I posted this recently on the Mooney discussion forum (USA):

I've been a big fan of Exxon Elite and have used it without interruption since my engine major 4.5 years ago. I've had no issues running the oil and have averaged about 7 hrs/qt. Last oil change I had a bit of a fit over the high price of Elite in Australia and decided to try out the Phillips Multiweight + Camguard. Two observations....I'm averaging around 9 hrs/qt, and it seems the oil stays up in the engine a bit longer than Exxon. This actually was quite surprising as I make it a habit to measure my oil levels at least a day after a flight. On a recent 14 hour trip over several days I measured my consumption as I usually do and was shocked to be consuming oil at a rather high rate, or so I thought. When I got home and measured the oil after the plane sat for several days I was pleasantly surprised to see my
oil level actually higher than what it measured before a 4 hour leg. My only conclusion is that the oil is staying up in the engine longer. Has anyone else experienced this?

One of the replies:

I have used Phillips X/C for 20 years in various airplanes, but just started adding Camguard 3 or 4 years ago. It took me longer than you might expect to come to the exact same realization that you have come to. It takes a good week following a flight for the dipstick reading to reach it's maximum when using Camguard. I am used to it taking a day or so before I started using Camguard. I guess that this should be expected, given Camguard's purpose, but it came as a surprise to me. A good surprise, but a surprise never the less. Not to reignite the LOP/ROP debate, but I also started running LOP at about the same time, and have noticed that my oil stays much cleaner much longer than it used to.


So far I'm quite happy with this combination!

Hi Pete,

I'm using Exxon Elite and it takes about 3 days for the oil to settle to get an "accurate" oil reading. I generally gain about .75 quart over that period.

For a time I was wondering if there was something abnormal with this (eg oil slowly leaking out of the oil cooler or the govenor etc back into the sump, but perhaps it's just the fact the oil likes to stick around in different parts of the engine.

Interesting comment. I changed from Exxon Elite back to W100 plus, and I add Camguard to that to make it the m ost expensive oil around! My LAME did not like Exxon as he said when hot it used to run out like turps whe he did an oil change. He blamed that for the cylindr troubles I had after the top overhaul. In the end I believe it was my fault. I used to run at 46 lph but after I put the GAMIjectors in I could go to 42 lph and still have a smooth runnig engine with CHT and TIT normal although the TIT was high normal at 1640. I believe now that that was just too lean - although I have not proof apart from shiny new cylinders.

Peersonally I think Exxon Elite is a great oil but I had a lot of trouble getting it up here with special orders from Melbourne etc and the LAME harping in my ear about it. Shell won out. Not so now they have stolen my Carnet so I will pay a lot more for avgas at the bowser.

ADDIT: In Aviation Consumer last year they did an oils aint oils comparison. Phillips XC with Camguard was the best of the lot for corrosion inhibition.

I've not noticed that big of a change (using Elite) after 24 hrs in my engine. I wonder if your larger engine holds more "up?"

During my trip I was also rather worried that I had an engine problem due to high oil consumption. What a relief to discover it was just the Camguard doing a good job!