oil availability, mixing, and cleaning - LONG

[tberk at sbcglobal.net (T Berk)]

Foxx (in a box) wrote:
<snip>
>   this brings us to my second question: i read somewhere that oil of 
> different <blank> can be mixed. 

If the two different oils both meet the min specs (API, etc) then you 
can top off with another brand/grade/type without too much discomfort.

Here's a bit from Chevron:
<http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/nafl/auto/content/motoroils.shtm#choose>

(btw- I like that Delo stuff.)

I caveat my own self with the scenario where somebody could need oil 
from one far end of the spectrum and only have the other end to deal 
with. Obviously there could be a gotcha somewhere, but the main point is 
good quality brand name oil can be mixed without problems.

This goes for Dino and Synth as well. Short a quart? Mix away.

As for your trouble with lifters I want to toss this into the mix; there 
can be some trouble with releasing a whole lot of gunk all at once into 
the tiny passageways. Like the lifters. Argh.

Lovely thought #976, they call it the 'Laxative Effect'.

Some folks like to creep up on it by dissolving varnish and gunk a 
little at a time, say with a qt. of synth in a normal oil change to start.

I'll avoid a definitive answer and leave open for public discussion.

Lastly if you are putting stuff in the oil that is not by it's nature a 
lubricant I would not drive around a long time (or at all) and I would 
definitely do the procedure right before an oil change.

There are two types of stuff you can use, some products include both: 
Surfactants (soaps) & Solvents (hydrocarbons and/or alcohols, etc).

They each have a job to do but overlap in the middle. Solvents tend to 
thin the oil and soaps tend to make metal to metal 'sticky'. (I know, I 
know, we think of soap as slippery, but it cleans the metal real clean, 
and then it wants to bond to the other clean metal surface.) There's a 
name for that but I forget what it is.

So be careful with subjecting the motor to Heavy Duty operation when you 
have this type stuff in the oil.

Some stuff I found:

<http://www.atis.net/oil_faq.html>
<http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm>
Sludge:
<http://www.yotarepair.com/sludge%20article.html>


TBerk