Oil break down and ultimately the formation of organic acids (primarily carboxylic acids) occurs due to both moisture and fuel entrainment in the oil. The moisture acts upon the metal salts that are commonly used in motor oils as stabilizers and anti wear additives, cleaving the salt molecule and allowing oxygen (from both entrained air and the molecular oxygen found in both the additive package components and the fuel molecules themselves) to attach to the paraffinic oil chains, ultimately creating aldehydes, ketones, hydro peroxides and carboxylic acids. It is not just the pH of the contaminants.
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Last edited by JFP in PA; 12-06-2015 at 12:07 PM.
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