I seem to remember this being discussed...not sure what forum...can't seem to find it.

Anyway, a jug of Mobil 1 TDT that I just put into my 98 had a reddish hue to it as opposed to the amber you normally see. Not red like ATF....just more reddish than golden.

Does anybody recall what the explanation of this was? And whether it matters at all?

Thanks.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I think I noticed it also in the last fill. I have about 10,000 miles on it now.


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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Frommy oil analysis tech:

No worries. It is completely normal for the color to vary dependent on base stock sourcing. Sometimes it is nearly clear, to honey or even a reddish color. The QC is very tight on all Mobil products and each batch is sampled and analyzed each time it moves through a process.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I had a thread on it...

no problems noticed with the red oil. all places I asked about it seemed to indicate it was normal. autozone offered to replace the oil for me, until I told them I had 24 gallons of it...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

auto zone 12.99 mobil1 is RED!!!

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Thanks for refreshing my memory, VStech.

As it turns out, every jug I have is from 2013...EXCEPT for one of the two jugs I used yesterday, and it was produced in 2011 (on the stamp of the back of bottle, first three digits indicate the facility, then the next five indicate the production date). I opened up another jug with the exact same date stamp as the 2013 jug I used and it was amber...so I think it's fair to assume that the reddish jug was the one from 2011.

Someone at Mobil tech support said the color can change over time....so that would make sense.

But that guy gave me another number for Mobil techs further up the food chain (800.662.4525 if anyone is interested). He's going to research the batches of those two jugs for me and let me know what he finds out.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

THX for the heads-up!



Good input.

FWIW reply from Mobil tech:

"I sent a note to our Product Technical Advisor that works with the Mobil 1 oils, and got the answer I expected. You and I talked about this a bit. His comments are shown below:

Steve I am not aware of any color issues described below. I agree that amber would be the expected color of the oil – might be worth getting a sample if possible??

I understand the ‘red’ oil is inside the engine. Additives used in the blending process can change the color of the finished product a bit. If there was problem with the oil, it would not have left the blend plant. There are several performance tests the product must pass before it is released for packaging and sale. If you see this again, send us a photo of the oil and the bottle showing the numbers on the bottle, as you did with the recent pictures."

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

since EVERY bottle I've opened up from my shelf is red, I'll happily take photos and upload or email them to you...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Sounds good....I will PM you my contact information.

I will be curious to see if your jugs were bottled in 2011.

One of my codes was: 11011B22A 5706.

The 110 stands for the Port Allen, LA facility.
The 11 stands for 2011.
The B stands for February (letters stand for months but they don't use "I")
The 22 stands for the 22nd day of the month.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I looked at one of the 8 bottles I have left of the Mobil I 5W40 TDT oil bought from Autozone during that Christmas sale and the code is 11013L11A 5706

So this bottle was made in 2013. I've used probably 10 gallons already and do not remeber or noticed the color being red. Next time I open one I'll have a closer look.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked