Sludge in new oil

[Moose016]

I was doing an oil change and I was finishing pouring my first bottle of synpower 10-30 into the engine and I noticed this large piece of sludge that splattered out. I stuck my finger in and got as much of it out of the oil fill port as I could. I decided to pour the other courts into a plastic container to see what was coming out before I put it in the engine. Everyone had this sludge down towards the bottom of the bottle (pictures attached). I have compiled a lot of oil over the years from sales so I have had this oil for a little while (probably 3 years) but I know a lot of members stockpile and use oil older than that. Given that this is motor oil and synthetic at that, I would think new in a sealed bottle it should not be formulating this sludge. Has anyone else encountered this? If anyone has any experience with this I'd love to hear about it. I might reach out to Valvoline and see what they say.























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[xxch4osxx]

Additives coming out of suspension?

 

[dlayman]

Wow that is nasty. It's not sludge, per se. It looks like some of the formulation has precipitated out of the oil. I'm very surprised that would happen. How was the oil stored, was it ever exposed to extremely cold temperatures? It's very possible that if you had used the oil, everything would have gone back into solution once heated up, but I sure wouldn't want to chance it, or have it cause problems with the oil pump or filter. It would be interesting to share this with valvoline and see what they have to say.

 

[zvm77us]

when their additive comes out its like brown specs. This looks like wax maybe? If you call them they will email you a shipping label so they can send it for testing, make sure to save a bottle as evidence

 

[Falken]

Looks like wax. This and Castrol GTX, only in a beater.

 

[walk23]

It's wax.

 

[Moose016]

I agree, it has a sort of waxy texture to it, not really sludge like from oil that has been left in the engine too long.. The consistency reminds me of the thin noodles in a chinese soup. Never been exposed to extreme cold temperatures. I live in SC, so being in the garage it may have been to freezing temps a handful of times if at all. I do plan to see what Valvoline has to say so I'll let you know.

 

[Rand]

I'd be interested to know what would happen if you put that in a pan on the stove and heated it to about 300F(carefully) and stirred it up. I bet it would look like new oil.

 

[gregk24]

This is why I don't stock pile oil. I might have some ready for my next OCI but thats about as far as I will go. It looks like additive fall out, this is why I shake up the bottles at least once monthly. Let us know what you hear from Valvoline.

 

[dlayman]

Originally Posted By: Rand
I'd be interested to know what would happen if you put that in a pan on the stove and heated it to about 300F(carefully) and stirred it up. I bet it would look like new oil.


I'm sure it would. It might even go back into solution with stirring and no heat. The formulation must be right on the edge of remaining a stable solution. Lots of lubrication related additives have a waxy texture, I don't think it's wax in the way we normally think of it, which is paraffin wax.

 

[priler]

I would say it's the opposite of what everyone else is saying.

it's additive that was never properly mixed to begin with and then congealed a little more,not the other way around where it separated.

it's probably the VII.

 

[KrisZ]

It's the fake synthetic coming out of it.

 

[Panzerman]

I had the very same thing happen with a 5 qt jug of 5w30 Peak oil. It freaked me out enough I ended up draining the oil back out and use it for lawnmowers and add oil. It looked just like that. this is in Florida with pretty consistent temps.

 

[Mr Nice]

Yikes, I thought oil couldn't get waxy by just sitting unused.

 

[The_Captain]

It looks like part of a block of friction modifier. It is off white and similar to wax in consistency. Just my two cents worth.

 

[wemay]

A couple years back something similar happened to me with a jug of Mobil1 (not quite as dramatic though). It worked without a hitch.

 

[Capa]

Originally Posted By: priler


I would say it's the opposite of what everyone else is saying.

it's additive that was never properly mixed to begin with and then congealed a little more,not the other way around where it separated.

it's probably the VII.


X2

 

[Inspecktor]

Several years ago I picked up a quart of M1 in a round white bottle at a yard sale. About half of the contents had precipitated out in the form of a white waxy substance. This was very old oil, I don't remember when the old bottles were discontinued.

 

[Joe90_guy]

Interesting...
It's deffo not sludge in the traditional sense. It does look waxy but most base oils contain very little wax these days. If it was VM polymer, it would be clear, not white.
If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say this was some kind of wateril emulsion that may have stabilised around some precipitated calcium carbonate.
If there's a number on the back of the can, call it. Oil companies generally like getting samples like this back to investigate (or maybe that's just me)...

 

[ExMachina]

It will be interesting to see Valvoline's response. Tell them you are publishing everything on this website, and they might give an intelligent answer. They might just assume you're Joe Nobody and send you coupons for more SynSludgePower with a note that says "Its nothing, ignore it."