I have two different engine questions

1. I have been using 10w40 Mobol1 engine oil and it seems now every gasket is leaking. Is this common for switching over to a synthetic engine oil.

2. Since switching to the Mobol1 oil I now change my oil every 5,000 miles, I have found that with all the leaks the engine will use a extra quart between changes. I was checking the oil today and found it was a quart low. I went to remove the oil fill cap and could
barely get it off. When I did I noticed a orangish watery film on the top inside of the cap. I had this last year as well and my mechanic said he pressure tested the engine and checked the oil and found no coolant in it so he thought the head gasket was still good. I do find my coolant low every now and then but do have another throttle body leak. The engine never gets hot and just turned 100,000 miles. It seemed this orangish film went away last summer but now has returned. Does this sound like a head gasket problem. If not then do you just replace the head gasket when it goes bad or do it before it goes out.
Thanks,
Andrew

 

Yes you have develop leaks after switching to a syn motor oil, but it will stop leaking after a while.

As for the stuff on the oil filler cap, depending on how you drive your truck this can be normal.
Lots of short trips in cold weather will not evaporate the condensation inside the engine and it will collect on things.
However, if you are loosing coolant then you may have a leaking head gasket.
Since Dex-Cool is orange...

 

I use Mobil 1 10w-40...too It does leak a little bit, but should slow down as Spike said. It can take up to 3 oil changes to really slow down from my findings. I have used it for 3 years and and my Rover seems to like it. Price is best a Wal-Mart per 5 gal container about $26 here in Indy. I am not low a whole quart in 5000 miles and now do not have to add oil between OCI's. For me the oil level drops from upper tick mark on the dip stick to 1\4" from the bottom tick mark.

Quick Story:
During the summer I added a 5 quarts of Shell non Syn oil and 1 quart of Marvel Mystery oil to clean my engine. I ran this for about 500 miles and then drained it. I am now 2 oil changes past that and it has just gotten back to its normal rate of drips on the driveway. I really need to change the crankshaft seal and oil pan gasket and I think both of those seals would stop 90% of oil drips. Best quote I have heard recently. Land Rover dont leak oil, they mark their territory!

 

Andrew, can you be more specific as to where it is leaking from? Have you tried tightening you v/c bolts using an 8mm, 12 point, 1/4" socket, this can stop a lot of leakage.
As for the custard in your oil cap, is it a thin film, normal or like custard, thick and not good?

 

I tighten the v/c bolts awhile back but will try again. The film is light and most wipes right off, what worries me is it is the same color as the coolant and i usually have to add a little coolant between oil changes.

 

next oil swap go over to mobil 1 10/40 high mileage. i swapped to that in my 04 and have ZERO oil leaks. the additives swell gaskets and keep them from thinning or drying out, or however you want to descibe it. and that has been since i dropped it in. no leaks at all.

like you i have been monitoring my coolant very closely as of late. i have no evidence of coolant in the oil. tb heater plate is new and no leaks. no coolant smell from the exhaust. no drips on the floor. but every now and then i catch a wiff of burning or hot coolant smell from under the rig when its warming up or at idle.

not losing a noticable amount of coolant from the expansion tank. filled the tank last night and will have to drive around a bit until it heats and cools a few times and levels off as it was already draining from the overfill tube when i was tinkering last night. will wait and see. if i think there is something going on i will have it pressure tested.

 

Simple check, assuming you are having to add coolant, go get the coolant system pressure tested for 15 plus minutes at 18 pounds pressure.

 

i the other night my coolant was right at the overfill tube line,,,cold. fired up the rig and topped off the tank. re-capped it and then it overfilled from the overfill tube. this was on level ground. ill monitor it but as i said before i might just be being ultra paranoid.

again no smokey exhaust. no leaks. no milkshake oil. no heating issues. no waterfall dash. so we shall see.