Automotive

Car Batteries - FAQ, General Information, Tips & Tricks

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Mar 13, 2004
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I dont think you really need the Lucas oil stuff, its not going to stop the car from leaking or burning oil.

You need to take the car to a good mechanic and figure out the issue.
slim3605 wrote: Regarding oil change, my car has oil consumption problem. Every month, oil dipstick showing half oil so I add 1 liter of Lucas in Nov (https://lucasoil.com/products/engine-oi ... stabilizer) and 1 liter of regular oil each in Dec and Jan as well.
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Aug 6, 2018
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hightech wrote: The Lucas oil additive is a thick oil that helps reduce oil consumption. Many times, unscrupulous sellers would do an oil change and add this to the engine to quiet things down and sell the car to unknowing people. This is why the car likes the block heater as the oil is not flowing the way it is supposed to. My suggestion is that if you plan on keeping this car, is to fix the oil consumption issue properly and not use the stopgap of the Lucas additive. This is the reason why you are having the issues and it will only get worse if the problem is not fixed. The fix can be as simple as a PCV valve replacement to something more extensive depending on the diagnosis.

You might want to check out this forum as it may give you an idea of the possible issues and costs: https://forums.nicoclub.com/murano-burn ... 02802.html

Another option is to check with Carhelp Canada or the APA to see if there are any secret repair warranties for excessive oil consumption. Many of the Nissan 3.0 and 3.5-litre engines of that era had this issue and if you complain enough, you may get the company to chip in on the costs or pay for the repair.
I was also thinking that Lucas maybe causing the problem starting in extreme cold without block heater being plugged, however, I use to own 2005 Acura MDX and it has oil consumption problem and I use Lucas as well on that car. Car has block heater but I never plug it in and I never had any problem starting, granted I may have to hold the key 1 seconds longer but never did I ever failed to start. The only difference was, instead of conventional, I use synthetic 5W30 on the MDX. If Lucas causing problem on my car, why it didn't cause problem on the MDX?
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Synthetic oil flows better in cold vs regular oil. Mixing Lucas with Synthetic oil thickens it but not as much as mixing conventional oil and Lucus.

As I mentioned, stop using these bandaid oil additives and fix the car properly. I had a 2002 Camry V6 that I drove for 12+ years and 216K. I never had any oil consumption issues and was running Mobil 1 synthetic 5W30 oil for 11 of the 12 years.

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Aug 6, 2018
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hightech wrote: Synthetic oil flows better in cold vs regular oil. Mixing Lucas with Synthetic oil thickens it but not as much as mixing conventional oil and Lucus.

As I mentioned, stop using these bandaid oil additives and fix the car properly. I had a 2002 Camry V6 that I drove for 12+ years and 216K. I never had any oil consumption issues and was running Mobil 1 synthetic 5W30 oil for 11 of the 12 years.
OK, so it looks like the real culprit on my car not starting is due to my use of regular oil and Lucas then?

Yes, I realized I have to deal with the oil consumption problem which seems like I keep getting no matter what car I own :(
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slim3605 wrote: OK, so it looks like the real culprit on my car not starting is due to my use of regular oil and Lucas then?

Yes, I realized I have to deal with the oil consumption problem which seems like I keep getting no matter what car I own :(
Yes, it is unfortunate that both of your cars have this issue. One thing to do before buying vehicles is to research about the engine to see what issues it has. Almost all manufacturers have had oil use issues at one point or the other. They are eventually fixed via redesign or modified parts.

The battery may have been low and may have been able to start the car correctly without the Lucas. That being said, with the 5W30 conventional oil + Lucas additive + cold weather, you made a bad situation worse.

In your case, I would just do an oil change using the grade of oil in your owners manual. If the oil levels get lower, just add a quart of that oil as needed (keep a jug in the trunk in the interim) and STOP using the Lucas stuff. The long term approach would be to fix the cars or look at replacing them based on your needs/financial budget.

I would not suggest switching to synthetic oil in an old car with oil leaks as it will make things worse in terms of oil consumption.
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sickcars wrote: I dont think you really need the Lucas oil stuff, its not going to stop the car from leaking or burning oil.

