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Recall that in a well-functioning car, the oil suddenly turned into a thick black liquid, after which the engines were sent to “kapitalka” or a replacement - untimely and extremely expensive. The number of links throughout the Web to the publication was ambiguous, dozens of sites reprinted it - and, as usual without even asking our permission. Well, that's fine …
A summary of the previous article - a wave of sudden engine failures swept through branded car services (and not only), associated with incomprehensible and unpredictable behavior of engine oil. Without warning, the oil suddenly turned into a fuel oil substance, began to die very quickly. The result - overhaul or death of motors.
The epidemic hit cars irrespective of their brands and manufacturers. Cases of the disease were recorded in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Magnitogorsk, and Murmansk - that is, practically throughout the country. And it was also noticed - mainly “cars” serviced at serious car-care centers, in which barrel branded oil was poured, “hurt”. The situation was aggravated by the fact that these cases were irregular, met infrequently, but with enviable consistency. And, as any diagnostician knows, it is the “floating” defect that is most difficult to catch.
The head of the block from the injured Volkswagen-Tiguan. In less than 3, 000 kilometers, the oil turned into a terrible bodyagi
The head of the block from the injured Volkswagen-Tiguan. In less than 3, 000 kilometers, the oil turned into a terrible bodyagi. The head of the block from the injured Volkswagen-Tiguan. In less than 3, 000 kilometers, the oil turned into a terrible bodyagi.
The cause of this disease was not clear, there were only hypotheses, but you can’t build a lawsuit in court (and most often it came to court in the proceedings). And then we promised to try to understand the situation and introduce the results of our readers.
Six months of work in our testing laboratory were not in vain. In laboratory conditions, we were able to simulate a number of situations and, finally, to obtain clear manifestations of this “deadly disease”. The symptoms that we will catch are a sharp increase in viscosity, a decrease in alkaline and an increase in acid number, deposition of thick tar-like deposits on the engine walls that impede the pumping of oil through the channels of the lubrication system.
OIL IN CANISTER STABILIZED? HAVE A SEDIMENT? IN THE HELP
An engine piston that has worked 180 hours on normal synthetics
An engine piston that has worked 180 hours on normal synthetics. An engine piston that has worked 180 hours on normal synthetics.
The piston of the sufferer, exhausted in the affected oil. Since the pouring, only 40 hours have passed
The piston of the sufferer, exhausted in the affected oil. Since the pouring, only 40 hours have passed. The piston of the sufferer, exhausted in the affected oil. Since the pouring, only 40 hours have passed.
FALSE NEXT
Let's start with the typical “excuses” of dealership service stations, on the basis of which they are trying to defend from warranty repairs. The inquisitive thought of warranty specialists usually wanders in three directions - the use of low-quality fuel; hit of antifreeze or water in oil; lack of control of the oil level in the engine during operation.
Immediately remove the third option - it is obvious that even with a very small amount of oil in the pan, it should not change its properties as we see it in cases of advanced “disease”. When using “healthy” oil, the motor will respond to a small amount of it by lighting up the warning lights on the dashboard and an audible alarm. At first - with rolls and sudden acceleration-braking, when the receiving fungus is exposed. Any normal driver will respond immediately. And after topping up the oil no further negative consequences will be felt.
The most common alleged “reason” on the basis of which they try to deprive the guarantee is the use of substandard fuel. Non-standard in the understanding of STO mechanics is either a low octane number, or a high sulfur content in the fuel, or the presence of a large number of resins in it. We must say right away that, in addition to sulfur, everything else under the current Technical Regulation, which normalizes the quality of fuel, is not subject to control, therefore it is beyond the jurisdiction. But, since there are such attempts at excuses, we’ll check.
FUEL - JUSTIFY
Several bench engines, initially fully operational, were doomed to the slaughter. Sorry for them, but it's just glands, and living people suffer from the problem. Therefore - let these motors serve for the benefit of people.
