My AOPA_epilot newsletter today contains information that a sediment has been found in a “select number of quarts of Exxon Aviation Elite 20W-50 oil”. The articles states, “The company discovered in August that about 1,100 cases of the oil distributed in early summer had been contaminated with small amounts of fine metal particles from a wearing pump used in the manufacturing process”.
Apparently, this is not a serious situation. “Even with the contaminants, the oil is well within industry specifications, ExxonMobil reports, and causes no safety or maintenance issues.” The affected quart bottles have the following lot number printed on them: 002933K4132050 and Fill Code P020430B.
The article suggests, "Anyone owning the affected oil is asked to call AOPA’s Technical Services Department at 800/USA-AOPA. Those who do not wish to use the affected oil may return it to an ExxonMobil distributor. For a list of distributors, see ExxonMobil’s Web site or call ExxonMobil Lubricants 800/44-Exxon.
As of now, the article has not been posted on AOPA’s site, but I’d expect to see it posted there shortly.
Do you know whether maintenance shops keep track of the lot numbers from the oil they put in your engine? It’s not on the log book entry, so I would suspect it would be difficult to know whether an oil change was performed using the contaminated oil?
Do you know whether maintenance shops keep track of the lot numbers from the oil they put in your engine?
Steve,
Nope… I don’t know. If the oil is already in… personally, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. One of the statements in the bulletin is, “If the particles enter the engine, at sizes smaller than 5 microns, they pose no threat to the engine.”
might almost be worth using a batch of this oil as a test of our oil analysis companies – see if they spot the contamination!
From the same AOPA E-Pilot article:
"ExxonMobil officials say the metal in the oil will not affect results of oil analysis that some owners do as part of routine engine trend monitoring. "