You need to take the car to a good mechanic and figure out the issue.
On my 2005 Acura MDX, Lucas did works. Prior to using Lucas, oil dipstick showing half oil every 3,000km, after Lucas, I can go to 7,000-8,000km without losing oil. But, Lucas is not working on my current Murano
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hightech wrote: Yes, it is unfortunate that both of your cars have this issue. One thing to do before buying vehicles is to research about the engine to see what issues it has. Almost all manufacturers have had oil use issues at one point or the other. They are eventually fixed via redesign or modified parts.

The battery may have been low and may have been able to start the car correctly without the Lucas. That being said, with the 5W30 conventional oil + Lucas additive + cold weather, you made a bad situation worse.

In your case, I would just do an oil change using the grade of oil in your owners manual. If the oil levels get lower, just add a quart of that oil as needed (keep a jug in the trunk in the interim) and STOP using the Lucas stuff. The long term approach would be to fix the cars or look at replacing them based on your needs/financial budget.

I would not suggest switching to synthetic oil in an old car with oil leaks as it will make things worse in terms of oil consumption.
Yes, the combination of regular oil + Lucas + cold weather is bad combination, but another real culprit is that I was believing that my car don't have block heater so I didn't plug it on day 1. So, 2 reasons why I have the problem: regular oil + Lucas and not plugging in block heater. I think that's the take away from this experience.

BTW, any comment if I'm planning to use Castrol high mileage synthetic blend?
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slim3605 wrote: Yes, the combination of regular oil + Lucas + cold weather is bad combination, but another real culprit is that I was believing that my car don't have block heater so I didn't plug it on day 1. So, 2 reasons why I have the problem: regular oil + Lucas and not plugging in block heater. I think that's the take away from this experience.

BTW, any comment if I'm planning to use Castrol high mileage synthetic blend?
If you stop using the Lucas, I suspect that you may not need the block heater. Like I said, just check the oil and top it off as needed. Ideally, fixing the problem is ideal. Excluding that option, I would rather just top up oil as needed instead of adding Lucas and causing the entire oil to get thicker. It creates its own set of issues (increased engine pressure, lack of proper lubrication, etc.). If a car is designed for 5W30, you should stick to that and not use a thicker oil additive to mask one problem and cause others.

As for synthetic blend, I would just stick with 5W30 conventional. Those high mileage oils are great for marketing but I have never used it on any of my vehicles.
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OK, so, you really think Lucas is the real culprit here because conventional 5W30 should be thin enough for extreme cold. There is only one way to find out, I should stop using Lucas, keep using conventional 5W30, and next time we have extreme cold, don't plug block heater and see if I can start without problem.

Thanks for your input!!
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Not sure what the hostility is about. I am just trying to help you out.

What is extreme cold for you? The block heater may help but the pour point of 5W30 won't be as bad if Lucas is not added to it.
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On your next change, I would actually use synthetic oil. Yes, it's thinner and slicker so you will see more oil consumption... BUT synthetic has superior cleaning abilities so it will help clean out the residue from the other oils and Lucas which may help get things moving.

Afterwards, you should be looking at some high-mileage oils as they do contain additives that are supposed to address oil consumption in higher mileage engines.
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hightech wrote: Not sure what the hostility is about. I am just trying to help you out.

What is extreme cold for you? The block heater may help but the pour point of 5W30 won't be as bad if Lucas is not added to it.
I'm not being hostile. I'm just saying, if I really want to find out and for testing purposes, then, that's what I should be doing. I am not disagreeing with you.

BTW, when I had trouble starting, temp was below -30.
Last edited by slim3605 on Feb 22nd, 2019 4:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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craftsman wrote: On your next change, I would actually use synthetic oil. Yes, it's thinner and slicker so you will see more oil consumption... BUT synthetic has superior cleaning abilities so it will help clean out the residue from the other oils and Lucas which may help get things moving.

Afterwards, you should be looking at some high-mileage oils as they do contain additives that are supposed to address oil consumption in higher mileage engines.
Copy that, I'll consider this. Thx for the input!
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craftsman wrote: On your next change, I would actually use synthetic oil. Yes, it's thinner and slicker so you will see more oil consumption... BUT synthetic has superior cleaning abilities so it will help clean out the residue from the other oils and Lucas which may help get things moving.

