I'd like to hear your Amazing Oil Stories

[MrWideTires]

My dad had a 1997 b13 sentra (overseas), with an SR16VE N1 swapped into it when I was little, for those wondering.. that is a 1.6 engine pushing 200HP and can rev to 8600rpm. He daily drove this car, never warming it up, drove it through the Andes mountains, I learned how to drive with that car and I constantly beat on it revving it through every gear. He always used Mobil 20w50 conventional, by the time the car was sold last year.. it had over 300,000 miles and still ran everyday like a champ, and still looked brand new!

I have taught my dad a few things about oil, but he has also shown me that his old ways can also go a long way.

 

[TFB1]

When it ran almost out of oil, I used some probably 20 year old type F transmission fluid to refill my then 28 year old B&S lawn mower... Was cutting for my mom and used what I could find in the garage...

Two years later(earlier this year), it threw the rod...

Amazing enough???

 

[uart]

Originally Posted By: 09silverado
My mom drove our 95' beauville chevy van with a 305 in it at 44,000+/- miles with no oil for 12 miles... round trip and left it running while she picked up my sister from school for a few minutes.

when i say no oil, we had the drain plug and filter off for 6 hours. We drain the oil till it stops dripping back then, lol.

my dad flipped, but we finished the oil change in it when she got home, drove it for 150,000 more miles and sold it where it continued to outlive the frame and body for 250,000

my fav story.

Fascinating story silverado. Just curious, had you used any solid lubricant suspension type of products like MoS2 or PTFE prior to that? I once had an oil pump failure and drove a very long distance (thinking it was a faulty sender) with zero oil pressure. I'm convinced it was only the MoS2 that I'd added that saved the engine.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

My friend bought a '74 Mustang II from a neighbor that had never changed the oil. He'd just added to it when low. It ran great so my friend bought it for about $100 and tuned it up then changed the oil. We pulled the drain plug and nothing came out, yet dipstick read 1/2 qt below full. We had to use a screwdriver to punch through the goo and got about 1.5 qts out. So we dropped the pan and cleaned out all the crud in it and the lower engine block area, including the pickup screen. Changed the filter and put new 10w-30 in it. Engine seized in a week afterwards.

 

[LineArrayNut]

Couple of Buick V-8, QS and YDFOC stories. '72 Buick LeSabre 350 98K miles going to job interview across town(ATL) in hot summer weather. Thermostat sticks closed; parafin, gave up bolted it back on> drive till it knocks and vapor locks. No tools, radiator spewing, use drink to pour on intake, get to service station. I'm on 285, the beltway, quick diagnosis, pour water on block, keep going. Stop at every random service station for ~25 miles spraying water on red hot block. Get to interview 5 min late, still get job. Do same thing back home. Change oil, not much there. Pull valve covers, no more parafin. Motor ran fine for another 65K miles, 40K or so w/ a 125hp shot of NOS, 25# bottle filled monthly.

 

[LineArrayNut]

'70 350 skylark, duals and a 4bbl. Same general miles. Take a road trip from ATL to south florida. Hook up w/ fast cars (vette, bmw m, amg etc.) run 120+ for hours. Party @ College w/ buddy for 2 weeks. Run home, car knocks and vapor locks - beenheredonethat.jpg . Stop at service station, find oil low. Start adding quarts.4th one shows on dipstick, 5th one tops off. Car ran fine ever after.

 

[uart]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
My friend bought a '74 Mustang II from a neighbor that had never changed the oil. He'd just added to it when low. It ran great so my friend bought it for about $100 and tuned it up then changed the oil. We pulled the drain plug and nothing came out, yet dipstick read 1/2 qt below full. We had to use a screwdriver to punch through the goo and got about 1.5 qts out. So we dropped the pan and cleaned out all the crud in it and the lower engine block area, including the pickup screen. Changed the filter and put new 10w-30 in it. Engine seized in a week afterwards.

LOL ss1970, somehow that just doesn't seem fair does it. But I'll guess what happened is that the original crud built up gradually and in areas where the oil didn't flow. Sadly when it was disturbed some of it found it's way into places where it could block the oil flow. It's a nice anecdote about the pitfalls of trying to quickly clean up years worth of sludge and crud.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: rjacket
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
I think the closest you'll get to this is the UOA section. The problem is, 99.9999% of us have neither the time, resources, ability, or equipment to test and achieve hard data of any sort for any length of time. That's why we get UOAs done, which is the closest we can get. UOAs aren't completely accurate or truth-telling either, but they do give you a good idea, and show trends when users do multiple UOAs in a row with similar commutes. Controlling the variables (the most important part of any test), unless one has a test bench/dyno, is nearly impossible. Even a slight change in one's commute could drastically change one's aspect of a UOA which, again, is the most truth-telling test(s) that 99.9999% of us can do.