Especially for the experiment, not without difficulty, we got 100 liters of fuel, more like a body weight. Instead of the declared 92nd octane, only 89.5 was intended, the sulfur content went off scale for 800 ppm, the resins were more than 3.5 mg / dm3. The manufacturer is unknown, but in terms of quality it is something from some kind of “samovar” - an amateur mini-refinery that distills gas condensate into supposedly fuel. Worse than ever! You have to really not love your car in order to feed it with such good.
We fed the engine all the booty booty. And in order to completely aggravate the situation and provide the oil with the maximum possible contact with disgusting fuel, they broke off the side electrode on one of the candles. Now the fuel falling into the idle cylinder will fly in large numbers into the engine crankcase.
The motor self-diagnosis system was outraged, the “check-engine” burned brightly and incessantly all the time of torture. The motor was shaking and vibrating, but … withstood! Opening it did not reveal any problems - everything was clean and no black deposits were observed anywhere. Oil pressure, of course, fell a little - the dilution of oil by fuel affected. At the same time, as soon as the damaged candle was replaced with a normal one, literally after half an hour, the arrow of the oil pressure indicator returned to its previous position. It’s understandable, gasoline is a volatile liquid, and at the working temperatures of the oil into which it enters, it will not live for a long time.
Measurements of physico-chemical parameters of the oil did not reveal anything unexpected! The viscosity of the oil fell a little - after all, some fuel fractions of the so-called gasoline remained in it. The alkaline number slightly decreased - from 7.8 to 7.4 mg KOH / g. The acid number increased by 0.3 mg KOH / g. The flash point decreased markedly - from 224 ° C to 203 ° C. This clearly indicates that gasoline was in oil! But he was not able to kill him …
Moreover, in a real situation, poor-quality feeding of the motor will primarily be outraged by its diagnostic system. And this indignation will certainly leave an indelible mark on the computer logs. But in almost all cases when warranty services refused to repair, justifying their decision using low-quality fuel, the diagnostic system did not confirm anything like that.
Verdict: recognize gasoline not guilty
SUSPECTED WATER
Water in oil always gets in some quantities! It condenses from the moist air entering the cylinders and, together with the crankcase gases, mixes with oil. Coolant can enter the oil only if the cooling system is leaking - and only when the engine is stopped. During its operation, the oil pressure is higher than the pressure in the cooling system, and therefore the path to antifreeze in the oil is closed.
Well, let's try to simulate this situation. 3 liters of fresh oil were poured into a long-suffering engine, and then a whole liter of water thumped there! So what? Never mind! Of course, an emulsion formed in the pan, the oil pressure dropped markedly. But the engine worked, nothing critical was heard or seen. And then - gradually the oil pressure began to grow and soon returned to its initial level. What happened The water just evaporated, the oil returned to its original state. Opening the motor showed no problems - everything was clean again. Changes in the physicochemical parameters of the oil after ingestion and subsequent evaporation of water are within the measurement error! And for this reason, withdrawals from the guarantee - refuse for insolvency!
After that, they dealt with a similar situation, replacing water with antifreeze. The result is the same, the engine survived. But the viscosity of the oil has grown - it is understandable, the water has evaporated, but ethylene glycol remains in the oil. The alkaline number slightly decreased, the acid number increased. Yes, of course, if you drive a motor with a broken cylinder head gasket for a very long time, constantly adding antifreeze to the tank and not trying to deal with the situation, then in the end, you can probably get the death of the oil, and with it the death of the engine! But this is just an extreme case of disregard for the engine. And there will already be a situation - not “ethylene glycol in oil”, but “oil in ethylene glycol”.
Conclusion - this reason can only be considered when it was preceded by a long and permanent loss of coolant in the motor. And with a complete lack of control of the oil state at the same time. This is also not our case.
Verdict: coolant is not to blame
HAPPENED !
We checked two more versions. And, looking ahead, let's say - THEY WORK!
