GM dealer messes up my Schaeffer interval!!

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Patman

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Guelph, Ontario
Man I am so angry! Last week I had my car in for a heater fix, and during that time they noticed my oil filter was a bit loose so they tightened it up. I am now pretty sure that they topped up the oil as well, so they have effectively now ruined my first oil interval with Schaeffer oil!
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I am 2.5k into a planned 5k interval, but now I don't think there is much point having this interval analyzed, since it's now tainted with probably a half a quart of their crappy bulk 5w30 oil most likely. I'm going to put a call in to the service advisor to confirm, but I am pretty sure this is what happened, since my oil level is now mysteriously a half quart higher (I was letting it get low since when my dipstick reads full it's actually a half quart over) I doubt I'm getting any contamination into the oil that would cause this level to rise, and mysteriously the oil is a bit cleaner too (which would indicate it's been topped up)

So now I can't figure out what to do. Should I finish off the interval and analyze it (even though it's not a true sample) Should I change it out now and start over? Should I keep it in there to the full planned 5k, but not bother to analyze it?

ARGGHHHH!!!!

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I just thought of another possibility. I had asked them to check out an exhaust leak that I had, and the service advisor told me that he thought it might be the valvetrain making the noise, the same noise it made last year. At that time he had given me a GM oil additive, which greatly reduced this noise. Last week he asked me if I wanted to add this additive again and I said no, but it's possible that one of his mechanics might have gone ahead and did it anyways. So either way the sample is still tainted. Now I'm thinking I might just throw in another bottle of Auto Rx, run this oil another 500 miles, then start fresh again.
 
bummer...
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As a practical matter-I would just let it in for the duration. There will be other posts on the Shaeffer's stuff and maybe in the meantime you will develop a different strategy. Also I'm not sure that the oil will significantly alter your results. I can't remember which vehicle you have, but if it takes only 4 quarts then the dilution of 8:1 is pretty low at least as wear numbers are likely to occur. Also the oil has not been for the full duration-only about half, so that makes the effective weighted dilution over the 5k miles only 16:1.

So just thinking about it (this may not be totally accurate). Lets say the wear using the Shaeffers for iron is say 20ppm iron and the other oil would have produced wear of say 36ppm iron. The resulting sample would only be : ((36-20)x 1/16 )+20 or 21. Maybe my math here is screwed up but I don't think so. The additives will be different though.

Anyway thats my thoughts.
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I have a 1995 Firebird Formula with the 350 LT1 engine, and when the dipstick reads full it's at 5.5 quarts. So the dealer added about a half quart of their oil to 5 quarts of my Schaeffer oil. I am still waiting for the service advisor to phone me back to let me know what happened exactly.
 
It has been confirmed, the mechanic added GM bulk 5w30 oil to my car.
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So what do you guys think I should do? Is it even worth it to run the full 5k and sample it?
 
That's too bad, Patman. I doubt you could measure any kind of problem at that ratio but it does futz your test. If analysis results are a priority I'd do what you suggested and change out early w/a Neutra purge. Otherwise, take your halfway sample & see where it leads.

We need to have some FOAS "Do not add oil" stickers made up, like the K&N "Do not throw my $300 filter away" stickers.
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David
 
Before I brought it into the dealer I thought about mentioning to them to make sure they didn't add any oil, but I figured I'd be pushing things a bit. The service advisor knows that I am doing oil analysis, as we talked about oil in great length last week. This is the same dealer that used to do my oil changes for me when I first got my car and had to go to a dealer in order to keep up the aftermarket warranty. So he knew about me doing oil analysis since that's why I stopped getting oil changes through him.

