Pennzoil Synthetic oil & blow-by

[blkfordsedan]

Last time I changed my oil I use Pennzoil Platinum full synth in 5W-30. I thought I would try it for the "superior cleaning power" they advertise.
it's been now 3K miles and It was a 1/2 Qt. low. When I look at the outside of the engine, there is at least 1/4 Qt. worth of oil film all over the top of the valve cover and seeping out of every intake hose connection and the oil fill cap. The valve cover gaskets look O.K.. I checked the PCV valve and it was good, but I replaced it anyway. I pulled the oil fill cap off while it was running and didn't see a lot of blow-by at idle, but when I rev it up it puffs light smoke like a Choo-Choo train!

The motor does have 140K miles, but it has had the oil changed religiously it's whole life. It was fine 3K miles ago and still runs perfect. No smoke @ start-up or while driving. I think it's a combination of the thinner full synth oil, the higher miles and the fact that the oil probably DID clean all the gunk out (be careful what you wish for!).

I plan on doing a compression test, changing the oil and cleaning the engine off. This time, I'll just use regular Motorcraft in 10W-30 and we'll see what happens. I'll do another compression test at the end of the summer. This may be a good excuse to swap a B6!

[WmWatt]

If you remove the oil cap with the engine running and and cover the hole with the palm of your hand, do you feel any pressure? I suppose you could do the same be removing the PCV valve and covering the hole with a finger or thumb. If possible I'd measure the oil pressure with the current oil and again after the change. It doesn't seem logical that blow-by pressure would squeeze oil out of all the places you list. I could be wrong.

[Mike McKown]

Two things:

First, with a closed PCV system like the Festiva, you should always have a negative pressure (vacuum) on your crankcase as long as the engine is running. That tends to suck oil away from any potential leaking seals/gaskets. The exception to this is when piston ring blowby exceeds the vacuum drawn on the crankcase (WOT or worn engine) and the oil vapors are blown out the valve cover breather and into the intake.

It seems to be a common opinion that synthetic oils DO clean your engine pretty well, even to the point of cleaning nooks/crannys in gaskets/seals that otherwise would not leak. Now that your engine is clean inside, just follow the trails of oil on the outside to your leaky seal or gasket.

You may have a combination of the two scenarios above.

[blkfordsedan]

You may have a combination of the two scenarios above.

That's what I'm thinking......... I have vacuum at idle and no blow-by, but when I open the throttle and the vacuum drops it blows smoke/oil vapor.
Some blow-by is to be expected with 140K miles. It's just disheartening, like watching a good & faithful friend grow old! We've shared so much together! :sad3:

The Pennzoil Platinum is supposed to have extra cleaning detergents and it probably did clean the cylinder walls, pistons, rings, etc. enough that the wear is more prevalent. I've had the same thing happen with "motor flush" before. I'll just go back to regular dino oil and may add a little Lucas or Restore, then see what happens. I was looking for an excuse to rebuild a B6 anyway!

[JoDan]

It could be also that the oil did its job cleaning and cleaned up the deposits built up on your seals, gaskets, etc. that were actually helping them seal. Just like when you do a coolant or tranny flush on a car with 100k+ miles that has never had it done, it will most likely start leaking somewhere. We had this problem at the shop I work at when people want everything flushed when it has never been done before, and still want it done after we advise not to.

[FestYboy]

get away from the pennsoil, we sell that crap at my shop and it doesn't matter what condition the engine is in, it gets burnt (as noted on cars that we regularly see for oil changes)

switch to high milage GTX, solves the issue.

[1988redfordfestiva]

Either Catrol high mileage or synthetic 5w30 the engine run alot better trust Pennzoil and and any conventional are bad for any festiva or bp engine you'll notice when the car gets warmed up it losses oil pressure. one new addition to it spark plugs are crucial i use ac delco and they run better then champion so i love what i'm sticking with. oil filters is another big thing fram is bad bosch is good same with puralator and mobile 1 stp just junk and the rest .sorry for blabing on but point proven

[Pu241]

^^^
Major advancement in punctuation, two periods in the above post.

