Oil gelling

[magneticanomaly]

I bought Mobil Delvac 1300 Super HD multigrade engine oil by the drum, to save money. Have a pump mounted on the drum, in a shed. Takes me several years to use it up. I change oil not very regularly, but after a few thousand miles or a year or so. Do not drive a lot. Run this oil in everything, from lawnmower to antique tractor to 1950s truck to modern (20-year-old) Subaru.

Over the last year, I have started to find oil thickened to tar, in more than one vehicle. Made a 50-mile trip in my old truck on Friday, ran fine, good oil pressure all the way, and when I got ready to start home I checked oil and found none on the stick......long story short, crankcase (and oil filter, and oil pump, and every passage was full of what acted like, maybe 20 durometer rubber. I had changed a crankcase full of badly thickened oil out of this truck, replaced oil twice, only a couple of months go, maybe 500 miles. Now that I think of it, I drained badly thickened oil out of a Subaru a few months ago, replaced the oil, ran it a few miles and replaced it again, then the engine seized up a month later. Lost a bearing in a Yanmar tractor last Fall. Same oil in all. The unused oil from the drum looks fine.

I have heard of engine oil gelling under SEVERE service, but I do not operate this equipment any differently than I have for 50 years, and never had this problem before. I am going to take samples to the oil distributor, but expect no light or satisfaction there.

Anyone have relevant ideas or experiences (including maybe a good solvent for the "rubber" that I am going to have to clean out of all the drillings in the truck engine)?

 

[Oillover]

What conditions is this drum stored in? (temps etc?)
IIRC, oil exposed to the elements deteriorates faster than fresh oil from a sealed container.
Which is why I only purchase 5 liter jugs and use them accordingly.

 

[dnewton3]

So, you've damaged or ruined at least three engines (truck; Subaru; tractor) and somehow think you've "saved money" using a bulk drum? And your greatest concern is finding a solvent to presumably help dissolve the remnants.
I find this hard to believe, TBH. But I'll play along ...


Send in a VOA of the oil from the drum, and send in some oil for UOAs as well.
Post the results in the proper forums here.

 

[kschachn]

Not the first time we’ve had new users post that a specific brand has “siezed their engine” or otherwise had some sort of catastrophic failure.

What are the “drillings” in the engine? Got some pictures?

 

[walterjay]

Weird

 

[Rand]

Having a tough time with this tale. Please post pics.

 

[spasm3]

None of us can help much without a uoa and a voa from the existing drum.

I agree with @kschachn in this instance.

 

[kschachn]

This is one similar thread from the past, there were others:

J

Thread 'My Suv had a heart attack, too much Bacon? Help!'

Mar 5, 2018

Long time occasional lurker of BITOG, but still newb on this forum so please excuse my etiquette.

This will be unbelievable to many.. but watch the videos. I am trying to figure out what to do. I figured you guys and gals will go nuts over this.

So long story short My new oil has gelled up/thicken in my engine. I was able to drain the [censored] out with the engine warm. Waiting on Blackstone for results.

Oil is M1 EP 0w20 with 1,500 miles put in in Nov/2017. Hybrid SUV 08 Lexus RX400h has 126k miles. Oil changed every 5k for the past 4 years with M1 filter. Coolant is clean and pink...

• Jooksing
• Replies: 378
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

 

[cptbarkey]

Anyone have relevant ideas or experiences (including maybe a good solvent for the "rubber" that I am going to have to clean out of all the drillings in the truck engine)?

Are you drunk?

 

[HemiBenny]

1st post.
Bizarre story.

I'm not buying it.

OP, we need some proof of this bizarre occurrence.

Over the last year, I have started to find oil thickened to tar, in more than one vehicle. Made a 50-mile trip in my old truck on Friday, ran fine, good oil pressure all the way, and when I got ready to start home I checked oil and found none on the stick......long story short, crankcase (and oil filter, and oil pump, and every passage was full of what acted like, maybe 20 durometer rubber. I had changed a crankcase full of badly thickened oil out of this truck, replaced oil twice, only a couple of months go, maybe 500 miles. Now that I think of it, I drained badly thickened oil out of a Subaru a few months ago, replaced the oil, ran it a few miles and replaced it again, then the engine seized up a month later. Lost a bearing in a Yanmar tractor last Fall. Same oil in all. The unused oil from the drum looks fine.

C'mon now.

This oil thickening issue has arisen several times with different vehicles, and you didn't realize that the common denominator was the oil?

I think you're messing with us.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Multi grade ? You mean viscosity? That would be the key word for storage jelling, yeah I'll here the music now.
Never ever seen nice straight SAE 30 Jell so?

 

[The Critic]

Possible water contamination into the oil drum during storage?