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

 

[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?

 

[TiGeo]

Grab a sample of the oil in the drum for oil analysis at Blackstone/similar. Surprised you continued to use it after the first occurrence. Is it possible someone thought this was a waste oil/whatever container and dumped something in it based on where the drum was stored? Based on your description I imagine an old shed on a rural property and someone bee-boppin' along looking for a place to dump some old whatever fluid and well here you are. Water ingress into container? Maybe several short interval changes with a basic oil will help remove the gunk. Good luck!

 

[magneticanomaly]

I have given samples both of unused oil from the drum, and the gelled stuff, to the oil dealer, in hope of getting them or their source to get an analysis. Perhaps one or more of you would be so kind as to suggest suitable , maybe even reasonably-priced, analytical labs?
I am not trying to diss the manufacturer of the oil, just giving all the information I have in hope of getting a useful answer.
Storage conditions: seasonally varying ambient temperature, unheated shed.
Nobody dumped anything in the drum.
No sign of gross water contamination, i.e. no milkiness.
By "drillings" I mean engine oil passages/galleries.
I MAY be an idiot, but I do not think I have given good grounds for that assumption, yet.
I am here because I ASSUME that there is a lot of knowledge about oil here. Can anyone definitively tell me that X % water will cause Y types of oil to rapidly polymerize, and suggest a mechanism?
I agree that the occurrence is bizarre. That is why I am looking for help understanding it it. I have better things to do than make up sad stories. I could post a photo of black gel, but I doubt that would have any probative value.

Many thanks to those who have offered information or additional questions.

 

[kschachn]

I am here because I ASSUME that there is a lot of knowledge about oil here. Can anyone definitively tell me that X % water will cause Y types of oil to rapidly polymerize, and suggest a mechanism?

Water won't polymerize oil. It can do other things but it won't turn it into a 20 Durometer rubber.

Where would this water be coming from anyway?

 

[KrisZ]

This kind of a drastic thickening, provided we’re not being trolled here, would really only be caused by contamination. Normal engine operation would not do it to a fairly fresh oil.

Perhaps someone added something to these engines? Bad neighbor, co-worker, ex-wife?
This would be my guess.

 

[TiGeo]

I have given samples both of unused oil from the drum, and the gelled stuff, to the oil dealer, in hope of getting them or their source to get an analysis. Perhaps one or more of you would be so kind as to suggest suitable , maybe even reasonably-priced, analytical labs?
I am not trying to diss the manufacturer of the oil, just giving all the information I have in hope of getting a useful answer.
Storage conditions: seasonally varying ambient temperature, unheated shed.
Nobody dumped anything in the drum.
No sign of gross water contamination, i.e. no milkiness.
By "drillings" I mean engine oil passages/galleries.
I MAY be an idiot, but I do not think I have given good grounds for that assumption, yet.
I am here because I ASSUME that there is a lot of knowledge about oil here. Can anyone definitively tell me that X % water will cause Y types of oil to rapidly polymerize, and suggest a mechanism?
I agree that the occurrence is bizarre. That is why I am looking for help understanding it it. I have better things to do than make up sad stories. I could post a photo of black gel, but I doubt that would have any probative value.

Many thanks to those who have offered information or additional questions.

I'd just use Blackstone. You can go to their website and order test kits for free.