Don't get me wrong, I like your idea. It's just not feasible

I'm not sure what part of my idea is not feasible. I'm just interested in hearing interesting stories of when an oil made some sort of substantial difference. I don't mean in the sense of M1 caused half the wear vs PU or vice versa. I mean in the sense that my mpg shot up (or down), a big noise disappeared, my acceleration improved.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with what you say about not having the time to achieve hard data conclusions. Which is exactly my point, we're all interested in finding out what's better, but we don't really have a way to do that. We have some facts, different levels of understanding amongst folks, and as a result a lot of incomplete opinions.

Therefore, I'm interested in single data points that show that in a particular set of circumstances, one product did something amazing compared to another.


I agree with you, and enjoy testimony and success or failure stories. A lot of times I see using the UOA section like using a crystal ball. People take the numbers they see and use them to attempt to praise or condemn a product. Sometimes its almost like a sporting event with fans from both teams trying to make a case on why their team lost for example. Then the numbers are challenged and cases built for and against them. EG: High iron might not be from wear, high copper can be from "a chemistry thing". And if your favorite oil bombs, the UOA report was meaningless.

In fact here's an interesting UOA discussion, pick a side. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2446120&page=1

Casting doubt is one of the easiest things you can do to so called facts and data related to oil.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
My friend bought a '74 Mustang II from a neighbor that had never changed the oil. He'd just added to it when low. It ran great so my friend bought it for about $100 and tuned it up then changed the oil. We pulled the drain plug and nothing came out, yet dipstick read 1/2 qt below full. We had to use a screwdriver to punch through the goo and got about 1.5 qts out. So we dropped the pan and cleaned out all the crud in it and the lower engine block area, including the pickup screen. Changed the filter and put new 10w-30 in it. Engine seized in a week afterwards.

Must have had the 2.8L V6???

If it had the 2.3L OHC 4cyl, there wouldn't have been any cam left to open the valves, those early 2.3('74 was 1st year) wore the cam out even when the proper OCI was followed...

 

[45ACP]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
My friend bought a '74 Mustang II from a neighbor that had never changed the oil. He'd just added to it when low. It ran great so my friend bought it for about $100 and tuned it up then changed the oil. We pulled the drain plug and nothing came out, yet dipstick read 1/2 qt below full. We had to use a screwdriver to punch through the goo and got about 1.5 qts out. So we dropped the pan and cleaned out all the crud in it and the lower engine block area, including the pickup screen. Changed the filter and put new 10w-30 in it. Engine seized in a week afterwards.

Id have let that 10W-30 run for about a good "two hours" maybe less, then changed it again.. and again, letting it run "one hour" or less.. THEN let it drive gradually. Such a crud buildup!

But, for $100, i mean, hey, nice car.

 

[addyguy]

Our family had a 1989 Toyota Tercel hatchback we got brand-new in late 1988, with the 1.5 carb'd I-4 and a 4-speed.

My father left with the car one morning to do 'downtown work errands' - meetings and administrative appointments for his job. I got home from school that day at about 4PM, and found a large oil-stain on our slopped driveway, with a small metal plug at the top of it.

My father got home about 30 mins later, and I asked him how the car was running, and had any lights come on, and he said the car was a bit noisier than usual, and that the oil light had flickered a couple of times during the day.

I then gave him the plug, and showed him the slick on the driveway. He flipped - he'd had an OC done at the dealership the day before, and now had apparently done about 30 miles of stop and go driving around d/t Ottawa with next to no oil in the engine.

Toyota sent out a truck, and picked up the car. They put a new plug in, and refilled the engine with oil, and it ran just fine. My dad figured for the guaranteed damage the engine had sustained, he was entititled to new engine. The dealership took the stance that the engine was running just fine now, and they had documented the incident, and if the engine broke down in the remaining warranty period, he'd probably be entitled to a new engine, but for now, the engine hadn't sustained any obvious damage.

My dad was pretty ticked, and let them know. But, the car did continue to run just fine for the next few years, until my step-mother totalled it in a snowstorm, but it DID burn a lot more oil than it had before. The whole incident impressed me, b/c I though the engine should have locked up even before my dad got d/t that morning!

 

[Clevy]

Well I have seen a Briggs and Stratton generator run for 3 days with no oil. The oil alert didn't work. Then we put tranny fluid in instead of oil. Ran it for the day. Cleaned er out. New oil. Ran for 5 more years. The motor still ran but the generator itself quit putting out power. Then a Honda 5000 watt generator ran in the heat of the summer with no oil. It locked up solid. I clamped it to the floor. Used a breaker bar to get it turning. Added oil. That was 4 years ago. I still use it today.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: rjacket
Hypothesis is often formed from observation, and then scientific methods are used to pursue causality.

Just checking in on this. Have we formed any hypotheses that we want to test?

 

[lexus114]

Uh....I think some of these stories are a little...far fetched?

 

[INDYMAC]

I don't have anything amazing to contribute, but I enjoy what I've read so far. Thanks for starting this thread.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Back before Meth invaded the Baja Pennisula I used to spend several months a year down there. One time I heard a beater pull up into the area where I was camping, many miles from the nearest town. The engine sounded absolutely horrible. Ticking, knocking and the possibly intentional holed exhaust system.