Afterwards, you should be looking at some high-mileage oils as they do contain additives that are supposed to address oil consumption in higher mileage engines.
That is true to some extent as those oils help to rejuvenate the oil seals. The issue that the poster is having is excess oil consumption which is more than just age-related seals. It may help his situation but I doubt it will fix the problem. Also, synthetic oil is fine as long as Lucas is not added to it or else it will negate some of the benefits.
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slim3605 wrote: I'm not being hostile. I'm just saying, if I really want to find out and for testing purposes, then, that's what I should be doing. I am not disagreeing with you.

BTW, when I had trouble starting, temp was below -30.
Oh sorry, I must have misread your reply. My sincere apologies.

Yes, -30 is pretty cold and synthetic would be helpful in that situation. Just keep in mind that your consumption may increase but only use synthetic without any Lucas or other additives. When you are paying the $$ for the oil, you might as well get the most out of it without mixing it up.

BTW, check out this video about Lucas Additives in cold weather:

Last edited by hightech on Feb 22nd, 2019 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hightech wrote: That is true to some extent as those oils help to rejuvenate the oil seals. The issue that the poster is having is excess oil consumption which is more than just age-related seals. It may help his situation but I doubt it will fix the problem. Also, synthetic oil is fine as long as Lucas is not added to it or else it will negate some of the benefits.
Yes, but we don't know the mileage on the engine and since it's a 2006, the car has been in service for 14 years. I would consider the engine in the high mileage/older/may have seal issues camp. If it doesn't help, he would not be that much worse off as he would have an idea that something more serious may be at fault other than hard oil seals.
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craftsman wrote: Yes, but we don't know the mileage on the engine and since it's a 2006, the car has been in service for 14 years. I would consider the engine in the high mileage/older/may have seal issues camp. If it doesn't help, he would not be that much worse off as he would have an idea that something more serious may be at fault other than hard oil seals.
Mileage = 251,000 km

If seal has problem, we should be able to tell if there is a leak, right? If so, my mechanic check and there is no leak whatsoever.
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hightech wrote: Oh sorry, I must have misread your reply. My sincere apologies.

Yes, -30 is pretty cold and synthetic would be helpful in that situation. Just keep in mind that your consumption may increase but only use synthetic without any Lucas or other additives. When you are paying the $$ for the oil, you might as well get the most out of it without mixing it up.

BTW, check out this video about Lucas Additives in cold weather:

No worries, writing can create different interpretation.

Thx for the video. It does look like adding Lucas especially with conventional oil is not a good recipe for cold temp.

Although I agree that conventional oil plus Lucas is the most logical explanation to my problem starting, on the other hand, Lucas did works in the past when I was using it with fully synthetic on my MDX which has oil consumption problem as well. Oil dipstick showing half after 3,000KM, after I use Lucas, I can go up to 7,000KM.
Last edited by slim3605 on Feb 22nd, 2019 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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slim3605 wrote: Mileage = 251,000 km

If seal has problem, we should be able to tell if there is a leak, right? If so, my mechanic check and there is no leak whatsoever.
At 251,000 Km, I would consider that engine as being no spring chicken!

Depends on where those seals are... If they are separating the external world from the engine oil (ie around the oil pan), then your mechanic is right. However, there are a few internal seals as well (ie the valve stem seals that typically get hard as the engine ages causing oil to leak into the pistons). Some of those internal seals - like the valve stem ones - do have telltale signs of leakage - in the case of valve stem seals, you would see a puff of dark smoke from the tailpipe when you start the car (burning the oil that leaked into the piston) and when you accelerate away from a stop sign.
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Aug 6, 2018
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craftsman wrote: At 251,000 Km, I would consider that engine as being no spring chicken!

Depends on where those seals are... If they are separating the external world from the engine oil (ie around the oil pan), then your mechanic is right. However, there are a few internal seals as well (ie the valve stem seals that typically get hard as the engine ages causing oil to leak into the pistons). Some of those internal seals - like the valve stem ones - do have telltale signs of leakage - in the case of valve stem seals, you would see a puff of dark smoke from the tailpipe when you start the car (burning the oil that leaked into the piston) and when you accelerate away from a stop sign.
I don't recall seeing any dark smoke coming from tailpipe, but, I will test it tomorrow.

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