A few months ago I was pouring some Mobil Clean 5000 oil, and afterwards I noticed a large casting defect in the bottle, a clump of plastic about the size of a quarter hanging from the inside of the bottle neck a few inches in. It left me wondering if I poured any other chunks of plastic into my valve cover. It was so bad that I should have taken a photo, but I figured it was just a fluke.

Fast forward to yesterday, I'm pouring Mobil Delvac into my bike, after which I notice plastic curlycues inside the oil fill on the crankcase. I pulled out what I saw, but who knows what else went in there. On the other bottle I had, I popped the cap and sure enough, this one has a similar piece of plastic from where the bottle neck was cut, just waiting to drop into my oil.

When I buy bottles of oil I want to assume that it's a bottle with oil in it, not oil mixed with plastic. If I have to strain my NEW oil then I'm not going to buy that oil. I doubt plastic by itself would do much damage, but if it blocks an oil passage, it will.



This is almost as bad as the oil filters (not Mobil) that I've found with metal shavings from the threads or perforation pieces inside the filter. Any debris here in the middle of the filter shoots straight into your crankshaft bearings on startup.

That's interesting. I've never experienced that and I use mobil now almost exclusively. I wonder if it's isolated to one packaging plant, or if others are experiencing the same thing? Especially if multiple vendors are filled/labeled at the same assembly line?

Have you shot off an email to mobil?

Matthew

Honestly though how can you be certain? I guess with the larger necked bottles you're more likely to see any debris while pouring, as opposed to shoving them into the valve cover hole, but do you really pay that much attention that you'd notice something entrained in the oil stream? Usually I'm just focused on pouring it in as quickly as possible. Or do you look inside the bottles in well lit area beforehand? I will now.

I don't really care what Mobil has to say honestly, but maybe I'll spend some time to email them for their own sake.

I would email them. This is poor. I have never had this happen, but I would report it.

I know it seems silly but I have always poured my oil through either a funnel with a paper filter, or a funnel with a metal screen. It was something I picked up from my Step Dad.

Ironically, I've never found anything, but I guess you never know, which is why I probably continue to pour my fluids that way.

Kevin - my VCs don't have an oil fill, so I have to put it through the PCV valve hole. I use a big funnel with a small neck and I have to pour it very slowly or it goes everywhere. So I keep a pretty good eye on it. Not to say nothing has ever slipped past, just I haven't experienced it.

Matthew

That is weird. I'm glad I use a funnel and watch the pour.
Maybe I'll start using a screen like DB.

I use Delvac in my Duramax's, I'll start looking. Thanks for the heads up.

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I guess thats old school filtering oil as you pour it in. I have always used a paint filter and a funnel. Found some plastic stuff in Shell Rotella 5-40 synthetic last year, no big deal since it was filter out by the paint filter.
I would email Mobil your concerns....like Andy said.

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On both bottles of Delvac, it was just plastic flashing around the edge of the bottle opening. One was still hanging, the other was in the oil itself.

I bought 5 quarts of Royal Purple. Is that ok to use. Kind of OT but some people love it and others say it's the worst ever.

P.S. Are we talking about Exxon Mobil or Mobil 1 ?

Used Royal Purple in my 55 Chevy. Went back to Mobil One the next change! Oil pressure issues and puffs of blue smoke between gears. 572 only has 3,500 miles on it, switched back to Mobil One everything is good again. Never had issues with Mobil One or Valvoline Synthetic.

My daughter has 178K on her ZO6 that has had a steady diet of Amzoil. She changed to Mobil One and had issues. Switched back to Amzoil and everything is right in the universe!

Please start a new thread for that.

Mobil 1 has good customer service. I would send them an email, or call their 800 number and tell them what is what. Also save the bottles in question.

Perhaps the machine that makes the bottles has an issue that needs addressed.

Personally, I have never seen this, but I will start running my oil through a filter of some sort. Seems like a good idea.

*pastes yellow sticky note on forehead with a reminder to buy a filtering funnel*

Kevin - did you bitch to Mobil?