Ok, my grandpa has been in the car world until he retired a few years back. So I pick his brain for stories. Now he told a interesting one.

While he was working in SD at a shop, a guy came in and asked for their used oil. When asked why he said " To run in my car." They laughed at him but gave him the oil. They went outside and watched as he poured the oil into his crankcase after letting out the oil already in their. They weren't allowed to see the oil that came out. Anyways, they were laugh and joking on how he cease the engine cause they gave him the worst oil in the place. So they went back to work as the guy just sat there. A couple of hours later the guy came back in and requested a oil pan. My grandpa saw BRAND NEW oil come out of the pan. The guy popped the hood and showed them a special manifold that he said he customized. It had lines running in and out. He also had 3 or 4 big rig oil filters under the hood. The guy explained how he could use used oil and run it through the exchanger and filter and purify it.



So, how would this work? I am interested in doing this. This happend in sometime between the late 40's to early 60's. My grandpa said that one of the big three or oil producers bought his patent and car and destroyed them. Does used oil refining work the same way as oil refining?

Thanks for the input!

Jon

 

Jon, that may have worked back in the old days, but today, you would have to add back all the additives, which isnt going to happen under the hood.

Remember, just because it appears clean, is no guarantee it will perform.

 

When you change your oil you are not only changing it because it becomes dirty. The viscosity of the oil breaks down as you run it as well. The carbon chains become shorter and shorter as the oil is sheered in the engine.

Maybe it just didn't matter as much back when cars had large tolerances.

 

Ok, I was just wondering about it.

Jon

EDIT:redpoint. I trust my grandpa as he has helped me and my dad with numerous mechanical issues. He was manager of a shop by the age of 20. He has also worked with cars since he was 13. I have seen pics of him and his father when he was that young. NO tall tales from him. Sorry about this rant but you kinda stepped on my toes there.

 

I apologize if I came off as calling your grandfather a liar. From my experience my grandpa would mix fact with fiction to make interesting stories and he would repeat them so many times that he doesn't even remember how things actually were. His stories were not lies, because his intent was to entertain, not convince me that every word he spoke was an exact account of history.

The story seemed to be a tale because it doesn't make sense why the guy would have the system in his car. Wouldn't it be better if he had the filtration system in a garage where he could drain his current oil, filter it, and return it to the engine? If the system is already in the car, wouldn't it be best to run the used oil through the system automatically so you don't have to ask someone for used oil? This story just had enough illogical things in it that it reminded me of people that swear there is a car that runs on nothing but water. The physics of the water engine don't work, and the idea would not be bought out by a car company to destroy when they could patent the idea and make enormous profits. The same reasoning applies to the oil filtration system.

I do not believe your grandfather is a liar, but I also do not believe there is a relatively cheap and compact way to process used motor oil into a substance that is within spec to run again.

Just to add some perspective: I have been in the computer industry since the age of 16, and have 10 years of experience. My expertise in the field is sought out and I offer consulting to many people. Even so, there is more I don't know about the industry than I do know, and I make mistakes as part of my human nature. The very reason I am on this forum is because I don't trust that the local Dodge Cummins experts know everything and keep up with the latest technology. I have found it is best to do your own research when you don't know the answer to something.