A guy gets out and is going from camp site to camp site asking for the aluminum cans. He gets back in his car and starts it up and rattles over to my camp, the poor old Toyota sounding absolutely horrible.

This skinny little wrinkled up old guy gets out and with a huge smile approaches my Camp. He is wearing a hat which says" OLD [censored]'S WIFE" on it. If the censor x's that out, flatulence.

I hand him a bag containing all my aluminum and try out some of my Spanish, but he speaks good English. I happen to mention his Toyota sounds horrible, is it low on oil? I ask.

He responds that it is always low on oil as it is too expensive and there has been too much competetion for aluminium cans. I suggest we check just how low and we go over and pop the hood. Of course there was no Air filter on the Carb, just half an inch of fine dust on every horizontal surface. He pulls out the dipstick and there is just a little bit of black goo on the end.

I take pity on the guy and pour a quart of valvoline 10 40 from my supply in the crankcase, and still cannot see any thing on the dipstick. He seems to think I have another quart of oil and asks for more, and I respond that all I have is tranny fluid.

He says BUENO! Por favor? So I pour nearly a quart of ATF +4 into the poor Toyota. This time there is a little red on the end of the dipstick. He starts it up and it still sounds bad, but way better than before, and drives off back toward town.

A few days later I see the same car coming back from town, yet all I can hear is it's loud exhaust. It drives up to my camp and the thing is just loudly purring along, no ticks or knocking, just a loud holed exhaust.

Out steps the "Old [censored]'s Wife" with a huge smile, and a bottle of 20w 50. He tells me the engine has never run better and asks me for more ATF+4 in exchange for the bottle of 20w 50. I respond that I have no more but he insists I take the 20w 50. I insist that 20w 50 is too heavy for my engine, and besides my crankcase is full, and show him my dipstick with the light amber oil on it.

He looks a little perturbed, grabs his 20w 50, pours it into his crankcase and drives off in the other direction.

An hour later he returns with a 7 pound yellowtail that rigor mortise has not yet set in on and insists I take that, which I gladly do.

I realized later that if a Mexican offers you a gift, it is an insult not to accept.

I went back down there 8 months later, and that Toyota was still running, and the guy was still wearing the same hat. It was just several shades darker.

 

[JDD]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
What you're asking for can be found in the UOAs...or would you prefer that the mountain come to Mohammed...


Spot on--

 

[Charlie8132]

I don't think my story is nearly as outrageous as the other guys who have told theirs, but here it is: I had this old '81 Ford Thunderbird V-6, it was given to me when a Mexican worker quit and went back home. That thing gave me all sorts of problems: overheating, radiator hose blew, electrical problems, ignition problems, the whole 9 yards. But it just wouldn't die. One day, on my 50-mile drive to work, the radiator hose blew(again!). That particular highway I was on had no road shoulder. I had to keep on driving for 25 miles with smoke pouring out from under the hood and also out the exhaust pipe. When I finally stopped, I waited a quarter hour before the smoke stopped pouring out from under the hood. The engine had no oil left in it; the heat from running the car with no coolant had burned off all the oil!!!! I bought 4 bottles of Esso motor oil, poured them all in, and turned the key. That old T-bird started up right away. Carried me to my destination with no coolant in the system, still smoking like a chimney. I drove it another 2 years and a bit before I sold it. For what? $300? One tough Old Bird, that Ford. (Btw, in case anyone thinks I am a Ford salesman: being older and wiser[and also a lot Richer!], I will never touch another one of those Blue Oval monstrosity contraptions!!!!!!)

 

[Spazdog]

For many years, I didn't own a car. Just a motorcycle. I found myself in a position where I needed a car to help my girlfriend at the time move. My little sister and idiot brother in law loaned me their beaten to death Volvo 240.

The Volvo was a real "gem". The driver seat bottom was broken so you had to sit on the front edge or you couldn't reach the pedals. Your backside would be on the floor and the backs of your knees would be on the front edge of the seat. The shift boot was a long distant memory and all the smells of the engine came gushing up through the open hole in the floor.

They had warned me that there was something wrong with the cooling system. "I think it's got a leak. It's overheating" said my idiot brother in law. I checked the coolant. Full of rusty fluid but full nonetheless. So I'm off in the junkpile.

It overheated in a short amount of time.

So I stopped, wrestled the big Scandanavian hood open and checked. The coolant system is relatively cool but the gauge is indicating imminent destruction. Stuck thermostat, right?

On a whim, I pull the oil dipstick. Totally dry. I put 4 quarts of Castrol 10W40 in before it shows full. I think fill capacity for the redblock is only 4 quarts.

It ran smooth for the rest of the move. No problems. (except for falling into the seat) Who knows how long it had been empty.

I eventually found and bought a wrecking yard replacement driver seat for my little sister so she wouldn't fall in and crash the car.

 

[chet2]

my bil has gone 35k on same oil and filter if you dont count the 3qts of synthetic i dumped in...he bought used subaru w/ 95k, car has 130k 13 months later...his vw turbo sludged up last summer but that didnt phase him a bit, a true legend...going by his years of zero maint, oil is over "anal"lyzed here