American XT 10w-30 3600 miles, 1978 Ford Granada

[SS1970chrysler]

1978 Ford Granada 250 I6 carb/ auto.
oil used: American XT 10w-30
Miles used: 3600
Miles on car: 47,096
added: 2 qts
sample date: 12/04/2011
(new#, old#)
Aluminum- 12, 10
chromium- 3, 3
iron- 78, 64
copper- 6, 5
lead- 426, 618
tin- 0, 0
molybdenum- 61, 29
nickel- 0, 0
manganese- 2, 2
silver- 0, 0
titanium- 0, 0
potassium- 6, 0
boron- 76, 20
silicon- 11, 8
sodium- 10, 13
calcium- 2535, 2692
magnesium- 32, 57
phosphorus- 945, 1145
zinc- 1013, 1366
barium- 2, 1

SUS viscosity @ 210 F- 59.5, 76.0
CST viscosity @ 100 C- 10.08, 14.51
flashpoint in F- 380, 370
fuel %- antifreeze %- 0, 0
water %- 0, 0
insolubles- 0.4, 0.4

 

[Chris B.]

That is a ton of iron and lead.......

 

[dnewton3]

Yup. That a LOT of Fe and Pb for only 3.6k miles! In fact, that car hardly ever gets driven does it? 33 years old and only 47k miles?

Typically, those old I-6 engines are pretty reliable (as much as a carb'd engine can be). But this isn't "normal". I would suspect there's somthing afoot ...

Do you add any kind of oil or fuel additive?
Had a major air leak previously that has since been repaired?
Do you do a bunch of really short, cold start trips?

 

[Jim Allen]

Not good!

Do I recall correctly that on your last UOA the speculation was that the high lead was residual from leaded fuel or something?

I haven't seen many UOAs for engines like this and don't know enough to call this anything. I don't think it's oil related, though, so doubt a change of brand or type will help.

My advice is to be extra vigilant and watch for trouble. With that much metal, seems to me something is slowly coming unglued and there's only two ways to know exactly what. Let whatever is failing fail or do exploratory surgery.

What is "American XT" oil?

 

[addyguy]

Numbers aren't nearly as good as I thought they'd be - with all the highway driving, they should be better.

I wonder if with all the sitting and short-trip driving the car did BEFORE you started highway commuting with it caused a lot of corrossion that is still 'working it's way out'....

My 'instinct' is to go thicker, but I think you are already planning that, going back to 10W-40 for the summer after your winter run is done.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

The car is driven 92 miles each day. 8 miles city, 3 of which are straight uphill, and 84 miles highway at speeds of 60-65 mph. Over 10k put on it since March 2011. This junkyard jewel was used as the family "loaner" car and seldom driven until I needed it this year. Numbers may have been lower had I topped off the oil and drove another week. it was 1qt low at change.
Prior to this winter, I've always used 10w-40 and occasionally 15w-40 added if low.
Still runs nice and smooth without a miss and no noises. The only thing noteworthy is that the carb "fell apart" again during this OCI and had to be reassembled. About every 8-10k miles, the screws holding the bottom plate to the carb main body loosen up enough that the carb will rock on the engine. This last time I tightened them, I put some clear nail polish on the ends of the threads to try locking them better. Not much else I can do.

 

[addyguy]

Although it would be more changing, I'd be inclined to start doing a few 2500-mile changes to try and flush out metal, carbon, lead, and possible sludge that might be in the engine.

However, if it runs well, and consumption is stable, maybe just keep doing 3-4k changes, and see how it shakes out.

Another possibility is that if your carb is having problems, you could be getting massive fuel dilution that is accelerating wear. The top-off oil will prop up the visc., but if you are getting a lot of fuel wash into the engine, that could be wrecking the lubing abilities of the oil.

 

[fdcg27]

I agree.
I wonder whether the metal levels found aren't wear, but merely an accumulation of deposits over 30+ years of barely being used?
I'm not so sure that fuel dilution is a problem, since fuel looks reasonable in the UOA for a carbed car and flashpoint is decent.
Viscosity also looks pretty good, and I would expect significant fuel dilution to reduce viscosity noticeably.
A few short runs might be in order, with no UOAs.
After a few such runs, another UOA might show dramatic improvement.
Only iron and lead look bad in this UOA, and lead did trend down.
I realize that this is like saying that the subject is doing well, except for his death.
The excess lead could be from deposits from leaded fuel, and the iron could be the result of the slow cleaning of internal rusting.

 

[Al]

In addition..time for 40wt. Start looking at replacements.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

After this OCI, I'll be using a different filter as my last old-stock Fram is on there now. Next up is 4 STP 8A's that I have here.

I do have my eye on a replacement or 2, but not anytime soon.

 

[Jim Allen]

The more I think about this, the more I'm inclined to advise, "Run her till she dies." That will be a long time or a short one. The car may have a problem or it may not. If it does, you'll soon find out what it is. If not, you'll have many more happy years with this car. All this analyzing is probably taking the fun out of just driving the thing. Maintain it as you have been and forget about this for a while. Update us in a couple of years, or sooner if fecal matter decides to occur.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

I'll be doing one more UOA when the current fill of MS5k is done, mostly because I'm curious about the new formula to see if it's worth the smell. Most cars of this era were just about dead near 80-100k miles. This one will be near 80k by this time next year if I'm still running it. Either way, I've gotten my $ from it and then some. Pending results of next testing, I'll be sticking with cheapest oil and 4k throughout the year.

 

[addyguy]

I'm also curious about consumption will be with this latest fill...no 'left over' additives of 10W-40 to affect consumption...just a straight 30-wt. SN/GF oil.

 

[steve20]

Unleaded was already in ample supply in 78. IF you wanted to use leaded fuel in that era you had to either buy an plastic adapter or enlarge the fuel inlet opening going to the tank (I did both)----so it's not like this car saw a ton of leaded fuel. I think it's probably now a normal wearing vehicle from that era, something did happen to it at some point to cause 1 qt/1200 miles consumption

 

[addyguy]

I've got a 1981 Edition of 'Lemon Aid' used car guide, and for 1974-1977 Fords, it lists a 'piston scuffing' defect as being common for the 2.3 I-4, the 200 I-6, and the 250 I-6.

Your engine, althought a 1978, may have a problem like this, and will simply always wear badly.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Good possibility. So far, I can say consumption is way down. That will be for another time.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
The only thing noteworthy is that the carb "fell apart" again during this OCI and had to be reassembled. About every 8-10k miles, the screws holding the bottom plate to the carb main body loosen up enough that the carb will rock on the engine. This last time I tightened them, I put some clear nail polish on the ends of the threads to try locking them better. Not much else I can do.
That was very common on those. Putting new lockwashers on the screws may help.