Mashed Potato Oil

[sprucemt]

Warning to the newbie WVO users.



http://steelsoldiers.com/index.php?...start=20&sid=052f5e4ac7ebec858066be0604674a6b

Here is the description of the event.

"Bob and Karen made it 1300 miles from New York to my place in Nebraska. Yesterday morning when Bob went to check the oil he could hardly pull the dipstick out. When he got it out it looked worse than road tar. He pulled the drain plugs and less than a coffee cup came out. Bob was able to get it started to warm the sludge into something that would drain and it came out with the consistency of black mashed potatoes!

I have never seen anything that thick come out of an engine and the engine live. We went to town and Bob purchased a 5 gal bucket of slightly used oil and we added some kerosene to that. This was run in the truck for about 30 min and then drained and new spin on filters were added. More clumps came out when the oil was changed.

Bob took the deuce into town and sucked out all the WVO and ran straight diesel. They left my place about 1400 and were planning on driving all night if they could. I told Bob that I would change the oil again if they made 500 miles and then they may have a good chance of making it home. They have not called so I don't know how far they got. "

My thoughts,
Don't ever forget that fuel is bypassing the pistons and ending up in your motor oil, a little bit at a time under normal conditions. Or in this case with this truck, WVO getting into the motor oil almost or god forbid maybe yet, major engine and injection pump damage. We will see when Bob M gets home.

 

[WillWagner]

The goo could be a reaction of the WVO and motor oil. If he runs diesel, he could have just as bad or worse consequences, like a spun bearing from dillution. If the FDC is still hooked up, i'd bypass it and keep an eye on the oil pressure and level. If he gets fuel in the oil AFTER the bypass, the only other thing that will do that is the fuel pump. Tell him to avoid running it in that condition.
Keep us posted

 

[Capt.Marion]

So is this isolated to running mashed potato oil (didn't know there was such a thing) or is this for all folks running WVO? Just curious...

EDIT: Boy am I a little slow!

 

[WillWagner]

I don't think potatoes are oil producing veggies. I think what has happened is a reaction between a petro based and a natural oil based product, not so much thru a fuel passing the rings, which is possible, but for the amount of it in the oil, there would need to be major cylinder damage, but from a source where the oil and fuel are in close contact under pressure, like the FDC or the seals in the pump that seperate the fuel from the lube that the pump needs. They can keep running it, but the money spent on oil to keep it from damaging internal parts will be sky high. Did that make sense? It just reads funny.

 

[randyscycle]

Sounds like this is some sort of odd reaction between the WVO and the motor oil. Just a guess.

If there was an issue of solidifying WVO it would be a non-issue in a hot engine, but a totally cold engine maybe. Even then, in the summer, the engine probably would not get cold enough for that to happen.

I have seen similar results in gas engines, but that is due to one thing: not changing the oil regularly, and consistent high engine temps.

Did he not see a guage reading that was unusual in this trip? With oil like that I'd certainly think that the oil pressure wouldn't have read correctly, or the engine was running hot for a long time.

 

[emmado22]

Just another reason why I'll stick to Diesel from a fuel pump.

 

[bottleworks]

Doesn't sound like a WVO issue to me.

 

[WillWagner]

I have no clue what happens to the crankcase oil when a WVO is introduced into it and it gets real hot. Bottleworks, wanna give it a try for an experiment so we all will know what happens?

 

[BobM]

 

[bottleworks]

Bottleworks, wanna give it a try for an experiment so we all will know what happens?

Sure, but it wouldn't be until the weekend. I am at Cummins Atlantic-Charlotte till the end of the week. Getting tired of staying in a hotel room...

If that pump or FDC is leaking, it can't be blamed on WVO. If a cold pump was exposed to cold WVO. Can't blame the pump...Would have to point to operator error.

 

[rmgill]

Well, Bjorn is running WVO AND Biodiesel. AND he does oil analysis pretty often. I'd expect he'd have seen something on his cross country trip if this was typical.

 

[desertfox]

This similar situation has happened to me. I drove a deuce from Billings, MT to southern NM. Around 1000 mi. When I hit the NM border the engine oil pressure dropped. I made it home but by that time the oil pressure was 5-10# and oil was coming out of the front crank seal. The problem turned out to be the seal in the Fuel Injection pump, alowing fuel to enter the crank case and filling the pan with oil and fuel. I pulled the FIP and had it resealed. This could be the problem?

 

[BobM]

This similar situation has happened to me. I drove a deuce from Billings, MT to southern NM. Around 1000 mi. When I hit the NM border the engine oil pressure dropped. I made it home but by that time the oil pressure was 5-10# and oil was coming out of the front crank seal. The problem turned out to be the seal in the Fuel Injection pump, alowing fuel to enter the crank case and filling the pan with oil and fuel. I pulled the FIP and had it resealed. This could be the problem?

Sounds pretty likely. I had a 'burban diesel that leaked like this too.

Oh, and surely someone took pictures? Let's see this stuff!

 

[jwaller]

sounds like this guy has a bad FDC and he will soon see a lotta diesel fuel in the oil. I'd like to hear about the conclusion of this incident.

 

[BobM]

Purty please with sugar and honey on it?

 

[sprucemt]

Bob M got back to NY ok in his truck and turned around and drove his car to Portland OR. Ran diesel most of the way back to NY with no incident. Won't know the details until Bob M gets back from the show.

 

[BobM]

Bob M got back to NY ok in his truck and turned around and drove his car to Portland OR. Ran diesel most of the way back to NY with no incident. Won't know the details until Bob M gets back from the show.

Man there are too many Bob's here!
But we still need pics!!!!!

 

[OPCOM]

Well look I hope the engine's not damaged. That's the big issue. An analysis would be priceles or research sake.

 

[2027Deuce]

There are no pics.... oil sample on its way to Bjorn.

 

[BobM]

There are no pics.... oil sample on its way to Bjorn.

NO PICS!!