Metal contamination found in ExxonMobil semi-synthetic aviation oil

The following is being reported on the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) web site: [quote] ExxonMobil agrees to replace oil Nov. 8 � ExxonMobil officials say sediment found in a select number of quarts of Exxon Aviation Elite 20W-50 oil is harmless to aircraft engines, but the company will nonetheless replace unused quarts at no charge. 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. ExxonMobil alerted its distributors at that time and offered to take back any unsold oil. The metal particles settle out of the oil during shipment and adhere to the bottom of the bottles even when the oil is poured into the airplane, according to ExxonMobil. If the particles enter the engine, at sizes smaller than 5 microns, they pose no threat to the engine. Even with the contaminants, the oil is well within industry specifications, ExxonMobil reports, and causes no safety or maintenance issues. An AOPA member alerted the association Wednesday afternoon when he noticed sediment in the bottom of a bottle of the oil. AOPA was expecting to receive a case of the contaminated oil Friday morning and will submit it to independent labs for testing; ExxonMobil will also examine the samples. Oil affected by the sediment is in quart bottles with the following lot number printed on the bottles: 002933K4132050 and Fill Code P020430B. 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. To prevent any chance of future contamination, ExxonMobil has implemented changes to its manufacturing processes and has added an additional filtering step to all of its aviation oils. 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 at 800/44-Exxon. <hr></blockquote> Their aviation oil is a semi-synthetic (because of the leaded fuel in aviation). What I'm wondering is, is this product made on the same refinery as Mobil's Mobil One oil? And if so, could that also have become contaminated? As you can see from AOPA's announcement, ExxonMobil made no effort to notify the public about this. Only when questioned by AOPA did they admit the problem. S.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about...

[quote]Originally posted by paul s uk: <strong>As if I didn't have enough to worry about... </strong><hr></blockquote> I would think you are ok Paul. All of the Mobil One in Europe is made in France and not in the USA. To my knowledge, Exxon Elite was only ever made in the USA. S.

Thanks FixedWing - but your point is well made. We put stuff in our cars with all best intentions but would have difficulty proving that it wasn't our fault if some warranty issue arose in a few years time.

[quote]Originally posted by paul s uk: <strong>We put stuff in our cars with all best intentions but would have difficulty proving that it wasn't our fault if some warranty issue arose in a few years time.</strong><hr></blockquote> Agreed. It bothers me that ExxonMobil chose not to disclose this to those that had used/were using the oil even after they became aware of the problem -- especially when you consider that this stuff was being used in aircraft engines. Also, I have a hard time with the notion that metal particals which were only 5 microns would be visable to the naked eye and if they were so obvious then were they really all below 5 microns? The claim that these very small particles would all percipitate out is also troubling. I thought that these types of oil were specifically formulated to hold particles in suspension so that the oil filter could filter them out. For me, this oil is expensive and I often do a very good job of draining the last drop out of the bottle. On your point about future damage ... well look at it from ExxonMobil's perspective. If you did happen to use their product then how could they ever prove that the engine failure you experienced wasn't caused by their defective oil? What a potential for liability. Just look at the recent contaminated avgas fiasco in Australia to see what I mean. I'm also curious to know if ExxonMobil is just going to start filtering their aviation oil or if they will filter every oil they make. I emailed ExxonMobil asking them a few of these questions. No reply yet. I shall be interested to hear what they have to say. I shall also be interested to see what AOPA finds. If this turns out to be worse than disclosed I shall be very pissed off. S.

I received a reply to my query to ExxonMobil: [quote]Mr. Williams, The problem in question affects only one small batch of Exxon Aviation Elite 20W-50 manufactured last April. The cause of the problem was traced to a product transfer pump affecting only aviation piston oil. Further examination of retained packaging samples indicated that the problem was isolated to Exxon Aviation Elite. The problem surfaced in August and, even though the product was still on spec, was disclosed in both written and verbal communications to the affected distributors on September 4 of this year because it did not meet our own cosmetic standards. Obviously, then, the problem did not affect Mobil 1 or any other product except Elite. Please let me know if you have further questions. Thanks!! Stephen M. Sunseri General Aviation Industry Manager - Americas ExxonMobil Aviation Lubricants Tel: [phone removed] Fax: [phone removed] Email: [email removed] <hr></blockquote> S.