Oil Related Failures? Anyone Know of Any?

[Nickdfresh]

Well? I think they're pretty rare...

The only oil related failures I personally have been told of (an obviously we're not talkin' abuse here such as oil starvation, kooky additives, or decade-long OCIs) was the "Yellow Goose Oil incident."

In the Buffalo, NY area, there was a now defunct regional chain of convenience stores called 'Yellow Goose Markets' and gas stations that sold their own line of branded oil (probably never meeting the current specs, at least since the 60s [SB]). A bad batch of the oil roasted about half-a-dozen motors in the early 1990s I think. The oil was refined by a NYS refiner (that rhymes with "inferior"

), which had to pay for some rebuilt motors...

So, I guess I'm asking for anecdotal (story time) instances of actual engines seizing up, or suffering severe quantifiable damage, due to an oil not performing while within the prescribed drain interval and at the appropriate level.

Is there any reason for the paranoia? Is the oil base, weight (within reason), and brand really make any difference?

 

[LargeCarManX2]

The paranoia would be from the outside issues that contaminate oil....ie...fuel, coolant, dirt, etc. Any of these can ruin an oil in nothing time flat...so even if I have 1,000miles on my oil change and my carb dumps massive quanitys of fuel into my engine/oil...that oil can/will go south in a short time. That's why I check oil often.

I am sure some oil executives have heard of cover-ups because of blending or mixing batches wrong...anyone with knowledge...without naming names of brands care to share?

 

[ProStreetCamaro]

My friend almost had an oil related failure. His 9.50 in the 1/4 pontiac astro has a mild 468 cubic inch big block. For 4 years he ran the good old green kendal racing oil with zero problems. He decided to try Amsoil and the very first pass down the track his oil pressure was jumping all over the place. He ran it one more time and same problem. Come to find out the oil was foaming up. He switched back to kendal while still at the track and problem solved.

 

[Master ACiD]

i posted this once but i had a friend with a mid 80's trans am v8. he tried a 5w20 on the advice some forum members here and blew his motor very quickly. sheared the teeth off the cam gear all in 1 direction.
that car lasted for decades on whatever he used but it blew within minutes of warming up the 5w20.

 

[BradC]

There's a member on another forum I belong to that swears up and down that QS and Pennzoil still cause engine sludge in alloy block/head engines, resulting in engine failures.

 

[paulo57509]

The only oil related failures I've seen are from oil that wasn't changed regularly. Usually the tell-tale signs is a rod thru the pan.

Both cases that I've been witness to (same vehicle, same owner over ~5 year period) was a SBC in a '76 Chevrolet C10. In both cases, the oil that was left in the pan was so thick, I could suspend the main bearing saddle bolts upright in the oil (grease??) and they wouldn't sink or fall over.

Another case was a Ford 302 in a Fairmont station wagon. A piece of metal debris broke of from someplace (I couldn't really tell where the piece came from) and got sucked into the oil pump, locking it up and the engine starved for oil. What made this particularly bad was the oil pump pick up was so plugged with sludge that the screen kind of sucked up into the pickup housing exposing an unfiltered pickup tube which allowed the debris to enter the pump.

 

[falconman]

There was a problem back in the early 1980's with Quaker State oil gelling up under certain weather/temperature conditions (no,this isn't the wax myth). It was from crystalization of the oil due to a problem with the VI improver. For more information on this, see Tom NJ's post from 10/20/06 on the "Pour Points" thread.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Yeah I heard about QS ruining engines in the eighties...from my father who used QS until an engine blew and was full of sludge when he rebuilt it...I had never heard of Pennzoil sludge until I got here...but I grew up in Florida...still can't convince father that QS is okay now...His dad used Valvoline from the forties until he died...it is I wish I knew more about the QS problems because my dad was the only one I ever head this from...a lot of people in Nebraska are wary of Pennzoil though...Yes I know both are good oils today...

 

[Camu Mahubah]

When my father's engine blew and he rebuilt it...he switched to Valvoline like his father used and ingrained in my head "Do not use QS!"...alas I know better and have used both Pennzoil and Quaker State with no problems...I remember rumors of flat-tappet cams failing when Mobil 1 was used in the seventies...but only rumors...I was born in 79...so I really wasn't there...Today's oils are so good one could go maybe 20 to 30 thousand without failure...this is not good but I bet they could go this far...I repeat this is not good...but I bet they can go farther than you think before engine suffers oil-related failure...

