 80 miles, not an exaggeration).  I don't think I can say I noticed any real improvement.

Is this at all worth a try?  Or, should I not use anything like this since the car uses such lightweight oil (0W20)?

[Razors Edge ★]

A quart of oil is what? $5?  Every three months, so $20 yr, but less if you do regular oil changes?  I'd say just schedule a reminder in your phone to check every month or so.

[Razors Edge ★]

11 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

Or, should I not use anything like this since the car uses such lightweight oil (0W20)?

Interesting as my Accord and Civic - 2003 models - use 5w20.

Also, I swapped to "old car/high mileage" oil a while back.  Pretty much the same cost, but maybe they do something special?

[TrentonMakes]

35 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Interesting as my Accord and Civic - 2003 models - use 5w20.

Also, I swapped to "old car/high mileage" oil a while back.  Pretty much the same cost, but maybe they do something special?

I picked up a couple quarts of high mileage synthetic this morning - I think they were $8 apiece.

Usage of oil at this rate is definitely manageable, and yeah, maybe at this point I just need to check it more often.

[maddmaxx ★]

When I worked for Stewart Warner I'd have advised some Alemite for your car (similar to STP).  That was 50 years ago however and I'm not current on what is or isn't good now.  Something like that might help a bit of the oil is slipping past the valve guides.  You are "thickening" up the oil though so you can expect lower gas mileage.

[JerrySTL ★]

You want to do a compression test. If you are losing oil past the piston rings, going to a 10w-30 oil might help.

Do you see oil smoke out the tail pipe while driving or just after starting the engine? That could help identify where the oil is going. 

Most miracles in a bottle really don't work.

[Parr8hed]

2 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

You want to do a compression test. If you are losing oil past the piston rings, going to a 10w-30 oil might help.

Do you see oil smoke out the tail pipe while driving or just after starting the engine? That could help identify where the oil is going. 

Most miracles in a bottle really don't work.

This is what I was going to say.  Compression test.  I know some people take out the plugs and put some ATF in the cylinders over night.  This is supposed to free up the piston rings a little.  

But I agree that adding just a little "heavier" of an oil is most likely the best course of action right now.

[12string]

What does your coolant look like?  Foamy, chocolate?  Blue Devil can help that.  

Otherwise, many of those additives are mostly to expand rubber seals, but you would see drips if that were the case.  And Marvel isn't really any good at that.  It's really a cleaner and thinner, so likely to make the leak worse.  

If you're getting smoke out the tailpipe, some of the valve seal additives might help

 

[groupw]

We used MMO for “pickling” our RC engines between race weekends. The methanol/castor/nitro mixture was highly hygroscopic and corrosive so the MMO would flush the excess fuel out and give the engine some extra lube until fired up again. 

[bikeman564™]

3 hours ago, TrentonMakes said:

like my Malibu which was going through a quart every 80 miles, not an exaggeration). 

now you tell me

[Shu Fang Bastard ★]

Unfortunately Toyota and Honda changed the oil rings around 2005/2007. in some of the smaller engines.   They made the rings smaller to adjust to lighter oils like 0w20.  Changing the size and the function of the ring led to the rings sticking and allowing Oil into the combustion chamber -- which is why your engine might be burning oil.

I've watched many videos on Youtube about this and similar issues.  DIY Dave has a fun video series on this https://www.youtube.com/@FamilyFriendlyDIY

Toyota had a recall on Scion I had back in the day but my engine only burned 3/4 of a quart every 1k so they didn't replace the pistons in my car.  

I currently have a 2019 Rav4 with a similar piston setup.  Toyota recommends an oil change ever 10k but a mechanic friend of mine suggested I change the oil every 5k or six months.  Since I work from home I end up changing in every six months as I do not drive often.  The Rav4 has 17k miles on the clock and I've owned it new.

I highly suggest watching DIY Dave. It's a fun channel.

Couch 

 

[donkpow]

I have a Subaru with an inherent oil usage problem. I've adopted a multi pronged approach. I upped the viscosity of the oil to 10w-30 and am using the high mileage version of the synthetic Mobil 1 oil, changing at no more than 5,000 mile intervals. I run an occasional pre oil change clean recommended by Sea Foam to remove carbon and free up the rings a bit. I use a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer to replace lost oil when I make the highway trip. Also, I complain about Honda drivers whenever I can. That seems to help a lot.

[Kzoo]

2 hours ago, donkpow said:

Also, I complain about Honda drivers whenever I can. That seems to help a lot.

BM  Donk

[donkpow]

31 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

BM  Donk

Technically, Kia is made by Honda. Most people don't know that.