The first was prompted by the oil specialists, with whom we constantly communicate. In their opinion, the picture that we observe, that is, a sharp increase in the viscosity of the oil, may be due to the unexpected polymerization of some components of the additive package. The reason for this disgrace is the volumetric overheating of engine oil. And they remembered that at their seminars some manufacturers of oils and cars, since recently, began to give a clear recommendation - if suddenly the oil was overheated, then urgently needed to run to the nearest service center and change it!
Here it is, the long-awaited tar in the drain tank. This oil worked for a long time under conditions of volumetric overheating at a high temperature in the sump
Here it is, the long-awaited tar in the drain tank. This oil worked for a long time under conditions of volumetric overheating at a high temperature in the sump. Here it is, the long-awaited tar in the drain tank. This oil worked for a long time under conditions of volumetric overheating at a high temperature in the sump.
We tried to overheat the oil on a bench motor. It was not difficult for us to do this - it was necessary to turn off the external airflow of the engine and select the appropriate operating mode. Unlike most cars, our oil temperature in the pan is constantly displayed on the control panel. Indeed, she rose by 20 … 25 degrees. Many hours of such torture continued. Two oils worked fine, withstanding such mockery. But the third behaved strangely - it became noticeably thicker. And then, in the drain tank, where he left the rest for a couple of days, there were traces of oil separation. It painted the very “tar” that we observed on the walls of the engines killed by oil. Both on the inner surface of the cylinder block and on the lateral surfaces of the pistons there was much more pollution than usual.
And on the internal surfaces of the block, the oil also hung in a completely indecent form
And on the internal surfaces of the block, the oil also hung in a completely indecent form. And on the internal surfaces of the block, the oil also hung in a completely indecent form.
So, we opened one version of the death of oil. But they didn’t feel much joy from this - after all, it is unclear how to track the real temperature of the oil in the sump in a living car. Indeed, in new cars even the coolant temperature gauge has been removed! It turns out that this information is not even redundant at all!
Let's go further … We remembered how it all began. It all started with a letter from our reader, who, having bought a canister of oil from a very well-known company for topping up, suddenly found in it … an incomprehensible precipitate! And from the response of the technical specialist of the Russian representative office of this company, who, upon our request to explain the situation, literally said the following: “I hereby inform you that a small amount of sediment is allowed in motor and transmission oils. It can be caused by the association of fine catalyst particles having a size smaller than the pores of the factory filter element. These precipitations … can be up to black. They are rare and, as a rule, only in those batches of oil that were made immediately after the fresh catalyst was reloaded in the apparatus. "They do not affect the operational characteristics of the marketable oil and, subsequently, in the process of work again become finely dispersed."
For less than 3, 000 thousand kilometers, oil has turned into a terrible black thick bodyagi
For less than 3, 000 thousand kilometers, oil has turned into a terrible black thick bodyagi. For less than 3, 000 thousand kilometers, oil has turned into a terrible black thick bodyagi.
At one time, our experts-oilers this shocked! That is, one of the world's leading oil producing companies honestly admits the possibility of a gross violation of the oil production technology!
And we juxtaposed what was written and what we saw with our own eyes. Indeed, the premature death of oil is very similar to the picture that we could see due to a sharp acceleration in the rate of oil oxidation. It is this process that is accompanied by an increase in its viscosity and acid number, a decrease in alkaline number. And what can contribute to the uncontrolled acceleration of a chemical reaction, which, in essence, is the oxidation of oil? It is the presence of a catalyst!
"Harmless" powder donkey on the walls of the oil system in the form of indelible solid deposits
"Harmless" powder donkey on the walls of the oil system in the form of indelible solid deposits. "Harmless" powder donkey on the walls of the oil system in the form of indelible solid deposits.
Yes, of course, when storing such "dirty" oil, the catalyst will be silent - because it needs special conditions, temperature and pressure to activate its work. But they are precisely in the active zone of the friction units. So, this also needs to be checked!
The main problem that arose before us, where to get this catalyst? Only our Russian representative office of the MOTUL company responded to our requests for help in this matter. It seems that only they, by the way, never illuminated in cases of early death of the oil, it turned out to be necessary to establish the truth! We sincerely thank them for this, and let our thanks not be considered an advertisement for this company.
