Is this normal? Or is it fake Mobil 1 oil?

L

LewdLude

Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Messages
12
Location
Australia
Hi guys, I just wanted to quickly clear something up.

Is it normal for bottles of oil (exact same brand/type) to have varying amounts of oil in them?

Say for example the bottles are supposed to be "1 Quart bottles of oil", except some bottles have a little less and some have a little more (for example 100ml/3.4oz give or take).

I purchased some "US-imported" Mobil 1 10w-40 HM oil from GLLubricants (which is in Sydney, for all the aussies reading this). However, it seems each bottle of oil isn't filled at a reasonably consistent amount. I'd honestly assume a big company like Mobil 1 would be more consistent with their portions per bottle...?

Keep in mind, this is basically the only place I know of in Australia to acquire this type of Mobil 1 oil. This is because the choices of High Mileage and Full Synthetic oils are extremely limited in my country.

Here are some pictures of what I mean (I moved the camera to the side on the last picture so you could see the oil level more clearly):

r1mvix.jpg


_________________________________ (bottles were shuffled around between these pictures)

j9aslk.jpg


254zc68.jpg


2vxitl4.jpg


I'm sure at least Americans could help clear this issue right up, seeing as though you guys have M1 10w-40 HM quart bottles of oil being sold in your actual local stores if I'm not mistaken (and I figure some might actually have some on hand).

I'm basically stressing out because I've heard of fake Mobil 1 (and other oils in general, e.g. from this forum: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3975635) being produced before. Along with the fact that I feel like the prices I paid for these bottles were rather low for being "US-imported" oils ($13AUD/quart), and that the person that sold this to me was chinese (no offense intended) and couldn't speak english that well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. You guys are basically the geniuses of oil on all of the internet, so I thought I'd ask here.
 
OOer...Chinese, eh?

Fake oil is allegedly an issue here (eg in Agip bottles). I'm not sure how big an issue, since there's also a widespread belief in adulterated petrol, which is almost certainly bollocks.

Still, the local foreign mechanic thinks there's something in it, so it may happen.

I avoid it by buying cheap oil. No one is going to waste time faking that when there;s a higher return on the high-end stuff.

Win-win
 
I checked the 1 quart bottles I had, 5 pu bottles were filled to nearly the same spot and 4 valvoline were also filled to nearly the same spot. Can you find any printed production codes on the bottles/labels? I guess if they are fake or counterfeit the production codes could be exactly the same because they would copy one and print the same thing on all the bottles, if they are genuine the numbers should be different or if they were produced together then the numbers should be sequential with each bottle.
 
Last edited:
Russia - 3 days ago.

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/engine-oil-counterfeiting-ring-uncovered-in-russia-103504.html

Quote:
Proving that just about anything can be copied these days, a counterfeit ring dealing in the production of fake engine oil was running rampant in Moscow until it was busted by Russian police. Numerous reports say that two young entrepreneurs were the brains behind the large-scale counterfeit scheme. The modus of the ring entered on producing counterfeit engine oil and packaging it in plastic containers used by popular brands like Shell, Total, Mobil, Elf, and Castrol, among others. The extent of the operation even involved the production of OEM engine oil from automakers like Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Volkswagen and BMW.....
 
Its most likely normal oil. I wouldn't think it is fake. If it were fake theyd spend more time making sure the liquid was level.

A bunch of the qusrts I have are all slightly different levels in the sight window.
What happens is the bottles are not the same. The ones thst are higher got squeezed or gets a dent. The ones that are lower might have expanded or gotten more round instead of rectangular.
Some may have also gotten squeezed or dropped so much that a little oil leaked out then the store cleaned it up. I got a case of pennzoil where it came wet with oil and a little leaky. Likely when the case was thrown or dropped the bottle st the bottom squirted out an ounce or so.

Agree you need to weigh it if you really are obsessive and not look t the level
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Ducked
OOer...Chinese, eh?



I avoid it by buying cheap oil. No one is going to waste time faking that when there;s a higher return on the high-end stuff.

Win-win

Bollocks? No ! In Malaysia/Thailand, there are still reports of fake Shell and Mobil oils sold at spare part shops. So it is happening .I hate to say this myself as an Asian, but Asian's do get a bad rep for counterfeit stuff, because well, most counterfeit products are made by Asians, not just Chinese, even though they are a big source of it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: raytseng

What happens is the bottles are not the same. The ones thst are higher got squeezed or gets a dent. The ones that are lower might have expanded or gotten more round instead of rectangular.



+2
 
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Don't they fill by weight not volume?


I sure as [censored] hope not, you're buying oil not cereal...


May just be a careless USA thing, I've seen lots of different brands that had a slight variance in fill, never thought much about it...

