I have a friend that just received an odd analysis of the Mobil1 5w-30 oil from his last change. He is meticulous about maintaining his vehicles, uses the same oil each time, and has sampled the oil at each change. This time the elemental analysis cam back totally different than in the past. He had Blackstone re-run the sample, and it came back the same. Is anyone aware of any changes to Mobil1's formulation? It is the standard 5w-30 that he runs.
Blackstone's response to his inquiry is as follows:
"Jeff,
Thanks for the note. You're sure you haven't switched to something like...
say, Royal Purple, for example? It's not just sodium that has changed, but
look also at molybdenum, which is lower now than it was. And calcium is
higher... magnesium is lower... those are all additives in the oil, and we
wouldn't expect those changes from coolant. We might expect sodium from
coolant, but we'd also expect high potassium from coolant and that element
stayed nice and low.
If you're absolutely certain you've used Mobil 1, then the sodium could very
well be coolant, but if so, it's not hurting anything yet, since wear metals
are nice and steady. Make sure your coolant level stays full and use
8,000-mile oil change intervals, at the most, to monitor the situation.
If there's any possibility that you've used another oil, like Royal Purple
or some Valvoline oils, then the sodium is probably harmless".
Blackstone's response to his inquiry is as follows:
"Jeff,
Thanks for the note. You're sure you haven't switched to something like...
say, Royal Purple, for example? It's not just sodium that has changed, but
look also at molybdenum, which is lower now than it was. And calcium is
higher... magnesium is lower... those are all additives in the oil, and we
wouldn't expect those changes from coolant. We might expect sodium from
coolant, but we'd also expect high potassium from coolant and that element
stayed nice and low.
If you're absolutely certain you've used Mobil 1, then the sodium could very
well be coolant, but if so, it's not hurting anything yet, since wear metals
are nice and steady. Make sure your coolant level stays full and use
8,000-mile oil change intervals, at the most, to monitor the situation.
If there's any possibility that you've used another oil, like Royal Purple
or some Valvoline oils, then the sodium is probably harmless".