Now this is just one more thing to get me all worried, as if I don't worry enough about what to do when it comes to oil changes, now this has to happen. I worry way too much, it's a sickness.
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Bror hit the nail right on the head with his Oil Analyzers Anonymous thread a while back!
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I know the feeling Patman. Some friends are completely terrified about any dealer visits. Their vehicles use DC's more recent 4.7L V8. It seems to be evolving within their fleet, and has required quite a few PCM updates. Two of these flashes have included retarded timing to make up for soccer-mom complaints about "rough running" with regular gasoline. So, you can imagine what happens. An enthusiast owner takes their baby in for a simple service & gets it back 5/10 slower in the 1/4mi. No warning, no reverse flashing available. Time for a lockout box on the PCM harness.
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David
 
Patman,

Try and find out what was added and when. When you do the oil analysis, mention to Terry what it was and how much was added.

He can then make ajdustments in his report to compensate for the the dealer screw-up.
 
MoleKule, approximately half a quart of GM's Goodwrench 5w30 was added, and they added it at about the 2.5k mark on this interval.

How can Terry compensate for this on my next oil analysis though? I feel that this oil is probably going to cause the oxidation and nitration to be a bit worse, plus the viscosity will probably be slightly messed up too. Same with the TBN. Especially since there is probably about 3-4oz of Maxlife still in this batch too, since that was the last oil I ran, and in the SBC about that much old oil gets trapped in the heads when you do an oil change. Wow, I'm starting to talk myself into getting this hodge podge mix of oil out of there ASAP! Am I wrong in thinking this way?
 
quote:

Originally posted by slickracer:
I think you need to relax. There are much more important things in life to worry about.

Hehe, I agree, but I still worry nonetheless, that's just me.
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Patman,

You already have Auto-RX in there modifying the UOA results, so I don't think
250mL of 5W30 is going to spoil 4.7 L of the good stuff.

That's almost a 1:20 ratio; not a statistically significant number, in my view.
 
There is no Auto Rx in there right now actually, I put in the Auto Rx two intervals ago. Remember, I had a 3300 mile interval with Maxlife 10w30, and no Auto Rx in there. The Auto Rx interval was the one just before that.

And it's not 250ml, but 500ml worth of oil, so it's about 10% of my oil.

So you guys still think I should continue running this batch to 5k and analyze it? Am I correct in what I said above about the oxidation, nitration, viscosity and TBN showing numbers that aren't really representative of this oil on it's own?
 
Patman,

"There is no Auto Rx in there right now actually, I put in the Auto Rx two intervals ago. Remember, I had a 3300 mile interval with Maxlife 10w30, and no Auto Rx in there. The Auto Rx interval was the one just before that. And it's not 250ml, but 500ml worth of oil, so it's about 10% of my oil. "

Sorry, it looks like my speed reading course was a total failure.
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I wonder if I can get my money bacK??
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Did you consider taking a sample from the dipstick tube and having it analyzed now?

That way you will know what effect, if any the GM oil/additive had on the chemistry.

Also as you stated, you can still get some good information based on wear metals
 
quote:

Originally posted by dave in MD:
Did you consider taking a sample from the dipstick tube and having it analyzed now?

That way you will know what effect, if any the GM oil/additive had on the chemistry.


I'm not really sure what this would accomplish if I did take an oil sample now, plus it costs me a fair bit to do oil analysis, as $25 US ends up costing me closer to $50 CDN (including the cost to ship the sample, exchange rate, etc.) So spending $100 to sample the same oil (once now and once at the end of the interval) isn't really something I want to be doing.

I guess now my science project here is turning into an experiment to see how much a half quart of cheap oil can affect the balance of Schaeffer oil's awesome chemistry!
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Patman
How many Arx cleans have you done on that vehicle? If only 1 a 2nd would be good IMO. I'm on 3rd AND FINAL clean on my turbo, then on to 2oz main dose every 5,000km's.
 
quote:

Originally posted by sprintman:
Patman
How many Arx cleans have you done on that vehicle? If only 1 a 2nd would be good IMO. I'm on 3rd AND FINAL clean on my turbo, then on to 2oz main dose every 5,000km's.


I've only done one interval with Auto Rx, I did the recommended 500 mile interval.
 
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