[Bikeguy]

12 hours ago, TrentonMakes said:

It is down more than a quart (which means of course that I waited too long to check it) - that's since its last oil change, in November, I think.

Did you check the oil lever after the oil change?   I always do that to be sure enough oil was indeed added to the engine. 

Maybe the oil lever was low after the oil change?

[groupw]

6 hours ago, donkpow said:

Technically, Kia is made by Honda. Most people don't know that.

Hyundai/Honda, potato/puhtawtoe..

[Longjohn ★]

It sounds like it’s time for you to buy 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a new bike.

my 2014 CRV uses a quart of oil every three months or so. I have driven it over 28,000 miles in less than a year. I don’t see any smoke or drips. It had 100,000 miles on it when I bought it. I’m not worried about it.

[donkpow]

I use a cheap catch can installed under the hood. It catches blow by from the pcv system and keeps the intake clean. I think a lot of these mysterious oil consumption issues are being handled by the catalytic converters.

[groupw]

I had an 80 Dodge Mirada with Slant 6 that was self changing. We were young and broke and had to get a cheap car when our Celica had a major failure of the cooling system. The Mirada was cheaper than a repair. 
It did use a bit of oil. I can’t remember how often I added oil, but I figured none of it made it to 3,000 miles so I would just replace the filter every now and then. 

[Ralphie ★]

3 hours ago, groupw said:

I had an 80 Dodge Mirada with Slant 6 that was self changing. We were young and broke and had to get a cheap car when our Celica had a major failure of the cooling system. The Mirada was cheaper than a repair. 
It did use a bit of oil. I can’t remember how often I added oil, but I figured none of it made it to 3,000 miles so I would just replace the filter every now and then. 

My brother and I had an mg midget that cost us more for oil than gas. Had to make sure that we always brought some along on trips. 

[maddmaxx ★]

3 hours ago, groupw said:

I had an 80 Dodge Mirada with Slant 6 that was self changing. We were young and broke and had to get a cheap car when our Celica had a major failure of the cooling system. The Mirada was cheaper than a repair. 
It did use a bit of oil. I can’t remember how often I added oil, but I figured none of it made it to 3,000 miles so I would just replace the filter every now and then. 

I purchased my 62 Corvette with a damaged but drivable engine.  I decided to drive the car from VA to CT before I could get into the engine.  I left VA with a gallon can of oil in the boot and as the smoke got thicker I ended up using it all.  That was it and the engine was junk with badly scored cylinder walls.  Now I'm in CT with my tools in VA so I went engine shopping and found a brand new 350 on the parts room floor in the next town over  Bought it and had the dealership install it to replace the 283.  The swap cost $750 including the engine.  That's the beginning of a longer story.

[donkpow]

1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

That's the beginning of a longer story.

It's not a love story, is it? Because I don't like love stories.

[maddmaxx ★]

21 hours ago, donkpow said:

It's not a love story, is it? Because I don't like love stories.

Not a love story.  2 days after the engine install I had a short ckt fire in the car destroying the entire main wiring harness.  That was on Tursday and I had to drive back to VA on Sunday.  Friday morning the Chevrolet dealership couldn't give me an appointment but did know where there was a harness.  Drove to Springfield Ma for harness and back to the dealership where they allowed me to work on the car in an empty space outside of the service department.  It took about 6 hours to replace the harness.  Insurance paid the price Chevrolet service would have charged.  I paid for the harness and gave $100 each to the mechanic who loaned me some tools and the service manager who stopped by with good advice every now and then.  I was able to drive back on Sunday.  That's the start of another long story.

[12string]

22 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Not a love story.  2 days after the engine install I had a short ckt fire in the car destroying the entire main wiring harness.  That was on Tursday and I had to drive back to VA on Sunday.  Friday morning the Chevrolet dealership couldn't give me an appointment but did know where there was a harness.  Drove to Springfield Ma for harness and back to the dealership where they allowed me to work on the car in an empty space outside of the service department.  It took about 6 hours to replace the harness.  Insurance paid the price Chevrolet service would have charged.  I paid for the harness and gave $100 each to the mechanic who loaned me some tools and the service manager who stopped by with good advice every now and then.  I was able to drive back on Sunday.  That's the start of another long story.

Is that the story about the city slicker's car breaking down in Rural New England and rekindling a relationship with an old High school sweetheart and the spirit of Christmas taught the city slicker that it's the people in life that matter more than the job and they lived happily ever after?  I haven't heard that one yet.

[Parr8hed]

On 3/18/2023 at 11:13 AM, groupw said:

I had an 80 Dodge Mirada with Slant 6 that was self changing. We were young and broke and had to get a cheap car when our Celica had a major failure of the cooling system. The Mirada was cheaper than a repair. 
It did use a bit of oil. I can’t remember how often I added oil, but I figured none of it made it to 3,000 miles so I would just replace the filter every now and then. 

