Varnish on dipstick

[Bio-T]

quote:

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Originally posted by RF Overlord:

quote:

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Originally posted by BlazerLT:
Royal Purple is a G3 hydrocracked conventional oil and is not a true synthetic.

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I thought RP was one of the few true synthetics, along with M1, AMSOIL, and Red Line (plus a few other expensive and/or hard to find boutique oils)

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Royal Purple is Full synthetic oil. We have a member that keeps posting otherwise, but never backs it up with data.

 

[bulwnkl]

quote:

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Originally posted by 59 Vetteman:

quote:

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Originally posted by RF Overlord:

quote:

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Originally posted by BlazerLT:
Royal Purple is a G3 hydrocracked conventional oil and is not a true synthetic.

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I thought RP was one of the few true synthetics, along with M1, AMSOIL, and Red Line (plus a few other expensive and/or hard to find boutique oils)

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Royal Purple is Full synthetic oil. We have a member that keeps posting otherwise, but never backs it up with data.

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Royal Purple's PCMO was NOT a group IV- or V-based oil as of the winter of 1999-2000, according to the Royal Purple technical "people" (akin to Dave Granquist at RedLine or the folks on the other end of the technical 800 number at Mobil 1) at that time.

I had extensive conversations with a technical services man there over the course of ~3 days about their oil when I was changing my farm pickups (all gasoline-powered so no 15W40) over to synthetic. He told me directly after the second day's conversation that their oil was NOT ester- or PAO-based.

Whether this qualifies as "data" to anyone here or not is up to each individual to decide. However, that was the fact of RP's regular PCMO at that time. RP may well have reformulated to a group IV or V since then, but I consider that fairly unlikely without a big price increase or significant hoopla advertizing their "NEW" formulation, and I would require data to support a reformulation hypothesis in light of the info RP gave me directly. We did not particularly discuss their racing oils, as they would not have been appropriately applied to my farm pickups.

As I have posted before, my conversations with RP revealed that their additive package is what they reply on to do the "heavy lifting." This is much the same as Schaeffer Oil, which seems to be good product (I have not used any Schaeffer oil for 15 years), so it does not make RP bad or incapable, it just isn't any more of a "true" synthetic than most Castrol Syntec (gIII).

 

[Bio-T]

bulwnkl,

Time to call Royal Purple and let them clarify the situation. Their PCMO's are API certified and are a true synthetic. I don't sell any product, just a user of the 15W40 RP. Just trying to get the most current info on the board.


Royal Purple Motor Oils are composed of a proprietary formulation of synthetic base oils and synthetic additives containing iso-paraffinic dilutents.

 

[bbobynski]

My gosh. Hysteria over that dipstick picture...???... Varnish forming...???...

It looks perfectly fine to me or am I totally out to lunch...??? With that many miles on the motor the slight golden look to the dipstick is perfectly normal and NOT something to get upset in the least over.

Varnish forming on non-contact and non-functional surfaces like that is perfectly normal and fine and does not hurt anything nor indicate that any part of the engine is being damaged. That color is very typical of engines that run in hotter climates. I have seen teardowns of 150K engines from the desert southwest that have that color over the entire interior....never even considered that people might get "upset" over it....LOL. The engines that have that color look perfectly fine on wear surfaces such as bearings and piston skirts and such. That color on the dipstick means nothing.

Not that I am a fan of royal purple or anything but if that golden color is all that you have noticed keep on doing what you are doing and quite trying to analyze a problem that doesn't exist....

It is quite common to see even darker deposits on dipsticks where they pass close to the exhaust manifolds. Means nothing...other than that the dipstick is close to the exhaust manifold...LOL.


You guys REALLY need to get something serious to worry about....LOL LOL LOL...certainly NOT this.

 

[Stinky Peterson]

I agree with BB about this being normal. There tends to be some condensation of vapors in the dip stick tube because it it cooler than the block. We routinely see little solidified amber bubbles on the inside of dipstick that are from condensation.

