Mobil 1 15w50. 1985 Chrysler Laser turbo. 1000 miles (70k total miles).

[Threeofnine]

I picked up a barn find 1985 Chrysler Laser with the 2.2 turbo motor. I’ve been restoring it and I ran an oil analysis after the first oil change. Looks like this engine has a few issues. I assume the presence of coolant means I have a head gasket leak. The wear metals also seem to be a bit high. Could this be because I’m running a heavy oil? The owners manual calls for 10w30 but a lot of the turbo mopar guys run thicker oil. Or is it likely because of the coolant contamination?

The car is driven very hard. It is frequently at redline and is often north of 100 mph. I know that will lead to higher wear than normal but I doubt it should be this bad after only 1000 miles.

 

[fantastic]

Congrats on finding this gem. I'm sure there's not that many of these left out. If this is your first UOA on this car then I'd wait for future Analysis to get a better idea of what's going on. Some of the wear may be due to lack of use or it could of been beat on before you beat on it which can cause elevated wear from prior & current use. It does appear to have a slight coolant leak that needs to be addressed before it gets worse but I'd run it another 1k to resample first for confirmation it's still there. I doubt the 15w-50 is the issue using it in a car of this era.

 

[Creekside]

I wouldn't worry about it. Iron is likely from rust due to condensation from sitting(you stated it was a barn find). Potassium high compared to universal averages but usually goes hand in hand with high sodium(ie. coolant). It very well could be just a fluke or some machine contamination on their part. It has happened before. It doesn't look like it's in any danger of a catastrophic failure right now so I would run it and continue oil analysis at regular intervals. I don't like making huge repair decisions off one analysis unless it's something obvious.

 

[dishdude]

This is a sweet car I need in my life.

 

[ka9mnx]

I wouldn't worry about it. Iron is likely from rust due to condensation from sitting(you stated it was a barn find). Potassium high compared to universal averages but usually goes hand in hand with high sodium(ie. coolant). It very well could be just a fluke or some machine contamination on their part. It has happened before. It doesn't look like it's in any danger of a catastrophic failure right now so I would run it and continue oil analysis at regular intervals. I don't like making huge repair decisions off one analysis unless it's something obvious.

THIS^^^ But a 15w-50???

 

[FreedomOne]

Pics?

 

[zray1]

Your car will be fine with Mobil 1 0w-40.

And that comes from a guy who used the M-1 15w-50 for a couple of decades on numerous classic cars.


As others have mentioned, don’t take just one oil analysis as the final word. Change the oil and keep doing the oil analysis. Over time you will get a better idea of what is going on, and why.

Z

PS: get the coolant into the oil leak fixed asap.

 

[eljefino]

These head gaskets usually blow coolant -> exhaust, got any bubbles in the overflow tank?

There's a "Mopar Performance" HG that supposedly fixes the factory issues.

 

[Threeofnine]

Pics?

 

[Threeofnine]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I’m going to run it 1000 more miles and then do another oil analysis before making any decisions. I found a couple mopar head gaskets for sale on one of the K-car groups and bought them both. They will be good to have around regardless as they are NLA from Chrysler.

The previous owner did not take care of the car like he should have. The car had set for many years before I obtained it and he was using conventional motor oil, which is considered a no no with Chrysler Turbo cars. There was also a vaccum leak that was causing the turbo to overboost to the point it was occasionally hitting the safety cut off. That’s all been fixed.

 

[zray1]

Love the cat on the car roof, here’s my cat on the ‘66 Shelby GT-350

 

[Threeofnine]

View attachment 186739View attachment 186738



Love the cat on the car roof, here’s my cat on the ‘66 Shelby GT-350

My cat loves to get on cars, but of course only after they’ve just been washed…

 

[umungus1122]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I’m going to run it 1000 more miles and then do another oil analysis before making any decisions. I found a couple mopar head gaskets for sale on one of the K-car groups and bought them both. They will be good to have around regardless as they are NLA from Chrysler.

The previous owner did not take care of the car like he should have. The car had set for many years before I obtained it and he was using conventional motor oil, which is considered a no no with Chrysler Turbo cars. There was also a vaccum leak that was causing the turbo to overboost to the point it was occasionally hitting the safety cut off. That’s all been fixed.

I can't stand that when people don't take proper care of their stuff. Glad it's in better hands now. Keep an eye on that coolant though!

 

[FreedomOne]

Awesome car. Thanks for the pics.

 

[addyguy]

Sharp car, very nice and clean, good save!
Those engines, while good, were very well known for HG issues; keep an eye on it or a failure may take out the whole engine.

 

[Threeofnine]

Sharp car, very nice and clean, good save!
Those engines, while good, were very well known for HG issues; keep an eye on it or a failure may take out the whole engine.

Definitely. The head gasket issues were almost always the result of people being cheap and using regular gas. These turbo engines require premium. However, if the previous owner was cheap enough to use conventional motor oil, he would probably cheap enough to use the cheapest gas available.

 

[Artem]

@Threeofnine — so you dumped whatever old oil was in there before and then sampled the current oil 1,000 miles later? No actual flush of some type to clean things out?

I wouldn’t brush off the possibility of coolant in the oil, especially of this engine is KNOWN for head gasket issues. I can’t believe some of the comments playing it off like it’s nothing.

 

[Threeofnine]

@Threeofnine — so you dumped whatever old oil was in there before and then sampled the current oil 1,000 miles later? No actual flush of some type to clean things out?

I wouldn’t brush off the possibility of coolant in the oil, especially of this engine is KNOWN for head gasket issues. I can’t believe some of the comments playing it off like it’s nothing.

I dumped the original oil, then ran mobile 1 for 500 miles or so. Dumped it and them ran mobile 1 again for 1000 miles and collected the sample.