Mix gone bad

[Dominik]

I Used to be a moderate mixer but after my last experience I have decided to stop it all together ( well maybe I'll mix M1 15W-50 with M1 10W-30.
The brew I used in 3.1 V6 Grand Am consisted of Castrol GTX 5W-30 (3 l) and Syntec 5W-50 (1 l) I used an almost empty (maybe 0.25 l or 8-10 oz. of oil left) jug from Delvac 1300 15W-40 and mixed it all in there. The previous fill was also Delvac 1300 15W-40. About 400 km after the oil change I checked the dip stick and noticed that the oil looked cloudy, so I checked the left over mix in the bottled and it didn't look good I was cloudy with milky chunks of stuff. naturally I warmed up the engine dumped this stuff and filled the engime with Valvoline Maxlife 10W-30. No more mixing for me.

 

[tenderloin]

Stick to brewing beer. You Canucks are better at it

 

[Pablo]

That seems strange. Almost like there was water introduced. I don't suppose you kept a sample for UOA?

 

[Drew99GT]

If it was fairly cold, like 10-20 degrees F, then some oils will indeed turn milky. I put Havoline synthetic in my freezer to test it, and it looked scary. Practically solid streaks of white parrafin crud or something, but after it warmed up, it looked normal again. Someone said it's quite normal on here; it"s called an oils cloud point I believe.

 

[Dominik]

Nope I have yet to do my first UOA, as to the weather it was relatively warm about 15 C or ~55F, oil looked dreadfull. AS to water There might have been some condensation inside the jug 'cause I brought it from the garage indors to my oil shrine to mix it, but even if the was some moisture in there it would have been MINUTE.
The oil on the dipstick looked almost the same.

 

[williar]

Sounds like your engine needs a good flush with Auto-RX; then drain out that crappy Valvoline and put in some good stuff, such as Pennzoil. And stop the mixing!

 

[TallPaul]

Dominik. If the mixture becomes cloudy the two oils are not compatable. Here is an article on the dangers of mixing oils: http://www.machinerylubrication.com/article_detail.asp?articleid=235&relatedbookgroup=Lubrication

 

[Ken2]

I don't think it's a good idea to mix oils of different brands or even different product lines of the same brand. But, these oils are required to be compatible in order to be API licensed.

I think you had some extraneous material mixed in. Maybe not, but that's what I'd look for.


Ken