Solvent in oil

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One of my friend have put in around 500ml paint solvent (prepsol, but i stored them in a oil bottle, so..........) into the engine, the total oil sump is about 5L.

What should I do now? should I just change the oil or give it some sort of flush? will it cause any damage if I just keep it like this?

Thanks for all your help!!!!!
 
No , don't continue to run it with the " makeshift flush ' in there. Just change the oil and filter .

Please don't store solvents in Cola or other alluring bottles either for the children's if any's safety .They don't flush out so easily .
 
That is around 1/2 quart I belive. That is a sizeable amount of solvent! How far or long has the vechile been driven? The reson I is because any damage that is going to take place from the thined out oil has already probably taken place if a load has been put on the engine. Most cheap solvents will evaperate in 20-30 minutes of driveing. I also know that you boys down under use some seriously thick oil 25W70 ect..... I doubt 500ml of cheap solvent would do much to the viscosity of such a thick oil.


P.S. Does your handle of Systema reflect an interest in the Russian style of hand to hand combat that goes buy the same name??
Tell us a bit more about the oil viscosity and if the vechile was already driven any. With the cost of oil down their it would seem like a waste to dumb an expensive oil due 500ml goof. 1/2 quart is not that big a deal.

Worst case let the thing idle for 30 minutes and drain it out and call it a flush! I would try to drain the fluid into a clean container and use it for top off oil or in lawn mower. IF you have frien with old beater car or truck maybe he can use it!!

[ November 30, 2003, 02:32 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]
 
"One of my friend have put in around 500ml paint
solvent prepsol"

It depends on the boiling point of the solvent.
If the solvents boiling point is below the normal
operating temperature of the oil, chances are
that the solvent evaporated quickly and was
burned in the engine through the PCV system.

If the boiling point of the solvent is above the
operating temperature of the oil, most of the
solvent will remain in the oil reducing its film strength.
 
Don't overreact. If you ran the engine to normal operating temp and more than 30 minutes after, the prepsol has probably evaporated out and gone out the tail pipe as combustion gasses after being burned in the engine. Not something you'd want to repeat, but it's not likely you did any serious harm, either. Nevertheless, an oil and filter change probably wouldn't be a bad idea. The old oil would make an interesting UOA.
 
I'd say you got a flush and now you should drain immmediately and change the filter. Even if it's true that the solvent was evaporated or burned, it still removed deposits that need to to be drained out.
Also, I would dispose of this oil and not use it in any other motor that was suggested above.
 
For what it is worth, piston aircraft engines have used avgas as a solvent in the oil to assist in cold starting. This has been done for years in the colder locations. Generally, a large quantity of fuel is pumped into the crankcase just before shutdown, where it mixes with the oil before the engine comes to a stop. The next morning, the oil is substantially thinner and the engine starts right up.

This seems to have little effect on engine life, as the engines still last the same length of time, roughly 2000 hours for a Lycoming. The one thing that must be done is more frequent oil changes, as the lead in the fuel ends up in the oil.

Chris
 
I'm currently unsing some 10W40 Pennzoil in the engine. Guess that would have some impact on my old oil, anyway, will get the oil drained and replaced tmr.

In fact, I'm worrying if the solvent would act like a degreaser in the bearing surfaces / dissolve those rubber bits and pieces in the engine.

PS: the name "Systema" is not related to Russian, but a Japanese air piston accessories manufacturer.
 
CUJET, that is interesting.. I've read a book about a German fighter pilot (Erich Hartmann) that spoke about his experiences on the Russian front. He mentioned that a Russian prisoner also showed them to put aviation fuel into the oil so they could get the motor started on those sub-0 mornings. He also explained how the gas evaporated after warm-up and said just do more frequent changes....
maybe that was the original 0w-40 oil??? he he

Probably time for that more frequent change in this case here too..
see y'all
Rando

[ December 01, 2003, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: ZR2RANDO ]
 
Hmm, Wonder if the practice of thinning the oil with avgas is related to the withdrawal of Mobil1 from the aviation market a few years back because it could not hold lead properly?
 
****,

Amsoil also came out with a 15w-50 synthetic aviation oil ("AvOil") in the late 1970's ...it worked just fine, but they took it off the market due to the cost of product liability insurance and the low volume of product they were selling.

Many experimental aircraft run the Amsoil Series 2000, 20w-50 oil in Lycoming engines (no, it's not certified by the FAA), and it seems to do very well. I've been up to Oshkosh several times and talked to some of these folks.

Ted
 
I'd suggest you have nothing to worry about in regards to engine damage, but if I were you, I'd nonetheless promptly change out the oil and filter.

Marvel Mystery Oil, an oil and gasoline additive here in the U.S., is composed of up to 30% mineral spirits (paint thinner), and (at least according to another message board, since I don't have a bottle of the stuff to refer to) it appears that you can add a quart of MMO to a big-block V-8 for long-term use. So that would equal about 350ml of mineral spririts in a 5 qt sump. So while I doubt if any damage has occurred, I'd nonetheless change the oil just to be safe. Here's the MMO website, if you're interested: http://www.turtlewax.com
 
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