suzuki sidekick o/c

[urrlord]

about 5 months ago i decided to start driving my sidekick again.it had been sitting about a year,the oil in it was kendall semi-synth 10w30 w/marvel mystery oil stabilizer(less than 3k miles).i noticed i was getting a bit of engine noise the first few minutes of running and bit of rattle when the engine was lugged down.
last month i decided to change the oil filter and top off the crankcase.upon removing the oil filter i found the oil in it was almost a gel type consistency.no wonder i was getting engine noise.i added a pint of marvel mystery oil and drove for a few hundred miles.
i then did another filter change and drained the crankcase and filled with a mix of valvoline max life 10w30 and 5w30 semi synth and synth.now most of the engine noise is gone,seems to rev easier and i think the mpg avg has went up a little looks like 21-22mpg from 20-21mpg .only went through 2 tanks so far so it is hard to tell for sure.
p.s. what would cause the gelling of the first oil mix?moisture absorption?

 

[JonnyHotcakes]

Don't add the MMO to your oil. That is most likely the problem.

 

[demarpaint]

I doubt it was the MMO, probably muck the MMO freed up after driving 3000 miles and then storing the car. A car should be stored with fresh oil, and I like to drive it at least 30 minutes before I store it. How long was the final ride before you put it away? If it was a very short trip it could have been stored with a lot of moisture and unburnt fuel in it. That would have burnt off if you took a nice long ride before dropping the oil, but the gunk would still be in the filter.

JMO,
Frank D

 

[urrlord]

the mmo in the first oil was - mmo oil stabilizer it was a thick lucas type product,not the thin mmo usually seen( i had picked it up at big lots cheap). i had read on one of the threads around here that some synths had a tendency to absorb water when sitting for extended periods.sounded odd to me.

 

[scoobie]

oh no, not the lucas stuff, check Bob's front page about lucas - bad news

 

[kingrob]

I'm not familiar with this particular MMO product, but as a rule if it's as thick as Lucas or STP I stay away from it. Having said that, the reason your oil turned to gel was because it's been sitting for a year. Moisture has set in to an oil that had around 3k miles on it, then stored for a year, and combined with something as thick as the Lucas products you were gellin'....

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: urrlord
the mmo in the first oil was - mmo oil stabilizer it was a thick lucas type product,not the thin mmo usually seen( i had picked it up at big lots cheap). i had read on one of the threads around here that some synths had a tendency to absorb water when sitting for extended periods.sounded odd to me.


Maybe that did cause the problem then, along with moisture and junk. I didn't know Marvel made anything like that, it must have been something discontinued.

Frank D

 

[kingrob]

I've found no mention of this product anywhere on the web. I'm kind of curious, because I've kept up to date on the MMO line for several years to see what kind of items they're pushing, and I've never heard of it.

 

[demarpaint]

I'm with you!

Frank D

 

[urrlord]

2-3 years ago big lots had a bunch of MMO products on the shelf.there were 4 oz bottles of penetrating oil,the regular bottles of MMO and quarts of MMO oil stabilizer.i bought 5 or 6 for around 2 dollars,i thought-- MMO so it should be good stuff.it was in the standard squeeze bottle shape,red plastic with a large MMO label.the liquid was red,smelled of wintergreen and IIRC not as thick as STP oil treatment.
i used it in several vehicles and several oil changes.no problems noted in the other vehicles engines.however they were 318's and slant sixes.
the 89 sidekick ,i had bought used as a third owner.the first used it as a tow-behind,the second used it to pull his boat(!!),and generally neglected it.used supertech 30 w/unknown oic's.when i got it the oil was black as copier toner.i did one oil change the week i bought it.it had lots of engine rattles.so the next oil change i used the kendall semi-synth and the MMO stabilizer and it quietened down the engine a good bit.then i let it sit for a year--and now we're back to the original post.

 

[demarpaint]

Interesting, I know they packed MMO in different sizes and might have called it Marvel Gas treatment or something along those lines. You learn something new every day. It is possbile that during the 3000 miles of driving before you stored the car the oil had some moisture/fuel in it that was never burnt off, and some it was sitting in the filter which might have collected it from driving, and that's what you're seeing.

I think an A-rx run will help. In the future store the car with a fresh fill of oil and a new filter, and make sure it had a nice long run before you put it away.

You can also go to the MMO website and ask about the product there and gain some more info from them.

HTH,

Frank D

 

[kingrob]

+1 there, Frank. The MMO forums are very to-the-point. Rich Kelly doesn't give you any [censored], he tells it like it is whether or not it puts MMO in a positive light or not. It's nice to be able to get a direct answer from someone that has a hand in the development of a product that doesn't feel the need to fuel funding with spurious claims.

 

[demarpaint]

Yes I've visited their forums, Rich Kelly seems very knowledgeable and to the point. Although the forums are new, MMO has a very large customer base going back several generations, and a lot of product success stories. That remark comes from a happy A-Rx user too!

Frank D