So, we have two versions of the catalyst used in the production of hydrocracking base oils. We turned the large granules of the catalysts into fine-grained powder of the desired fractional composition - such that it flew through the pores of the oil filter. These powders were mixed with oil, and after half an hour they saw - here it is, a malicious sediment!
Malicious powder - crushed catalyst granules. By the way, we clarify: the catalyst is not at all the piece of iron that is hung on the exhaust pipe
Malicious powder - crushed catalyst granules. By the way, we clarify: the catalyst is not at all the piece of iron that is hung on the exhaust pipe! Malicious powder - crushed catalyst granules. By the way, we clarify: the catalyst is not at all the piece of iron that is hung on the exhaust pipe!
This oil was poured into another engine designed to kill, and began a cycle of its long rolling. At first everything went well, but after twenty hours of testing they began to notice that the oil pressure was falling. And the oil on the dipstick became noticeably thicker - all the more, initially they used very good “synthetics” 5W-30, against its background the increase in viscosity was especially noticeable! Strange - the viscosity is clearly increasing, and the pressure is falling … Maybe the wear has appeared? But somehow this process progressed too quickly. The motor withstood only 40 hours of testing, after which the pressure completely disappeared. Next - all, as usual, an autopsy, measurement, inspection.
The first thing that caught my eye was that from the four liters of oil that was initially poured into the engine, it merged from it by the results of tests of just a liter and a half! And this is - in just 40 hours of very moderate modes, by equivalent - less than 3, 000 kilometers! And the oil was eerie black. Measurements of engine parts did not reveal serious wear, although it was noticeable - the bearing shells and the crankshaft journals were somehow very well polished. It’s also clear - the catalyst powder worked like an abrasive. So why did the oil pressure drop so much? The presence of some solid agglomerates in the pallet that firmly sat on the walls immediately caught my eye. Apparently, these were the very “harmless” according to the authors of the ill-fated letter “associations of fine particles”. But they were clearly less than the amount of initial sediment in the oil, poured into the engine. In the filter, too, particles we did not notice. So, the main part of the powder, introduced by us into the oil, has settled in the channels! Вот и причина потери давления в системе смазывания.
Масло, которое испортили порошком катализатора, через 40 часов работы даже стекать со стенок деталей не захотело
Масло, которое испортили порошком катализатора, через 40 часов работы даже стекать со стенок деталей не захотело. Масло, которое испортили порошком катализатора, через 40 часов работы даже стекать со стенок деталей не захотело.
А что показал анализ физико-химических параметров масла, поработавшего с этим «безвредным» порошком? Вязкость масла, изначально составлявшая 11.2 сСт при 100° С, увеличилась до 17.9 сСт! То есть масло, изначально пребывавшее в классе SAE-30, за 40 моточасов перескочило в класс вязкости SAE-50! Кислотное число увеличилось более чем на 2.5 мг КОН/г. Напомним, что в последней ресурсной экспертизе за 180 моточасов масла увеличивали свою кислотность всего на 0, 75…1, 0 мг КОН/г! Щелочное число снизилось меньше, да и отложения на стенках картера двигателя были хоть и больше обычного. Причем масло при комнатной температуре было таким густым, что стекать со стенок никак не хотело - такого мы еще не видели. Кстати, картина, которую мы наблюдали на нашем эксперименте, подозрительно напоминала ту, которую выдало одно из масел в ходе нашей предыдущей экспертизы «полусинтетик».
Итак, «безвредный» по мнению некоторых масленщиков, порошок катализатора за сравнительно короткое время угробил масло и добил мотор. Причем в этом случае, увы, даже «капиталка» ему не поможет - ведь убрать пробки, закупорившие масляные каналы, судя по структуре отложений в поддоне, будет крайне проблематично. Кстати, некоторые сознательные дилеры крупных автопроизводителей, столкнувшиеся с подобной проблемой, без разговоров меняли либо блоки цилиндров, либо весь двигатель в сборе.
