another oil thread - failures!!!

[SIR REAL ED]

With so many opinions & debates on what is the best brand, weight, price, etc of oil.....

It would be very interesting and informative to know if anyone ever experienced an oil failure that was not directly traceable to their own lack of maintenance and diligence?  ie: letting the oil level get toooooo low or using the wrong oil for the application.

Personally, I don't know of anyone who can honestly claim "I know the oil failed cause I did everything right!"

Looking forward to the stories MGers have to relate. 

Unfortunately, I have none to tell.......   

[Markcarovilli]

every oil I try have had the same results and I'm getting tired of it...

I make a bloody mess every single time no matter how careful or the amount of rags I use and never the same accident or problem repeats itself.  Failures for sure!

Mark

[Fontain25]

I've never heard of another Guzzi that broke a connecting rod. My V700 did back in the 80s. Rod broke off one inch below wrist-pin and just flailed everything - engine cases , cylinder sleaves , even got a big dent on camshaft. Not from lack of lubrication as far as I could determine - at the time I chocked it up to a defective rod. Was running Castrol 20w50.

[SIR REAL ED]

every oil I try have had the same results and I'm getting tired of it...

I make a bloody mess every single time no matter how careful or the amount of rags I use and never the same accident or problem repeats itself.  Failures for sure!

Mark

Sounds like a demand for a motorcycle oil diaper is out there waiting to be invented.

[SIR REAL ED]

I've never heard of another Guzzi that broke a connecting rod. My V700 did back in the 80s. Rod broke off one inch below wrist-pin and just flailed everything - engine cases , cylinder sleaves , even got a big dent on camshaft. Not from lack of lubrication as far as I could determine - at the time I chocked it up to a defective rod. Was running Castrol 20w50.

Very interesting.

That sounds like a manufacturing flaw, like a crack or surface defect that propagated, in the connecting rod to me.  I suspect an oil failure would have occurred in a bearing.

How many miles were on the bike?

[slopokes]

Years ago they had a oil box—- bag with sawdust inside— if I can remember rite they were fifty cents….

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^The old "Tips" books by Frank Wedge had many bodges, including several with Kotex. They'll soak up oil real good. That's all I'll say about that..

[kballowe]

One of the guys in our riding group has a GL1800 Gold Wing and #3 cylinder is down to 85 psi and it's using half a quart of oil every 1,000 miles now.  He uses the WalMart house brand Super Tech oil and filters and 8,000-ish mile oil change intervals.  He claims that his use of "el cheapo" oil and filters is the cause.  Not the 500,000+ miles showing on the odometer.

True story.

[SIR REAL ED]

One of the guys in our riding group has a GL1800 Gold Wing and #3 cylinder is down to 85 psi and it's using half a quart of oil every 1,000 miles now.  He uses the WalMart house brand Super Tech oil and filters and 8,000-ish mile oil change intervals.  He claims that his use of "el cheapo" oil and filters is the cause.  Not the 500,000+ miles showing on the odometer.

True story.

Did he ever tell you what the compression readings are on the other 5 cylinders?

I know a guy who bought the GL1800 and liked to brag about the low end torque.

Him:  "have you ever ridden route 43 from Buchanan up to the Parkway?"
Me:  "Sure.  Lots of times."
Him:  "I can ride those 15 mph switchbacks in fifth gear no problem."

[Beowulf]

I have experienced what I’d call an oil failure. But I chock it up to my younger stupidity of running to thin an oil for air cooled Vw motor based off a recommendation that I shouldn’t have listened to. Chevron oil.

I bought a truck with a regular maintenance log and it had a massive timing chain failure due to buildup from conventional oil. Engine was suppose to be synthetic motor oil. Motor craft oil in this case was what was used.

Both things I attribute to oil but can’t fault it for misapplications of use.

I have my favorite brands of course now and I really love frequent oil changes. I think it’s hard to go wrong and think similar weights of oil have similar failure rates when tested. I do notice depending on intervals and brand some do seem to run cleaner when I’m replacing parts. Love oil threads. I find them entertaining.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Riding my 72 Eldorado one day all of a sudden started to make a clatter like big End and the oil pressure dropped from ~ 40 to 5 PSI I thought I was looking at an expensive overhaul.
When I finally got around to stripping it down I took the RH tappet cover off and the rocker shaft for exhaust valve fell out on the ground.
It turned out the 6mm bolt that holds the shaft in place had worked its way out thus bleeding off all the pressure and let the shaft drop down to rattle on the inside of the rocker cover.
Happily with a replacement bolt the pressure is back up to 60 PSI when cold idling and the motor is very quiet.

[s1120]

Most of what I have seen is automotive from working for 25 years at a VW/Mazda dealer. VW was REAL picky about what oil they wanted you to use in their cars. We did see some oil related failures, but frankly all that I saw could be traced back to oil change intervals. Pushing out cheap oils to too many miles, or even good oils to the long extended drain times that they spec some times. Sludge, crud, and blocked passages caused failures. As far as the oil itself causing issues, the only thing I have really seen is flat tappet cam failures in old auto engines from the lack of zink in the new oils.