 

[moribundman]

Hmm, at over 135k miles my car's dipstick has absolutely no varnish on it. And I've never cleaned it or even wiped it hard. When I had the valve covers off at around 122k miles, I saw very light yellow discoloration/varnish on non-moving engine parts. But the dispstick has always looked pristine -- for what it's worth.

 

[jacy]

Hi there ES.
I have to agree with Islander on the Toyota. I have a 2000 Toyaota Corolla. It had the same problem as you had with varnish on the dip stick and probably all in the motor. Castrol 5W30 was used for its entire life until I got it at 36,000 miles. So, I switched to Mobil 1 5W30 and changed it regularly for a few times; and it cleaned it off.

 

[JohnBrowning]

That is far from normal. I have never had varnish form on any dipstick ever! I have seen it on other peoples but never on my vechiles or any of the vechiles I have ever taken care of! Something is not right!!! Your combination of oil, driving cycle and OCI are not optimum ! SO you either need to change your driveing habits, change oil more often or step up to a better oil! Mechanicly you could have anissue like a leaking injector, bad thermostat, badly pluged up egr or pcv system etc... It is not normal at all! That is like someone saying it is normal to have fungus or mold growing on your skin or that itis normal to have pluged p arterys!! While both of the above may be more common they we know it is not normal!

 

[Amkeer]

I agree that varnish is not normal. My 4-Runner has 96000 miles on it and no varnish. Its had a steady diet of Mobil 1 10w30 for the last 30000 miles.

None of my vehicles have ever had that varnish, but then again I check the oil and clean the dipstick every week

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner,2.7 liter, 4 cylinder, Mobil 1 5w30 ODO 15600
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner,3.0 liter,6 cylinder, Mobil 1 10w30 ODO 96200
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

 

[Dr. T]

es, how did you successfully remove it?

 

[Stinky Peterson]

We do see it here where it is colder and I don't worry about it.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

I had this varnish on the honda accord I purchased with 113000 miles. Auto-rx cleaned most of it off except the top that didn't get much oil. Spilled some auto-rx on the floor and used it to clean the rest of the dip stick completely clean. It also turned the gold metal I see thru the filler hole to aluminum color. I am guessing heat does this. Have not seen it on my other car with mobil 1 and 6000 mile changes. Must be heat plus to long a change interval and maybe pcv problems. I also installed a new OEM pcv valve. The more I think about this I think 59vetteman has it right. PCV valve would allow heat to build up and cause the varnish.

[ April 22, 2005, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: TR3-2001SE ]

 

[ericgl]

quote:

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Originally posted by 59 Vetteman:

Royal Purple Motor Oils are composed of a proprietary formulation of synthetic base oils and synthetic additives containing iso-paraffinic dilutents.

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'Iso-paraffinic diluents': could be group I.

 

[Blue99]

Royal Purple Motor Oils are composed of a proprietary formulation of synthetic base oils and synthetic additives containing iso-paraffinic dilutents.


Clearly, RP is making a distinction between the synthetic base oils and the dino carrier oil used for the additives.

This phrase would not make sense if the RP base oils were GRP III, as by definition, GRP III is almost 100% iso-paraffinic and addition of more of a like substance does not create a "dilution".

 

[ebaker]

It seems like all the vehicles I've worked on over the years get some varnish on the dipsticks eventually. I think it's normal and does not indicate a problem.

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by bbobynski:

It is quite common to see even darker deposits on dipsticks where they pass close to the exhaust manifolds. Means nothing...other than that the dipstick is close to the exhaust manifold...LOL.

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Without a doubt; b bobynski is 100% right! What you see is oil that has been cooked by the manifold. On most vehicles, the dipstick comes very close to the manifolds. In my Z28, the dipstick is black right where it comes close to the manifolds. It gets MUCH hotter than the section submerged in oil. In Toyota Corollas, the dipstick passes right between the 2 center exhaust outlets.....so it's being cooked from both side.

As B Bobynski said, nothing to freak about....perfectly normal!

Now, if you see rust, as I have on some Fords, there is likely a problem with your PCV or very short trips as daily driving.