1988redfordfestiva, I assume you base this statement; "and and any conventional are bad for any festiva", on your vast automotive knowledge and extensive tribology studies?


Exactly what point do you think you have proven?

Do you have any idea of the number of festivas with 300K miles that have used nothing but conventional oil?

Want to restate that?

[perucho]

Exactly what point do you think you have proven?

I think he has established very effectively that he can't write You have to love those statements!

[Fordverde]

I have used pennzoil for a long time in both my Festy and my Cutlass and havent have any issues. Off course, I use Mobil on my VW.

[blkfordsedan]

I've never been a big fan of Pennzoil, but I've read good things about the full synthetic Platinum. I ran Mobil 1 in it for the first 80K miles and then switched to Valvoline synthetic blend and finally Motorcraft when they came out with the synthetic blend. I always changed the oil every 3K to 5K miles. I also installed a K&N filter at 60K miles, which may have helped in accelerating the ring wear. I'm not blaming the Pennzoil, I'm just not sure that a full synthetic with extra cleaning detergents was a good idea in a well-used engine. I changed the oil yesterday and used Motorcraft synthetic blend 10W-30. I'll give it another 1000 miles and degrease the engine, then see if it helped. Worst case, a dump a can of RESTORE in it.
May do a compression check before and after if I add the RESTORE.

[easywind]

Why don't you have the oil analized? Also K&N filters for street machines are the pits.
I use Blackstone labs in Indiana and for 20 dollars you can get a full report on the engine condition.

[Oren09]

I recently switched both my vehicles to Mobile 1 full synthetic from store brand dino oil.
My truck is still consuming the same amount of oil (tiny leak from valve cover gaskets, possible intake plenum leak).
The Festy is on its first Mobile 1 change. I think I put 10W30 in it. It's lost 1/2 qt in just a few thousand miles, but I can't compare to how it performed on dino oil because I haven't had it that long. I can see a leak up front from the timing cover/valve cover. Not sure of others. Might be some blow by as the exhaust gets a strong odor on heavy engine load/hard acceleration.

[blkfordsedan]

3000 mile UPDATE

Thought I would post an update. Unfortunately, it's not good. The blow-by is now so severe that it overwhelms the small coalescing filter I installed within 25 miles. It blows so much oil into the intake duct that it fills up with oil in 100 miles @ highway speed. I know it's getting full when I start up a hill and the oil runs back into the throttle body, down the intake and into the cylinders. Then it starts to knock, miss and smoke out the exhaust. After that, it's good for another 100 miles. It also builds up so much crankcase pressure that it's blowing oil out every gasket and seal. It will blow 2 quarts of oil out in a 50 mile drive to work. The back of my car looks like someone sprayed it down with oil.
People who tailgate me get their windshield wipers lubed for free. Every time I see a Corvette or Camaro coming up in my rear view mirror, I slow down.......on purpose! LOL

Funny part is that my last 2 tanks averaged 48.8 MPG and it doesn't feel like it lost much power. All I can think of is that it's burning the oil vapor. Between the "oil injection" and crankcase pressure that it's blowing into the intake duct, I decided that I may have discovered the natural evolution of the Festiva..........After maturing, it morphs into a turbodiesel.

I ordered an $18, 750mL oil catch can off EBay today. Going to try removing the PCV valve (basically useless now anyway) and vent it to the atmosphere via the catch can. I'm hoping that if I can relieve the crankcase pressure and catch most of the oil, it will reduce the oil leaks to a manageable level and keep the oil out of the intake duct. The plan is to squeeze another 10,000 miles or so out of it until the weather cools off and I can locate and rebuild a B6. Still contemplating a BP swap as well.

[Fordverde]

Hehehe yeap time to rebuild, but have you check the compression? may be its just the valve steam seals.