 

[Kestas]

The closest I've come to a failure is a no-start condition with my 85 Omni. I ran only Castrol 20W-50 in it. I couldn't start the engine at 0°F conditions.

 

[Panzerman]

My parents always had Buicks and my Dad always used Quaker State, Deluxe Blend, I think it was. He didnt change oil alot, Iam thinking once or twice a year, I remember helping him change a valve cover on a 1978 Skylark, It was caked with a black tar under the valve cover. I was only 10 and thought that is what they were suppose to look like, I knew better when I got older. Funny thing is all his cars ran over a 100,000 miles and he junked them from rusting out, none of them ever had engine trouble other than minor leaks. He never touched the transmissions or coolant. Unless to add.

 

[wantin150]

I had a 1983 Nissan pickup, 4cly, not sure of the displacement though (long time ago, and definitely pre-Bitog). I once went 50,000 miles (yep, you read it correctly) between oil changes. It leaked so much oil that I just kept it topped off (eventually used a 20W50). I had the oil changed (after the 50k) right before a 900 mile trip to NY. Ran like a champ (toasted the AC compressor on the trip) the whole trip up and back. Ran it for a year or two after and it blew a head gasket. Not really 100% oil related but could have been?

 

[nascarnation]

Definitely an interesting thread topic.

I believe many folks on BITOG are OCD relative to lube related issues despite never having encountered one.
Of course there a many lube "related" failures due to running out of lube - aka oil consumption without oil replenishment.

Personally I'm still looking for one of those millions of cars dead along the byways of America which have failed due to Fram oil filters......

 

[JohnBrowning]

You do not have to look far. BMW,DB and Audi have all had some serious engine issues when various API aproved oil's were used in place pf some of the harder to find and more costly oil's that are on their aproved list or meet their spec.'s!!! Nothing like bulk 5W30 in a high performance I6!

 

[bluesubie]

Subaru of America thinks that there are enough of them to change the mandatory OCI for turbos to severe service (3,750 miles) effective MY 2008 (probably partially due to screens in the oil line getting clogged).

"Nothing like bulk 5W30 in a high performance ... turbo!". Great line.

-Dennis

 

[mikeg5]

well if you run an oil based on what someone said here and not what is recommended you are the only one to blame. not the oil. its pretty simple.. besides there are only a very very few people on this board that i would take advice from.

 

[Mike_dup1]

Quote:

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He decided to try Amsoil and the very first pass down the track his oil pressure was jumping all over the place. He ran it one more time and same problem. Come to find out the oil was foaming up. He switched back to kendal while still at the track and problem solved.

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Just can't go without making some remark to try to discredit Amsoil.

 

[lovcom]

My ex-wife's '98 Civic 4-door has been neglicted since the day she bought it new. 15,000 and 20,000 OCI's, and now at 90,000 miles, it runs okay, but it burns a quart every 1,500 miles, has much less power then at 15,000 miles, and makes all kinds of engine noises, perhaps from never having the valves adjusted/checked..basically the car is running fine, but one can't help wonder if it would have run much better, smoother, and with more power had she not neglicted it....IMHO, this is by enlarge oil failure.

 

[Mystic]

I agree with you. The best way to cause motor oil failure is to avoid changing the oil often enough. Oil is not that expensive. Buying $10.00-$20.00 dollars worth of oil is a lot cheaper than buying a new engine.

I think any name brand motor oil is okay except for some cars and trucks that require higher quality oil. A person should definitely avoid SA and SB rated oils that you can still occasionally find in some places. And if I found some old SG or SF rated oil in some dark barn somewhere I would not use that in my car that requires higher rated motor oil. Somebody would have to be crazy to put some cheap conventional motor oil in a new Corvette that requires synthetic oil. And I really think a person should change their own oil. You don't know what kind of bulk oil you might be getting at a quick lube place. Probably some cheap 10W30 bulk oil that does not meet the requirements of modern Honda and Ford cars and trucks.

 

[ProStreetCamaro]

Quote:

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Quote:

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He decided to try Amsoil and the very first pass down the track his oil pressure was jumping all over the place. He ran it one more time and same problem. Come to find out the oil was foaming up. He switched back to kendal while still at the track and problem solved.

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Just can't go without making some remark to try to discredit Amsoil.

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Now why would i lie about it? This was about 8 years ago and he may have gotten some from a bad batch who knows? The fact remains that it did not work in his engine.