I had a 77 GMC 3/4 ton with a Chevy 350.  It was on the same oil change plan.  Put so much in it that changing it was pointless. 

[JerrySTL ★]

34 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

I had a 77 GMC 3/4 ton with a Chevy 350.  It was on the same oil change plan.  Put so much in it that changing it was pointless. 

My first car, a 1962 Studebaker Hawk GT, used oil so bad that it looked like a mosquito sprayer going down the road. It used about a quart every 200 miles. There was a gas station that sold re-refined engine oil out of a gasoline pump for about 20 cents a quart. I'd put in a dollar's worth then fill up the tank. I eventually rebuilt the engine and not only did it quit smoking, it got about 2,000 miles to the quart. It was my second engine rebuild.

[jsharr ★]

On 3/17/2023 at 5:01 PM, donkpow said:

Technically, Kia is made by Honda. Most people don't know that.

where does Chrysler fit into the sad tale? 

[jsharr ★]

All of these oil burning stories reminded me of an old and departed friend, Brice Judy.  Brice had a tough life as a young man and was on his own before he got out of high school.  He had a POS Chevy Camaro that may or may not have been a Z 28.  It was green with black stripes, loud exhaust, jacked up in the back with big tires, you know the kind.  It burned so much oil and smoked to bad that we nicknamed it OPEC, as we figured it kept OPEC in business.

[Razors Edge ★]

37 minutes ago, jsharr said:

He had a POS Chevy Camaro that may or may not have been a Z 28

I wonder what that would be worth today?

[groupw]

1 hour ago, jsharr said:

where does Chrysler fit into the sad tale? 

Fix It Again Tony…

[jsharr ★]

37 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I wonder what that would be worth today?

A metric shit ton.  As I recall it was a 1970 split bumper 

[maddmaxx ★]

1 hour ago, 12string said:

Is that the story about the city slicker's car breaking down in Rural New England and rekindling a relationship with an old High school sweetheart and the spirit of Christmas taught the city slicker that it's the people in life that matter more than the job and they lived happily ever after?  I haven't heard that one yet.

Nope, it's the story about a 7 hour trip back to VA taking several hours longer than that.  About the time I cleared the Tappan Zee bridge southbound the engine began to overheat.  It's a Sunday in the 60's and repair shops aren't open very often.  I couldn't get the thermostat removed and I didn't have any tools.  Limped back to VA with the heater on full and the reverse opening Corvette hood cracked open a couple of inches.  I stopped as necessary to cool the engine and I fortunately didn't damage it.  Made it back to VA and that's the beginning of a long story.

[12string]

16 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Made it back to VA and that's the beginning of a long story.

Your old rural hometown in VA?  Where your old HS sweetheart lived?

There's the makings for a movie in this, I tell ya!

[Bikeguy]

7 hours ago, jsharr said:

A metric shit ton.  As I recall it was a 1970 split bumper 

Yeah if it was restored.   Too bad this one has a auto trans.  link

[groupw]

A high school buddy had a very basic split bumper Camaro. His was a 307 SS or RS maybe. Nothing spectacular but it was till a nice car. 

[maddmaxx ★]

7 hours ago, 12string said:

Your old rural hometown in VA?  Where your old HS sweetheart lived?

There's the makings for a movie in this, I tell ya!

Once I was back in VA (the navy) I attempted to get Chevrolet to pay for my problems as a warranty claim.  First the fire caused by the improper securing of the alternator field coil wire which shorted against the exhaust manifold and then a bad thermostat.  The dealership in Norfolk had to pass the claim on to Chevrolet management for work done in CT.  They paid.  About a week later I was contacted by Chevrolet.  They wanted the engine back.  I said wtf.  They offered to buy it back.  I said wtf.  I became curious and started researching things like engine casting marks...............there was no such Chevrolet 350 engine.  I said wtf.  Finally the Chevrolet representative owned up that the engine was missing from a pre production batch of "next years engines" and somehow had ended up on a dealer parts floor engine stand in CT.  It turned out to be a 375 hp 350 LT1 high performance engine.

I should have taken the offer and sold it back to them for cash and a new engine.  The engine was a beast but I never succeeded in getting it to run to it's full potential due to some mismatches in the vette installation with regards to manifolding, water pump size and carburation.  T traded it in for the real beast, the 68 big block dart instead.

That might be the start of another story.  

[12string]

So, a super rare one off collectible that some sucker later decided numbers didn't match and ripped it out