The ALL Florida Online Corvette Club








Corvette Top Sites

Go Back   The ALL Florida Online Corvette Club > General Corvette Forums > Maintenance, Mods, & Tips

      Photo Gallery Screen Saver!      

Maintenance, Mods, & Tips Mods | Tips | Repairs & Troubleshooting

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Unread 07-18-2017, 05:53 PM   #1
Rich Z
Internet Sanitation Engineer
 
Rich Z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Crawfordville, FL
Posts: 15,123
Name : Rich Zuchowski
Rich Z will become famous soon enoughRich Z will become famous soon enough
Default Oil leaks

A while back when I was looking for a good oil for the Jeep Wrangler, I decided to give Pennzoil a try. They have a full synthetic product they call "Pennzoil Platinum" that a lot of people were saying good things about. They also have a "Pennzoil Ultra Platinum" that is supposed to be even better, but I was never fortunate enough to find any of it available at Walmart. In case you didn't know, prices on brand name oil is pretty reasonably priced at Walmart. 5 quart jugs of just about everything runs around $25.00 or so.

Anyway, I started using the "Platinum" in the Jeep, and since the engine hasn't failed there yet, I supposed it was pretty decent.

Quote:
Pennzoil Platinum®: Full Synthetic Motor Oil with PurePlus® Technology

PurePlus® Technology is our patented, revolutionary gas-to-liquid process which converts natural gas into a first-of-its-kind, high quality full synthetic base oil. Because our base oil is made from natural gas, it is clear with fewer of the impurities found in crude oil, the start for many other traditional and synthetic motor oils. To that pure, clear base we add our high performance additives to create Pennzoil Platinum® with PurePlus® Technology, motor oil designed for complete engine protection, without compromise.

Pennzoil Platinum® Full Synthetic motor oil with with PurePlus® Technology keeps pistons up to 30% cleaner than required by the toughest industry standard1 and keeps your engine cleaner than any leading synthetic oil.
Since I still had the C6Z under extended warranty, I decided to try it out on the C6Z as well. Been hearing rumors of people having some issues with the latest formulations of Mobil 1, so I wasn't keen on using that stuff. Removing lubricating additives in order to prolong the life of the catalytic converters didn't seem like a wise tradeoff to me. You could buy a LOT of catalytic converters for the cost of a prematurely worn out LS7.

After the first oil change on the C6Z, I began to notice a little spot of oil underneath the engine area whenever I would get around to taking the C6Z out. After the second oil change, things seemed to be getting worse, but really only slightly so. I thought perhaps I hadn't tightened the oil filter quite enough, or perhaps the seals on the oil pan drain plugs weren't quite right for some reason, so I didn't think too hard on it. Then right before Connie and I went on vacation back in May, I changed the again, still using the Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30. And the car sat in the garage bay while we were gone.

So the other day I glanced underneath the C6Z, and saw what looked like larger oil "puddles" on the garage floor. So I put the car up on the lift to take a closer look.









Hmm.... Looked like leaks from multiple areas to me. So I looked closer at the engine.








Looks like leaks from the oil filter, both oil drain plugs, the oil cooler line (I guess that is what it is), and maybe from the rear main seal. The interesting thing about this is that I have taken the car out for a drive (before the monsoons set it), and put the car immediately up on the lift. I never once saw any signs of any leaks after driving the car. It ONLY seems to leak after the car has set for a while. In this last case, the car set for a good 7 to 8 weeks without moving, and you can see above what I saw on the floor.

I did some snooping around on the web, and found other people complaining about getting oil leaks after using Pennzoil Platinum, claiming that the oil cleans the engine TOO well, and can clear out gunk around the seals, causing oil leaks. Not sure how believable that is, but my C6Z only has 20K miles on it, and the oil has been changed frequently, so not sure how any gunk could have gotten around the seals to be cleaned out.

In any event, I decided to change the oil and filter again, even though I only had about 100 miles since the last oil change. This time I went with the Joe Gibbs 5W-30 LS30 synthetic oil that I have been using for the C5Z to see if that makes any difference. The oil leaks aren't bad, of course, but sure is a nuisance to see oil on the garage floor. That reminds me that I need to check out the Jeep to see if that is getting oil leaks too from using that Pennzoil Platinum stuff.

In thinking about it, I'm wondering if the Pennzoil Platinum just gets too thin when it is cold and is able to seep out between the seals as a result. I guess this would be a good thing for oiling the engine, as you could be certain that every nook and cranny on the engine is going to be getting oil between the metal parts. But maybe this is a classic case of too much of a good thing.

I guess I'll see what happens. Hopefully the leaks haven't become permanent leaks from using that Pennzoil stuff.
__________________
Rich Z is offline   Reply With Quote
 


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How Oil Change Habits Are Killing Turbos Rich Z Maintenance, Mods, & Tips 0 12-04-2015 01:19 AM
Front-Mounted Oil Pumps: Good or Troublesome? Rich Z Maintenance, Mods, & Tips 0 12-04-2015 12:26 AM
Oil pressure Rich Z Maintenance, Mods, & Tips 5 04-01-2015 10:31 PM
What BP Doesn’t Want You to Know About the 2010 Gulf Spill Rich Z General Florida Discussions 11 09-29-2013 03:20 PM
[C5] 427 forged motor? Rich Z Maintenance, Mods, & Tips 490 04-10-2010 07:25 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:45 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.05188107 seconds with 12 queries
All material copyrighted by CorvetteFlorida.com and
the respective owners of the material posted.