Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 appears to be removing oil varnish from inside my Gen 2 cylinder head cover

This is good to know. I'm due for an oil change on my 2010 and it burns a little oil now. I'm going to try this and see if there's any improvements

 

My last oil change was with 0w-20 PP.

SCH-I535

 

Pennzoil advertizes their oils as the cleanest of all. There must be some truth in the advertisement after all. We do know that they pioneered Gas-to-liquid manufacturing process that gives the best quality group III oils.

 

OTOH, on a car with that many miles, removing the accumulated varnish might make your oil consumption go UP too.
Please keep us posted.

 

What do you all think about using this oil in a 2004 Chevy Venture with 110,000 mi. on it? It's my wife's van that gets used mostly around town with just an occasional highway trip. I've noticed over the past year the inside of the engine where you pour the oil in seems to be getting pretty dirty and the oil seems to be getting black after just a thousand or so miles. I was thinking of using this oil but worry about changing to synthetic oil after all these miles. It's always had just "regular" oil usually Pennzoil or Quaker State. Thanks.

PS the van only uses a qt. in 5k. mi.

 

What do you all think about using this oil in a 2004 Chevy Venture with 110,000 mi. on it? It's my wife's van that gets used mostly around town with just an occasional highway trip. I've noticed over the past year the inside of the engine where you pour the oil in seems to be getting pretty dirty and the oil seems to be getting black after just a thousand or so miles. I was thinking of using this oil but worry about changing to synthetic oil after all these miles. It's always had just "regular" oil usually Pennzoil or Quaker State. Thanks.

PS the van only uses a qt. in 5k. mi.

 

I would be cautious about switching to synthetic oil after such long use with mineral oil, if your intent is to minimize engine oil consumption. I think you should leave well enough alone.

 

Thanks Patrick. After mulling it over I agree. If it ain't broke don't fix it LOL.

 

(in the software world) Corollary 1: if it ain't broke, fix it until it is!
Corollary 2: if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features!

DROID4 ?

 

Interesting. When I bought my 2007 it had 54500 miles on it. I changed the engine oil right away, and noticed a light varnish on the cam cover baffle. I ran my finger along it and it left a "swipe" mark. That swipe mark is now barely noticeable because the whole thing is getting covered by more varnish Ive used Mobil 1 almost exclusively during that time, changing every 5k-7k miles.

I bought some Penz Plat 5w-30 on sale a few weeks ago for my next OCI. Im excited to hear that it might clean up the varnish My ICE currently consumes about 1 quart every 5k miles, trivial amount I know but it is always a nice thing to strive for less oil consumption.

 

Any updates on the use of Pennzoil platinum? I'm wondering if the Pennzoil Ultra was what cleaned the baffle plate prior to the OP using PP.

 

I have 4,900 miles on this oil change of Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 and my engine has needed no top off oil!! Thats a first, ever for my Prius - I usually need 1/2 quart ever 2,500 miles or so.

 

Same here, pp seems to be holding up after 1000 miles with very little loss.

Mobil 1 was going through oil quickly

 

I think I might make the switch to PP 5w-30! My 2010 has been using quite a bit of oil at 108K now. I have about 8k miles since my last oil change and I bet I have added at least 3-4 quarts. It's sees considerable highway miles, so maybe that is part of the underlying issue.

 

Add Castrol Edge 5w/30 to the list of robust oils that somehow do not get burned by the prius. Ive been using it the last 10000 miles and have added NONE between oil change intervals. My experience with Pennzoil Platinum was similar.

My Prius burned right through Mobil 1 though. I'd use 1/2-3/4 quart every 2500 miles with it.

 

I've had the same experience with Mobile 1. I have a 2005 Hyundai Elantra that had very bad build up. Five oil changes later and you wouldn't know it is the same engine. I am a believer in Mobile 1's claims of cleaning your engine. It is good to know there are others.

 

I'm reading here that folks are having oil consumption with their vehicles even in good condition. Is this normal? Is the Prius just hard on oil?

 

Picture please, I don't know what the baffle plate is or what it does.

 

Not exactly hard on oil, but many people start noticing minor oil consumption after about 100k miles. Not everyone has the issue, some people say they see zero oil consumption even at moderate miles/age. People who drive hard and at high speed seem to notice it more often than people who mostly do slower "around town" type of trips. I'm not sure if it's related to the Atkinson cycle engine or somewhat low tension rings or whatever, but "for a Toyota" yes, many do seem to consume a bit more oil than normal.

Anyway I see that you're a relatively new owner, so just keep a close eye on the dipstick for a while, at least until you can figure out how it's trending. Don't be alarmed or surprised if you find that you need to top it off a little between oil changes. Minor oil consumption is no real problem as long as you keep them topped off. Say for example you find that you're using about 1/2 a quart every 3k to 5k miles, that's actually pretty minor. Though obviously if you're seeing less consumption than this, then that's all the better.