OH boy, I can now see BITOG members goin' through the bottles at Walmart lookin' for the ones that have the most in them...
 
Originally Posted By: wkcars
Can you find any printed production codes on the bottles/labels? I guess if they are fake or counterfeit the production codes could be exactly the same because they would copy one and print the same thing on all the bottles, if they are genuine the numbers should be different or if they were produced together then the numbers should be sequential with each bottle.


I'm unsure as to exactly what that code might look like, but I've spotted some codes on the bottles.

The number on the bar code on every single bottle is "071924149939". I searched this on google, and it leads to multiple Russian websites selling this Mobil 1 oil. Which is rather frightening because not only did the seller claim they were imported directly from the US, but because of things like this out there:

Originally Posted By: wemay
Russia - 3 days ago.

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/engine-oil-counterfeiting-ring-uncovered-in-russia-103504.html

Quote:
Proving that just about anything can be copied these days, a counterfeit ring dealing in the production of fake engine oil was running rampant in Moscow until it was busted by Russian police. Numerous reports say that two young entrepreneurs were the brains behind the large-scale counterfeit scheme. The modus of the ring entered on producing counterfeit engine oil and packaging it in plastic containers used by popular brands like Shell, Total, Mobil, Elf, and Castrol, among others. The extent of the operation even involved the production of OEM engine oil from automakers like Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Volkswagen and BMW.....


Other codes on the bottles are "98LJ55" on the front and "98LJ56" on the back of every single bottle (these are small codes in the bottom corner of every label).

The only codes that differ are the codes protruding on the bottom of each bottle...1-04, 1-06, 1-07, 1-08, 1-15, 1-15 (again), 1-18, and 1-20. 6 of these bottles came in a Mobil 1 box of 6 quarts, whereas the other 2 were just given as is.

Originally Posted By: raytseng

A bunch of the qusrts I have are all slightly different levels in the sight window.
What happens is the bottles are not the same. The ones thst are higher got squeezed or gets a dent. The ones that are lower might have expanded or gotten more round instead of rectangular.
Some may have also gotten squeezed or dropped so much that a little oil leaked out then the store cleaned it up.


To be honest, I hadn't actually considered this as a factor as most bottles I've purchased had sturdy side-walls that didn't flex. However, upon further inspection of the bottles there are indeed some slight noticeable differences in flex/shape of each bottle. I suppose this, along with your theory of leaked oil could account for the differences in oil levels?
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: raytseng

What happens is the bottles are not the same. The ones thst are higher got squeezed or gets a dent. The ones that are lower might have expanded or gotten more round instead of rectangular.



+2


+3
 
Originally Posted By: LewdLude
The number on the bar code on every single bottle is "071924149939". I searched this on google, and it leads to multiple Russian websites selling this Mobil 1 oil.

if it's from a Russian distributor, I'd stay away from this oil. They have a 25-years-long tradition of producing fake motor oil. In enormous quantities.
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Don't they fill by weight not volume?


I sure as [censored] hope not, you're buying oil not cereal...


May just be a careless USA thing, I've seen lots of different brands that had a slight variance in fill, never thought much about it...

OH boy, I can now see BITOG members goin' through the bottles at Walmart lookin' for the ones that have the most in them...
The volume of these blow molded bottles may very well vary more than the weight of a quart of fluid going into them, at least enough to make filling by weight more accurate that a "sight glass" on the side.
 
weight filling machines fill by weight, calculated by the fluid density which is constant. Volume changes with temperature. So lets say filling was done at 40C, the oil will use up more space of the bottle. But when it cools down to ambient, say 28C, the volume will be less. However, it is still 4L in the bottle. Weight filling is more accurate than volume filling.
 
Thanks for all your input guys. I decided to take the safe route and just return the oil. I do have to admit that the seller handled the return very fast and easily, no hassles at all.

Originally Posted By: akela
Originally Posted By: LewdLude
The number on the bar code on every single bottle is "071924149939". I searched this on google, and it leads to multiple Russian websites selling this Mobil 1 oil.

if it's from a Russian distributor, I'd stay away from this oil. They have a 25-years-long tradition of producing fake motor oil. In enormous quantities.


That's exactly how I feel, and I figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry. I love my car too much to take the risk.

Thanks again guys.
 
Found a picture on google of the back of a m1 10w-40 hm bottle, the production code it's printed in the space just above the "Questions or comments about Mobil 1?", just to the top left of the hand with the globe in it. Usually look like it was printed by a dot matrix printer. I agree better safe returning it and get something else, there's plenty of other great oils out there.

Mobil+1+10w-40+High+Mileage+Front-horz.jpg
 
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