[Moparnut72]

One day back in the late '60s I was hanging out at the local BMW - Honda dealership in the service area. There was a discussion going about how Castrol oil was so much better than anything else. Of course there were the deniers. The owner was nearby working on a bike. He piped up with "the only damage I have seen was from lack of". End of discussion.
kk

[moto-uno]

  I gotta say any body mentioning Castrol oil as a good product in the 80's was simply wrong .
I worked at one of Canada's largest Yamaha dealerships then and would frequently use Castrol 20W50 .
It was supplied in 200 gallon drums to the dealership , so I could buy it cheaply. Every single time I did this ,
my oil pressure gauge read 10 psi lower at idle within 10 kms of the oil change . When I got paid , I used
Kendall 20W50 and the pressure in my Le Mans 2 gained 10psi . This must have happened at least 10 different
times while working there . Remember all oil viscosities must meet a minimum flow rate , not always the highest.
I haven't used ( and will never use a Castrol oil ) product again . A pressure gauge is kinda cheap . And even
if YMMV , use this product with some caution if you tend to ride hard !  Peter
And, Yes I did use the Castrol 20W50 .

[kballowe]

Many moons ago, when I was a young man - and dinosaurs roamed the earth..... I used to do a lot of work on automobile engines. 

The era of legendary extreme engine sludge.  We'd roll those engines out back and blast 'em with the steam cleaner BEFORE disassembly.
Phillips 66 "Trop-Artic" oil was popular at the time.  Those engines were relatively clean on tear-down.  Pennzoil had a bad reputation in those days.

[pressureangle]

Many moons ago, when I was a young man - and dinosaurs roamed the earth..... I used to do a lot of work on automobile engines. 

The era of legendary extreme engine sludge.  We'd roll those engines out back and blast 'em with the steam cleaner BEFORE disassembly.
Phillips 66 "Trop-Artic" oil was popular at the time.  Those engines were relatively clean on tear-down.  Pennzoil had a bad reputation in those days.

Ah yes, the 'Pennzoil Penance'. Motor oil with Paraffin base was death in the rust belt winters. Fords were particularly bad, often having a half inch of candle wax built up inside the valve covers. Seasonal maintenance was adding a half quart of diesel to the engine oil and idling 15 minutes hot before draining.
The only oil related failures I ever had in anything was on 883 Sportsters when racing very long tracks- the thick liners built up too much heat for weak oils and would scuff pistons. Castrol was an absolute no-no to everyone.

[SIR REAL ED]

  I gotta say any body mentioning Castrol oil as a good product in the 80's was simply wrong .
I worked at one of Canada's largest Yamaha dealerships then and would frequently use Castrol 20W50 .
It was supplied in 200 gallon drums to the dealership , so I could buy it cheaply. Every single time I did this ,
my oil pressure gauge read 10 psi lower at idle within 10 kms of the oil change . When I got paid , I used
Kendall 20W50 and the pressure in my Le Mans 2 gained 10psi . This must have happened at least 10 different
times while working there . Remember all oil viscosities must meet a minimum flow rate , not always the highest.
I haven't used ( and will never use a Castrol oil ) product again . A pressure gauge is kinda cheap . And even
if YMMV , use this product with some caution if you tend to ride hard !  Peter
And, Yes I did use the Castrol 20W50 .

Obviously, someone fudged their viscosity numbers.

It would be interesting to perform a test with different viscosity oils from the same manufacturer and monitor oil pressure both hot and cold.

[SIR REAL ED]

Ah yes, the 'Pennzoil Penance'. Motor oil with Paraffin base was death in the rust belt winters. Fords were particularly bad, often having a half inch of candle wax built up inside the valve covers. Seasonal maintenance was adding a half quart of diesel to the engine oil and idling 15 minutes hot before draining.
The only oil related failures I ever had in anything was on 883 Sportsters when racing very long tracks- the thick liners built up too much heat for weak oils and would scuff pistons. Castrol was an absolute no-no to everyone.

growing up outside of Rochester, NY, adding diesel fuel to the engine prior to changing oil was a regular routine.

to this day, I still think the engine Flush liquids they sell in quart can are just kerosine due to the smell.  you pay extra for the red dye?

one of my buddies had a Ford pickup with the 240 straight six in college.  high mileage.  it kept progressly burning more oil and losing power.  coming home for Christmas, he said it didn't have the power to go faster than 30 mph and burned 10 quarts of oil in 300 miles!  We replaced the engine with a 300 straight six over Christmas vacation and had to swap oil pans.  the oil looked fine, but there was enough oil control ring pieces in the oil pan that I suspect at least 3 pistons had no oil control rings on them at all.

ah, the adventures of being young and poor......

don't we all miss those days?

[kballowe]

Thankfully, Shell bought the Pennzoil/Quaker State brands in 2002 and changed the formulations. 

There are some of us that still refuse to buy yellow bottle Pennzoil.   

[Moparnut72]

Fords were particularly bad, often having a half inch of candle wax built up inside the valve covers.

Because of this problem my dad's first and last Ford was the reason my mom couldn't have the Mustang she wanted. It is my understanding the oil drain back holes were too high and not all of the oil would drain out of the valve covers and would then cook and sludge up. The the valve springs wouldn't get fresh oil, overheat and break. '58 Ranch Wagon with a 352 V8, very troublesome car.
kk

[s1120]

I think a lot of of us might be old enough to remember the year back in the late 70's when Penzsoil had messed something up BIG time and was blowing up engines left and right. Dont remember the exact year, I was a few years too young, but the auto shop lost a lot if engines, as did most all  repair shops that used it. Maybe it was a local thing, but you couldn't give Pennsoil away in the late 70's, early 80's around here.

[bad Chad]

Ahh, the fog of time at work.

[Moparnut72]

Pennzoil and Quaker State had a bad rap back East back in the day. Until recently I raced two stroke outboards so I did extensive research into two stroke oils. Surprisingly enough Pennzoil came out as one of the best. It was the absolute best as to amount of ash produced.
kk