Полученные результаты уже сейчас четко свидетельствуют, что, ни автопроизводители, ни автовладельцы не виноваты в случившихся бедах. Ведь и термическая нестабильность некоторых видов масла, приводящая его к полимеризации при объемном перегреве, и допускаемое некоторыми производителями масла возможное наличие агрессивного осадка катализатора в нем - это серьезнейшие «проколы» этих фирм.
Подводим итог, пока промежуточный. Конечно, кому-то хотелось бы услышать громкий призыв: мол, не покупайте масло фирм А, В и С! И раскупайте масло фирмы D: оно никогда не болеет! Но мы не искали виноватого стрелочника, а исследовали проблему. К тому же, десять тысяч машин могут счастливо ездить на масле фирмы А, а вот десять тысяч первая попадет в неприятную ситуацию. Зато мы технически грамотно обосновали несостоятельность дежурных нападок на лопуха-водителя. Более того, нам удалось найти некоторые возможные причины массовых случаев ускоренной смерти масла и двигателя в целом.
Искренне хотим верить, что фирмы-производители масел и бензинов внимательно изучат наши выводы: этого ждут все автомобилисты. А пока мы рекомендуем воспользоваться нашими рекомендациями по «Методам самообороны», следуя которым можно в критической ситуации спасти мотор.
КАПЕЛЬНАЯ ПРОБА
На любую пористую бумагу (оптимально - кусочек фильтра для кофеварки или хотя бы кусочек газеты) с масляного щупа холодного двигателя капните капельку масла. Если она быстро расплывется по бумаге, образовав несколько концентрических кругов, то масло живое. А вот если оно не захочет растекаться и останется черной каплей в месте падения - срочно заменять!
Пример капельной пробы. Слева - капелька поработавшего, но еще живого масла расползлась в большую кляксу. А справа - то самое больное масло: его капелька никуда расползаться не хочет
Пример капельной пробы. Слева - капелька поработавшего, но еще живого масла расползлась в большую кляксу. А справа - то самое больное масло: его капелька никуда расползаться не хочет. Пример капельной пробы. Слева - капелька поработавшего, но еще живого масла расползлась в большую кляксу. А справа - то самое больное масло: его капелька никуда расползаться не хочет.
НЕ УМЕЕТЕ ПРОВЕРЯТЬ МАСЛО? НАЙДИТЕ КУСОЧЕК ГАЗЕТЫ
PS Само собой, что в ходе одной из ближайших экспертиз масел мы отдельно проанализируем их устойчивость к вскрытым нами злодействам. Одно направление поисков уже ясно: новая волна отказов замечена после того, как заработал после модернизации один из известных НПЗ - ведь в производстве высокооктанового бензина используется аналогичный катализатор!!! А не приходит ли он в масло с этим, внешне вполне кондиционным, топливом? А из другого региона пришла информация о якобы случайном совпадении гибели моторов по описанной нами схеме с использованием топлива, содержащем запредельную дозу строго запрещенного у нас метанола. С этим тоже предстоит разобраться.
ЖАРКО? ПРОБКИ? ПРОВЕРЬ-КА МАСЛО
МЕТОДЫ САМООБОРОНЫ
Чтобы обезопасить себя от возможной беды, еще раз повторяем наши рекомендации:
1. Пользуйтесь только маслами, купленными в проверенных магазинах. На плановое ТО лучше приезжать со своей канистрой масла. После ее покупки дайте ей постоять некоторое время, и, если есть возможность, проследите, нет ли осадка в канистре. Обычно осадок можно заметить по прозрачной мерной полоске на канистре.
2. Возьмите за правило, даже если ваш мотор не замечен в повышенном масляном аппетите, хотя бы раз в неделю залезать под капот и следить за уровнем и состоянием масла по щупу. Вас сразу должно насторожить резкое увеличение расхода масла, либо его внезапное разжижение, либо, наоборот, загустевание.
