1988 Cadillac Brougham Serv-Pro XHD30 4900 miles

[SS1970chrysler]

1988 Cadillac Brougham-307 v8 124,779 miles
fill- Service pro XHD30 + Bosch 3423
duration- 4900 miles
qts added- 4 (DGauto 10w-40 SF)
current# Prev#'s , ,
aluminum- 23 18,19,23
chromium- 5 2,3,5
iron- 149 56,76,140
copper- 16 3,3,6
lead- 106 10,12,28
molybdenum-43 72,93,11
nickel- 0 1,1,0
manganese-2 1,1,2
silver- 0 0,0,0
titanium- 1 1,3,30
potassium-3 6,2,4
boron- 15 39,45,8
silicon- 16 12,10,10
calcium- 1920 2976,2681,2306
magnesium-25 15,16,19
phosphorus-679 1087,885,854
zinc- 900 1310,1021,1081
barium- 0 0,0,0

SUS visc.@210F- 69.9
Cst visc.@100C- 12.93
Flashpoint in F- 390
Fuel%- antifreeze%- 0
water%- 0
Insolubles%- 0.5


"Something has changed since the last sample. We found a lot more lead and tin this time,
showing some excess bearing wear. Iron and copper (steel and brass/bronze parts) shot up as well. This run wasn't much longer than the last, so it would've been nice if metals were steady. Silicon read high and it might be abrasive dirt getting past the air filter, so give it a quick inspection to make sure all is well. It might be from a harmless sealer/lube. The viscosity was thick, probably due to the 10W/40 you added. Watch oil pressure and stay under 4K miles for now. Check back."

This run was virtually all city and being stuck in construction. Less than 500 highway miles this time. last run was 50/50.
Also used DGauto (dollar general) SF 10w-40 for top-off as this one eats oil. I will not do so again, nor should anyone else. Air filter has about 17k on it at present.
Fuel filter, fuel pump, ignition module, oil PSI switch, and PS belt changed during this run.

 

[Barkleymut]

so you added 4 quarts of the Dollar General oil? Is that stuff that bad?

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Originally Posted By: Barkleymut
so you added 4 quarts of the Dollar General oil? Is that stuff that bad?

Apparently. This stuff does clearly say SF and 1988+earlier vehicles only on it. I wouldn't buy it again. I typically burn about 1qt every 1200 miles in this car and thought this stuff would be good enough for that. AXT from family Dollar is ok, but this stuff is not.
This car is a junkyard find that I use for work and occasional civil war event. Not too many cars left that I can lay down a musket in the back seat.
it also says in my owners' manual not to use 10w-40 in this car. it recommends various 30's(5w,10w,SAE30) and 15w-40 in place of 10w-40.

 

[fdcg27]

Yeah, I'd say that the DG oil did nothing good for this engine.
I can't imagine that the engine would otherwise have begun shedding metal at the rates that it did in this run.
At least we now have a UOA showing that this oil isn't very good and probably doesn't really meet the requirements of the obsolete API SF spec.
After all, we used API SE and SF oils through the 'eighties and our engines didn't grenade.
Your car probably speced an API SF when new, although it might have speced an SG.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Yeah, I'd say that the DG oil did nothing good for this engine.
I can't imagine that the engine would otherwise have begun shedding metal at the rates that it did in this run.
At least we now have a UOA showing that this oil isn't very good and probably doesn't really meet the requirements of the obsolete API SF spec.
After all, we used API SE and SF oils through the 'eighties and our engines didn't grenade.
Your car probably speced an API SF when new, although it might have speced an SG.

I'd be tempted to do a VOA on the stuff as I have a 1/2 qt left at work for use on the machinery there, but don't think it's needed. I'll stick with AXT and QS for top-offs as usual. QSGB is cheaper around here than even ST lately.

 

[fdcg27]

Maybe PQIA could be encouraged to do a VOA of this stuff?
They have outed a number of truly bad oils and this one does look truly bad.

 

[Red91]

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea for PQIA to test the stuff. Of course, attention has to be brought to it on quite a bigger scale than BITOG. Most people just grab the DG oil and put it in, and if it doesn't immediately blow up, they assume it's fine.

 

[Red91]

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea for PQIA to test the stuff. Of course, attention has to be brought to it on quite a bigger scale than BITOG. Most people just grab the DG oil and put it in, and if it doesn't immediately blow up, they assume it's fine.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

I'd used the Family Dollar store brand (AXT) for years as top-off and 1st run oil in recently bought vehicles with good results, but this stuff is little better than ND. I'm slowly shifting driving duties over to my '63 Chrysler, but planning on keeping the Caddy around until either a better replacement is found, or at least until the road construction project going on near work is completed. Not quite halfway done there.
Just took the caddy for 600+ mile trip last weekend to Virginia with no issues and it consumed virtually no oil for the 1st time.
UOA coming on 1st run in '63 Chrysler soon...

 

[901Memphis]

dollar general oil isn't bad oil, it clearly marked api sf and as such should be considered inferior to proper api SL/SM/SN oils. Quaker State conventional is a much better to off.

No need to do a VOA on an oil that is inferior but properly labeled, if people are putting that in their new cars shame on them, that is why there in an owners manual.

I would venture to say this is almost normal uoa for that engine around its early life but clearly better wear will result from a proper moreover modern oil.

 

[fdcg27]

What some of us were trying to point out was that this oil probably does not meet the obsolete API SF standard.
I had a number of cars that ran quite a number of miles on API SF oils and I doubt that those oils performed as poorly as this one did in the OP's engine.

 

[Rob_Roy]

I would just run 15w-40 in it.