So I changed the oil in my Malibu today with 4 quarts of Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 that were all less than a year old. I looked in the bottle after I was finshed and noticed some dark setiment on the bottom. I immediately had a sinking feeling in my stomach because I knew that some of the additives fell out. I'm debating about draining it now. What do you all think?
Additive Fallout This Morning
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Why didn't you shake it for at least 5 minutes before pouring it in? I thought that was BITOG standard practice?
What I would do is pour about 1/2 of a quart of fresh oil into that bottle and shake it up really good, then pour it into the engine.
Thanks for the responses all! I should have added that I was a little slow from last night. A couple after dinner drinks with my wife and friends turned into closing the bar down. I woke up at 6 am CDT to get it changed before work today.
I just got off the phone with one of the Pennzoil technical support guys. He told me not to worry about it since it was likely some very fine setiment from the refining process.
I asked him directly if I should be concerned about engine damage, and he said that it is Ok to leave it in since it most likely was not additives sitting down there if the quart bottles were from October 2008 and newer.
I just got off the phone with one of the Pennzoil technical support guys. He told me not to worry about it since it was likely some very fine setiment from the refining process.
I asked him directly if I should be concerned about engine damage, and he said that it is Ok to leave it in since it most likely was not additives sitting down there if the quart bottles were from October 2008 and newer.
Don't worry about it. This subject has come up more times than anyone cares to remember. Responses from oil companies are: Just pour it in and don't worry about anything in the bottle. Not all oil companies call it additive fallout either
Life's too short. I wouldn't worry about it one bit. If you did a UOA, I bet the additive levels would still be perfectly safe.
JHZR2
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Solids would indicate to me precipitation, I'd bet you actually saw a less soluble second oil phase form due to a change in temperature and mixing. They ought to re-solubilize if you can get them in mixture and to temperature.
I am not sure I actually want that stuff in my engine.
Maybe you should be happy it is still in the bottle.
It is an unknown.
Maybe you should be happy it is still in the bottle.
It is an unknown.
there goes the "great" PP 5w30, too much hype, imho.
Originally Posted By: windeye
there goes the "great" PP 5w30, too much hype, imho.
Pretty strong conclusion that you came to here.
there goes the "great" PP 5w30, too much hype, imho.
Pretty strong conclusion that you came to here.
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I`ve noticed that in the two leftover 1/2 quart jugs of Penz yb 20W50 I have left from a couple previous oci`s. They weren`t like that when I bought them new. I shake them,it goes away........a few days later,it`s back on the bottom of the jugs.
Same thing with 2 jugs of Valvoline 10W40 wb I bought. dark stuff settled on the bottom of the jug. BUT,I had a very old quart bottle of wb 20W50 that had come from Sears and never had the fallout on the bottom. I had a 1 year old bottle of yb (the old stuff,not the Sopus stuff) which had a half quart left in it. It never had the fallout on the bottom.
Weird thing................both jugs of yb and both jugs of wb that had the fallout came from Walmart. The individual quart bottles of yb and yb (one from Sears and one from Autozone) never had the fallout stuff. All of that makes me suspcious of the quality of Warmart oils.
Want to add a lil something........my half quart bottle of VR1 20W50 has been sitting in the same spot for about a year unmoved,I just picked it up,opened it and looked in the bottom.........absolutely no fallout whatsoever. This oil was bought at Autozone. This whole fallout thing is a bit scary. If the additives fall out,what`s left in the oil to protect your engine?
Same thing with 2 jugs of Valvoline 10W40 wb I bought. dark stuff settled on the bottom of the jug. BUT,I had a very old quart bottle of wb 20W50 that had come from Sears and never had the fallout on the bottom. I had a 1 year old bottle of yb (the old stuff,not the Sopus stuff) which had a half quart left in it. It never had the fallout on the bottom.
Weird thing................both jugs of yb and both jugs of wb that had the fallout came from Walmart. The individual quart bottles of yb and yb (one from Sears and one from Autozone) never had the fallout stuff. All of that makes me suspcious of the quality of Warmart oils.
Want to add a lil something........my half quart bottle of VR1 20W50 has been sitting in the same spot for about a year unmoved,I just picked it up,opened it and looked in the bottom.........absolutely no fallout whatsoever. This oil was bought at Autozone. This whole fallout thing is a bit scary. If the additives fall out,what`s left in the oil to protect your engine?
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Truth is not necessarily on the majority side......you might say that you've got UOA's to back the PP claim, but the UOA's don't tell how the cars were driven. One can not conclude from random UOA's alone. Just like Consumer Report's car survey, they don't cover the general public, only the subscribers......I am not saying there's no truth in UOA (or CR's car rating), but it's not the whole truth. I believe PP is one of the good oils out there, but by no means it's the best as it's portrayed on this forum.
What I would do is pour about 1/2 of a quart of fresh oil into that bottle and shake it up really good, then pour it into the engine
+1
+1
I had that happen when I used Mobil 1, since I tend to stock pile oil, and it sits. I made the change to PP, still notice it only if I forget to shake the bottles. It has now become a practice to shake up all oil before I use it.
No PP problems here. No iron vises either, I gave that up in December. Generally the oil sits for a year or longer since I stock it, so shaking is always a good idea for me.
If it makes you feel any better, I work in aviation, and the oils we use for jet engines require 'shaking' as well before they are used in the engine.
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