Oil Usage and Contamination

[Ohiospider1975]

I purchase my S2-115.02 Spider in June. I replaced the existing oil, which had no records of when it was installed and appeared awful, with Castrol 20/50 (6 quarts) and 1 quart STP Blue Oil additive. I just replaced the oil again yesterday after 900 miles. I wanted to see how much dirt the engine was generating or sludge was still in there from before. The oil was already dirty, and looked well beyond its 900 miles. Is this a function of the engine being old and engine parts worn? I again used the same oil as listed above.
In addition, I have a small oil leak that produced less than 1/2 quart oil leakage over the 900 miles. It appear the oil accumulates in the rear-lower of the engine and rear oil seal leaks when parked in the garage. There is no apparent oil burning or colored smoke. I took it to a local engine shop and the estimate was $1000-1500 to pull the engine and replace the seal. The mechanic really suggested just living with the small leak and placing a pan under the drip spot. Does anyone else have a slow leaker and how quickly do you experience engine oil contamination versus a new car?

[Gubi]

Modern detergent oils can get pretty dirty fast, so you can't really tell when they need replacing by looking at them. The Spider engine doesn't run particularly cleanly, either. Probably you were just flushing out some of the crap from the previous deferred oil change, in which case the early oil change was wise.

You can peek in the oil fill hole to get a general idea of the engine cleanliness. If you don't see lots of cruddy gunk I wouldn't worry about it, just change the oil and filter regularly from now on and you should be fine. If you're really paranoid you can send the oil out for analysis, but in the absence of other obvious problems that's probably overkill.

You can go nuts chasing leaks on these cars. Given what a b-tch it is to change the rear seal and the fact that it sounds like a fairly minor leak your mechanic's advice is probably right on the money.

You might as well check to make sure it's not the cam cover gasket or the half-moon seals at the rear of the cam cover, as these often leak and are quick-n-easy to fix. Otherwise just make sure to keep it filled.

[lowmileage]

My .02 on this.

1. Use STP Red (the stuff marked "4 Cylinder") instead of Blue. Blue is for oil burners (smokers) that really should have an engine rebuild. Red is less heavy consistincy and has a zinc supplement

2. A 1/2 qt. (to a qt.) in 900 miles might even be "normal" engine consumption depending on how (hard) you drive the car.

3. It may take a few "engine flushes" to get the accumulated sludged up oil out of the car. You might want to use a diesal oil (Delo 400 or Rotella 15w-40) which has higher detergents than "regular" oil at least for the initial clean outs. Dump it out earlier than normal - maybe at 500 miles the first time, 750 the 2nd and (if you do a 3rd) 1000 for the last before resuming normal intervals.

4. Castrol GTX isn't what it use to be. It now has only 800 ppm zinc. If you do use it, I'd use (for a 7 qt capacity) 6 qts oil and 2-15 oz. plastic jars of STP red.

[Ohiospider1975]

Thanks for the comments and clarifications. Yes, I chose the Castrol GTX with STP after reading the large thread on oils here at ABB. I just didn't know how my 33 year old engine would react to Mobil One Synthetic. So, I decided to stick with conventional oil--as far as 20/50 GTX is conventional, and modify it with the STP for zinc instead of synthetic. I know when conventional oil looks dirty. How do you tell when the oil is black to start with? But I thought onl the blue was oil treatment. You mean the STP Red is an oil treatment too? I thought STP Red was a gasoline treatment, and the Blue was the oil treatment.

Okay, I just checked the STP website. You mean the STP 4-Cylinder Oil Treatment in the Red bottle. Not the gasoline treatment in a Red bottle. I've never seen the Red 4-Cyl Oil Treatment at Autozone or Walmart. Thanks for the clarification.

Does the STP Black really help reduce leaking? If so, at what price to the engine?

[Gubi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohiospider1975 Does the STP Black really help reduce leaking? If so, at what price to the engine?

[Ohiospider1975]

Yes I agree there is no clear answer about oil. No I meant STP black. Once you've seen the product page at their site, you will see STP Blue, Red, Black (no leak) and Brown (no smoke). I didn't realize they had such a broad product line up.

[lowmileage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohiospider1975 I didn't realize they had such a broad product line up.

[lowmileage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gubi Mobil1 15W50

[Ohiospider1975]

If I choose to go with Mobil One 15/50 Synthetic in the future, how do tell when it is dirty? It goes in black, so how do you know when there is dirt in it? By this, traditional oil goes in amber and when it gets the color of dark molasses, I change it. I probably have one more oil change before I set the Alfa up for winter.

Is there any advantage to wintering the engine in Mobil One synthetic instead of traditional oil?

[lowmileage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohiospider1975 If I choose to go with Mobil One 15/50 Synthetic in the future, how do tell when it is dirty? It goes in black, so how do you know when there is dirt in it? By this, traditional oil goes in amber and when it gets the color of dark molasses, I change it. I probably have one more oil change before I set the Alfa up for winter. Is there any advantage to wintering the engine in Mobil One synthetic instead of traditional oil?

[slyalfa]

The way I have done it with M1 is the same with any other oil.

if it looks very dirty.
by the stink of the oil
by the feel
by the miles
by the oil PSI

if any of the above time to change it.
but the drop in PSI seems to be the best one.

[drishar]

There is a lot of oil change wisdom out there...most of it good. In my 20+ years of diesel engine experience there are only 4 things that can force an oil change. First is fuel contamination, reducing the viscosity. Second is particulate contamination. Otherwise known as "making metal." Third is high acidity from blow by. Fourth is overheating. Fuel contanimation in a modern gasoline engine with an electric fuel pump is rare. Particulate contanimation and high acidity can only be determined with lab testing. Modern oils are compounded to be operated at temperatures far in excess of anything they might encounter in an Alfa. Color, feel and taste are meanigless. Modern oils are great. Bottom line....use a brand name oil and change it every 3000 miles. Don't worry about your oil. There are more significant Alfa issues to worry. IMHO synthetics are certainly better.