Hi everyone. Has anyone ever seen Valvoline Full Synthetic MAXLIFE oil in a store? Valvoline has it on their website and the product number is VV179. There are 3 auto parts stores in the small college town I am going to school in and none of them have it. Neither does Walmart (but they do have Mobil1 HM). Neither do large stores like Pep Boys in the major city about 45 minutes away. Places like Advance Auto show it on their site, and show it is available in the store, but it is totally wrong. I am NOT talking about the synthetic blend that is in the red bottle, i am talking about the full synthetic MAXLIFE version that is in the silver bottle. I currently use Mobil1 HM 5W-30, but after hearing some disturbing stuff about Mobil1 and how my engine seems to be making more noise with it with a 10psi oil pressure decrease (but that is probably the Rislone), I would like to try another FULL synthetic oil specifically designed for high mileage engines. Valvoline seems to solve that, but the problem is that I cannot find it. Does anyone know where to get it?

 

I just put the full synthetic Valvoline 5-30 in my Dodge, it was a silver bottle. I got it from O'reilly auto parts and I think our wal-mart carries it as well in middle Iowa. What have you heard about Mobil1? I thought it was supposed to be really good. I've been hearing synthetics are supposed to be better for an engine so the next oil change the Blazer gets will be full synthetic. Too bad its so expensive!

 

Oh wow. With Mobil1, I heard that the wear scar tests showed lots of wear. Even worse than synthetic blends. Yes, synthetics might be expensive, but in reality, since I have been doing my own oil changes as of a year ago, I have actually saved money doing my own oil changes with synthetic oil with a quality filter compared to having them done at an oil change place (they screw things up big time sometimes) or shop with conventional oil with a junk filter. Costs even less and is less inconvenient doing them myself considering that I don't need to take all of my electronic equipment out of my truck (as I do with every shop visit) or have to thoroughly clean the interior of oil, dirt and grease (There hasn't been a shop visit where anyone driving it left the car as spotless as I had it) or have to drive to a shop 20 miles away and wait or drop it off for the day or waste the gas getting there (twice the gas for a return trip if the shop forgets to lube the front end or even use the wrong type of oil!) or having to deal with store hours (The last oil change also included a new rear wiper motor, a through interior cleaning, repairs to damaged trim panels, using rust converter on the frame and installing/replacing interior LED lights. ALL of this work was between 11pm and 6am after a 2.5 hour trip between college and home since I do better work when I am tired and running on caffeine and sugar, as I do with college course work).

EDIT: Plus, since this is my daily driver and I take it on long trips and I want to keep the truck as long as possible, I take care of it. Frequent fluid changes and synthetic oil is only a small part of that.

By the way, would Royal Purple be better than that? I can find it easily in the huge Walmart on the way home from college for a bit more than Mobil1, but possibly cheaper than in Advance Auto.

 

I change my own oil, surprisingly that's more expensive with the synthetic and a good filter AND for the regular Valvoline and a good filter. I don't like other people touching my vehicles but I don't have a choice for other repairs most times, but yeah they normally don't come back as clean as I left them. Or they have acquired a new mysterious noise.

 

Well this is weird. I went to Advance earlier and they actually had the Valvoline MAXLIFE FULL SYNTHETIC oil. They said they get new oil products in often. I bought 5 qts for my upcoming oil change and I am going to use it with only 1/2 qt of Lucas to thicken it a bit for the summer (or should I run without it?). Let's see if it works better than Mobil1 because I noticed a 10psi oil pressure drop with Mobil1. That 300k engine guarantee is tempting, but I bet that they will refuse since it has a cold air intake.

 

I thought Lucas was to help clean the engine? I've never used it, I just always use what is recommended for the engine. Here in Iowa it can get hot but it usually tops out in the 90's which is hot but it probably doesn't affect too much for wear I wouldn't think. I think your Jimmy would qualify for the guarantee because it has around 100k. I think the limit is 120k? It should say on the bottle and I don't think it costs anything but I don't know since neither of my vehicles qualify.

 

Lucas doesn't clean, it just thickens the oil for better oil pressure, lower noise, less burnoff (not an issue with my car), things like that. I used to have shops put it in when I had my oil changed (before I started doing it myself) and it raised the oil pressure about 5-10psi over conventional oil without it. The limit on the guarantee is 125k, but the terms and conditions prohibit performance modifying items (wouldn't the CAI count?).
My truck needs synthetics because of the conditions I drive in: 1. Frequent starts and stops because I am a college student and I commute to campus from an apartment a few miles away several times a day. 2. Extreme temperatures (-15 this winter to 90-100 during summers in NY state, depending on where). 3. High speed highway driving and I sometimes get it close to 4500 getting on the highway because of traffic. 4. I haul lots of cargo in the back on a regular basis. 5. Mountain road driving 6. Conditions that need 4HI/4LO (mud/snow).

 

I wouldn't think the CAI would count because it doesn't change anything on the engine, couldn't hurt to try I suppose. If you do that kind of driving regularly, you should have a look at the extreme service schedule in the owners manual if you haven't already to see what other stuff should be looked at. Start and stop traffic shouldn't wear your engine as much as your transmission. I don't recall the max temp that 5-30 should be ran at but I think it's perfectly fine for your climate, especially the winter. That's when you want thinnier oil, to help it get into the engine quicker. We go about the same here temperature wise, -30 to around 100. Hauling stuff doesn't matter much, just a little extra weight. Highway is the easiest on a vehicle fast or at 55 and a full throttle romp wont hurt it every now and again. I don't think mountain driving is extremely hard on an engine, you just lose power and have to look out for the transmission but you have an extra cooler for it. 4x4 use is normal operation in the winter as I see it so that's nothing extreme

 

I simply have to reply as I just got my lil 2wd blazer a few weeks back and the first thing I did was change the oil.... with Valvoline Maxlife full synthetic and a fram toughgaurd filter from autozone on a deal they had for under 30 bucks for the whole shebang. Though I am in NE Florida I would assume most autozones carry that oil in the 5-30 weight as its pretty common specs. Though I wont buy another damn thing from them with the issues Ive had as far as replacement parts go and the stripped bleeder on the loaded calipers I just got from them, but oil is the same everywhere (same brand) and filters the same. The gaurantee must be in by 125k miles... I know because I bought mine with 1256xx and was like hell... i missed it by less than 1k miles. Would surely try with just the CAI... cant do anything but help it last that long and isnt a major engine modification.

 

Ditch the Fram. Look at Youtube oil filter reviews and you will see why. Invest a couple more dollars for a better filter (Purolator, Napa Gold, etc). Even if you get the oil change deal and then get another filter, you would still be ahead on cost because the oil alone is expensive.

Autozones up here don't have it. I have only found it in one Advance in upstate NY because they get new oil products often. Autozone parts are junk. Only got 3 years out of ball joints (but that is still questionable since I found a broken bolt on the one that was replaced with no play in the joint itself).

I will try the guarantee then. Hopefully there is no issue with that. Do these engines last long anyway? Would it last 300k?