[TR] 20-50 oil

[Wbeech@flash.net]

Jonmac,
I always looked forward to the Castrol castor smell when when we used to race motorcycles. 
B

Sent from my VIC-64

On Mar 15, 2016, at 5:34 AM, John Macartney <john.macartney at ukpips.org.uk> wrote:

Why not get your club to ship in a few 50 gallon barrels of Castrol 20W/50
Classic oils from the UK to then sell on to other clubs? No worries about
adding ZDDP and the oil is the same as ever it was - but with a few extra
little improvements to enhance its performance in old style engines. No
traces of castor oil in it now unless you opt for the truly venerable blend
known as Castrol Racing 40.

Jonmac


-----Original Message-----
From: Triumphs [mailto:triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Michael
Porter
Sent: 15 March 2016 07:29
To: Randall <TR3driver at ca.rr.com>; Triumphs at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [TR] 20-50 oil

On 3/15/2016 12:25 AM, Randall wrote:
>> What are the lists feelings about
>> Quaker State 550038310 Advanced Durability 20W-50 Motor Oil.
> I had some serious problems with Quaker State oils many years ago.  
> The viscosity improver would break down in just a few thousand miles, 
> leaving the oil almost as thin as water and a thick ugly layer of 
> sludge in the bottom of the pan.  (Literally had to scrape it out with a
putty knife!)  It also allowed sludge to build up inside the rocker shaft,
which could eventually block the oil to the front rockers.
> 
> 

I have a slightly different hypothesis about Quaker State, based on some
non-automotive experience.  Back in the late `70s, I worked for one of the
few independent foreign auto shops in W. Mich.  There were two elderly
women, both retired schoolteachers, and both with relatively new Honda
Civics... and they had a bit of competitiveness about them which extended to
their cars.  One decided she wanted to use only Quaker State, having been
suitably impressed by their advertising, I suppose.  
Within six months, the engine was larded up with sludge--everywhere.  
Shortly after the first changed to Quaker State, the other found out and
demanded the same.  She, too, brought her car in for a valve adjustment in
about six months, and the engine was loaded with crud.

This lodged in memory somehow, and a few years later, I was working for a
start-up in Massachusetts which was doing coal-cleaning research.  One of
the things that I discovered doing that job was that Pennsylvania coals were
notoriously high in ash content (samples ran, typically, from 22-30% by
weight), and were next to impossible to clean well by physical methods,
because much of the ash-bearing mineral content was bound chemically to the
coal, rather than being distinct physical particles dispersed in the coal.
Recalling the two schoolteachers' Hondas, it seemed possible to me that the
same soil geology in Pennsylvania that might have been responsible for the
problems with its coal might also apply to its oil.  Between gas blow-by and
elevated temperatures, the mineral content in the oil could quickly become
oxidized in the crankcase, turning the bound minerals to free mineral oxide
solids, and if the concentrations were even a fraction of that of the area's
coal, the detergent additives meant to keep the solids in suspension would
never have been able to keep up with that weight and volume of solids. 
Once that happens, sludge happens.

Now, this only makes sense if the oil was actually coming from Pennsylvania
stocks, and in the `70s, it might still have been. Now, it's hard to tell
(especially with the recent fracking boom in Pennsylvania), where Quaker
State's feedstocks are coming from.


Cheers.

-- 


Michael Porter
Roswell, NM


Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking
distance....



** triumphs at autox.team.net **

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/john.macartney@ukpips.org.uk


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus


** triumphs at autox.team.net **

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/wbeech@flash.net